Sprinter 311 CDI - wont start

[stormgazer]

hi gang

i'm a new user but have a problem with my Van, its been running with no probs however today i tried to start and she wont start at all, she is ticking over nicely but wont start up, she did start earlier today was a bit lazy and once i stopped her and went to start again, nothing!!!

there is a red light just to the left of the steering wheel on the dashboard that is on when i turn the key - is this supposed to be on?

Any suggestions welcome

Thanks, Stephanie

 

[Sprint'n'Go]

The red light you mention to the left of the steering wheel sounds like the fuel contamination indicator. Does it look like a switch but cannot be pressed?

If this is lit it looks like you could have water or other muck filling the fuel system and in this case you will need to change the fuel filter and bleed the system until only clean fuel shows at the filter. How long has the light been on? if you have only recently filled with fuel and the problems have shown since then you may be able to claim against the supplying garage for selling contaminated fuel. Probably best to start with trtading standards in that case.

Probably best to completely drain the fuel tank and start with known good fuel. there is the possibility that your fuel filter may have a drain plug on it (unlikely as most garages replace it with the plain non drain type at service time) in which case you can drain the fuel via the filter until clean uncontaminated fuel is obtained although I am not entirely sure of the procedure for this as I think the fuel may be sucked through the filter rather than pumped through so opening the drain while the engine is cranked would ust suck in air (I may be wrong on this)