please help. im in a spot of bother with the 203

[turbopete]

im sure I posted this earlier but i cant find it, so apologies if its a duplicate post.

my car was driven about a quarter mile to a junction (not been used since saturday) when I pulled out of the junction, the turbo was VERY sluggish to spool up, and the car felt like it was in limp mode.

a couple of miles into my trip, I came to a junction with traffic lights on it. I gave it a bit of welly to get across the junction before my exit was blocked, and turbo boost came more quickly, accompanied by a HUGE cloud of black smoke.

popped into asda en route, then set off to finish the journey, accelerated only moderately from the roundabout in 2nd gear, heard a lound BANG and then loss of power, induction noise etc (suspect a boost hose.)

the car has had a new intercooler, EGR mod done, inlet port shut off flaps removed/motor delete mod done so where do i need to look next? any ideas? performance seems a little erratic, and is no better than it ever was, so im assuming that a turbo overboost would give more power? could a partially blocked cat cause the erratic performance and also build pressure up in the intake?

your ideas/comments are very welcome, as im struggling with ideas, and cant afford to have the codes read at the moment. Thanks in advance.

 

[turbopete]

No takers for a challenge?

 

[V6Matty]

only guessing here Pete but have you checked all the hoses, maybe a small leak thats sealing when up to temp and then blowing again if you give it the beans?

 

[oigle]

Your suggestion of a blocked cat makes sense. I've seen them very blocked. Maybe the cloud of smoke was a partial clearance? The BANG?? Doesn't sound good, especially from a diesel. You have seemingly blown a hose off but why did it backfire. Most unusual. Once again a blocked cat may force unburnt fuel back out into the inlet manifold where it could ignite?? Could be very wrong there....any chance your valve timing/injector timing is not correct?
I would check the cat anyway and see what difference it makes.
You have not looked at the MAF either it seems. Could be part of the power loss.

 

[Steve@Avantgarde]

Need a fault code really.....might be able to help more then.

 

[turbopete]

Your suggestion of a blocked cat makes sense. I've seen them very blocked. Maybe the cloud of smoke was a partial clearance? The BANG?? Doesn't sound good, especially from a diesel. You have seemingly blown a hose off but why did it backfire. Most unusual. Once again a blocked cat may force unburnt fuel back out into the inlet manifold where it could ignite?? Could be very wrong there....any chance your valve timing/injector timing is not correct?
I would check the cat anyway and see what difference it makes.
You have not looked at the MAF either it seems. Could be part of the power loss.

the BANG was when a boost hose (or similar) blew off somewhere, not a backfire. as far as im aware, the injector timing is ECU controlled and the valve timing should be correct as the engine has never been apart and has been serviced religiously by myself at the times they ASSYST has requested so as ive heard of no problems with timing gear wear at 114k miles, im assuming the valve timing would be correct.

I have also tried to disconnect the MAF but that sends the car into permanent limp mode.

anyone have any suggestions as to dealing with the cat? am i best to remove the internals, or remove the section completely (assuming its hidden by the under trays? is the downpipe difficult to acces/remove on these, if welding is required to the CAT area?

 

[jj1975]

the BANG was when a boost hose (or similar) blew off somewhere, not a backfire. as far as im aware, the injector timing is ECU controlled and the valve timing should be correct as the engine has never been apart and has been serviced religiously by myself at the times they ASSYST has requested so as ive heard of no problems with timing gear wear at 114k miles, im assuming the valve timing would be correct.

I have also tried to disconnect the MAF but that sends the car into permanent limp mode.

anyone have any suggestions as to dealing with the cat? am i best to remove the internals, or remove the section completely (assuming its hidden by the under trays? is the downpipe difficult to acces/remove on these, if welding is required to the CAT area?

Hi check this out it may help
http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=106246

 

[turbopete]

thanks for that. not sure if my car has the 2 cat set up or just 1 at the moment!

 

[jj1975]

thanks for that. not sure if my car has the 2 cat set up or just 1 at the moment!

Yours it has 1 cat attached to turbocharger

 

[Cole@MBS]

Your car has two CATS as standard, one bolted to the rear of the turbo, (nothing to do with turbo mind) one under the car.........

Knock them both out, wont hurt.........

 

[turbopete]

thanks for that. i was hoping for an easier solution than having to remove it at the turbo end!

 

[turbopete]

Your car has two CATS as standard, one bolted to the rear of the turbo, (nothing to do with turbo mind) one under the car.........

Knock them both out, wont hurt.........

thanks Cole. i have been considering it for a while. the problem is getting the opportunity to do them!

as an aside, do you think i could be onto something, in your experience with MB's?

 

[television]

Sorry to gate crash Pete, but do you still need that 12v ps