firstly, hello all, this is my first post.
secondly, i have the most irritating problem with me 311 cdi, and im hoping beyond all hope somebody here can help, absolutely all ideas and advice very gratefully received.
im a self employed builder living in peterborough, and me van is crucial to me 6 days of the week, every week of the year, as such i bought merc.
my last sprinter, a slow but ultra reliable 208 lwb done me for ten years and 300k, the only problem it ever had was a blown head gasket at 240k, a fantastic van.
early this year i bit the bullet, sold the old faithfull and bought a '52 plate 311 cdi, one owner with 102k on the clock and fsh, and it ran faultlessly for 12000 miles until i booked it in for a full service.
a couple of days after the service, it failed to start from hot, though would when it was cold, and ran perfectly once started.
a mechanic mate suggested a the crank position sensor could be breaking down when hot, so i bought and fitted that, no good.
so, back to the garage that serviced it, they thought the new fuel filter could be faulty, fitted another and problem solved.
two days later does it again, they fit yet another filter, sorted.
a daylater its ****** doing it again and im working up north in newcastle, so into a garage there, they concurr its a fuel fault, and fit another fuel filter and a new one way valve(the little black plastic one that sits on the filter).
once again problem solved, except two days later it does it again.
this time i go to see me mechanic mate, he takes the fuel feed pipe off when its hot, and its dry, so the fuel is obviously draining back down to the tank.
he fits one of those bellow type hand pump thingys with a one way valve in line between the filter and the incoming fuel line, we pump it to prime the filter and the van starts ok but still wont start when hot without me having to pump it every time.
so last week book it into the main merc place where im working in newcastle (bell trucks) and ask them to please sort it whatever it costs (ulp!)
pick it up later that day and hallelujah, its fixed apparently.
they have replaced the fuel line from thefilter to the high pressure pump, an apparent weakness as they get old.
the pipe becomes brittle, the joint leaks, air gets in and the fuel runs back to the tank.
this makes perfect sense to me, as it explains why all the titting around people have done to try and fix it results in a temporary fix, as disturbing the joint probably allows it to seal properly just for a short while.
it runs great and the problem has finally gone.
except one week and 500 miles later i drive to a job in luton this morning, stop at the builders yard, and it wont start....
pump the bellows and its empty, fuel is draining back again..crap
phone bell trucks, they say "nip it in", i say "im 250 ****** miles away" and the bloke suggests it could be an injector gone, 300 quid to replace which is ok if that is the problem, but i dont understand how the messing about always resulted in a temporary fix if it is the injector.
anyway, come 6 pm and the van started straight away having been left for 7 hours and drove faultlessly the 60 miles home, though would not start on me drive 5 minutes after i got home when i tried it hot.
as i said, any ideas very gratefully recieved, i just dont know what to do next, am back up in newcastle in three weeks, but though i know it will start in the morning when its cold hate driving it when it aint right, and cant even turn it off when im fuelling up because it wont start.
the last fix (the fuel line replacement) lasted much longer tha the others, could this be a clue? buggered if i know..
thanks blokes
paul
secondly, i have the most irritating problem with me 311 cdi, and im hoping beyond all hope somebody here can help, absolutely all ideas and advice very gratefully received.
im a self employed builder living in peterborough, and me van is crucial to me 6 days of the week, every week of the year, as such i bought merc.
my last sprinter, a slow but ultra reliable 208 lwb done me for ten years and 300k, the only problem it ever had was a blown head gasket at 240k, a fantastic van.
early this year i bit the bullet, sold the old faithfull and bought a '52 plate 311 cdi, one owner with 102k on the clock and fsh, and it ran faultlessly for 12000 miles until i booked it in for a full service.
a couple of days after the service, it failed to start from hot, though would when it was cold, and ran perfectly once started.
a mechanic mate suggested a the crank position sensor could be breaking down when hot, so i bought and fitted that, no good.
so, back to the garage that serviced it, they thought the new fuel filter could be faulty, fitted another and problem solved.
two days later does it again, they fit yet another filter, sorted.
a daylater its ****** doing it again and im working up north in newcastle, so into a garage there, they concurr its a fuel fault, and fit another fuel filter and a new one way valve(the little black plastic one that sits on the filter).
once again problem solved, except two days later it does it again.
this time i go to see me mechanic mate, he takes the fuel feed pipe off when its hot, and its dry, so the fuel is obviously draining back down to the tank.
he fits one of those bellow type hand pump thingys with a one way valve in line between the filter and the incoming fuel line, we pump it to prime the filter and the van starts ok but still wont start when hot without me having to pump it every time.
so last week book it into the main merc place where im working in newcastle (bell trucks) and ask them to please sort it whatever it costs (ulp!)
pick it up later that day and hallelujah, its fixed apparently.
they have replaced the fuel line from thefilter to the high pressure pump, an apparent weakness as they get old.
the pipe becomes brittle, the joint leaks, air gets in and the fuel runs back to the tank.
this makes perfect sense to me, as it explains why all the titting around people have done to try and fix it results in a temporary fix, as disturbing the joint probably allows it to seal properly just for a short while.
it runs great and the problem has finally gone.
except one week and 500 miles later i drive to a job in luton this morning, stop at the builders yard, and it wont start....
pump the bellows and its empty, fuel is draining back again..crap
phone bell trucks, they say "nip it in", i say "im 250 ****** miles away" and the bloke suggests it could be an injector gone, 300 quid to replace which is ok if that is the problem, but i dont understand how the messing about always resulted in a temporary fix if it is the injector.
anyway, come 6 pm and the van started straight away having been left for 7 hours and drove faultlessly the 60 miles home, though would not start on me drive 5 minutes after i got home when i tried it hot.
as i said, any ideas very gratefully recieved, i just dont know what to do next, am back up in newcastle in three weeks, but though i know it will start in the morning when its cold hate driving it when it aint right, and cant even turn it off when im fuelling up because it wont start.
the last fix (the fuel line replacement) lasted much longer tha the others, could this be a clue? buggered if i know..
thanks blokes
paul
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