W210 220cdi kickdown EPC fault

[Frank Patten]

Hi All,
W210 220cdi 2002 Estate
Recently I was overtaking at about 60mph when I pressed the accelerator through the kickdown and got reduced acceleration and no changedown of gears. At the same time the display showed "EPC" I have since experimented and I find that if I avoid kickdown I have normal full performance. The EPC fault only occurs during kickdown. If I kickdown above 90mph the car actually slows down but above 100 it behaves normaly and accelerates up to 120 or so. Perhaps this is because the speed is above the point at which the gears would change down.

This looks to me to be similar to the brake pedal switch problem where a sensor in the switch causes a computer fault, but before I attempt to change the kickdown switch I would appreciate some input from you guys please. Where does the fault lie?

 

[mercs]

i have seen this fault on cars before and it is normally the pedal sensor for the acclerator
not the kickdown switch. would be worth finding out what the fault codes are.

 

[aa1]

Mine has the same problem and is going to merc diagnostic tomorrow. They say they can pin it down so we shall see. regardsAA

 

[aa1]

Mine has the same problem and is going to merc diagnostic tomorrow. They say they can pin it down so we shall see. regardsAA

results from diagnostic test, 1,4,5, injectors require replacing, 2,3,6, are marginal, estimate for replacing all 6 £1218.00. regardsAA

 

[Frank Patten]

I don't go along with that. Apart from kickdown the performance on mine is totally normal. It only misbehaves when the kickdown is engaged. if the injectors were failing I recon that would show up in the general performance. I still think the problem is electrical. From what I read on this forum, trusting Merc to correctly diagnose faults and then fix them economicaly is an extremely bad idea! Mine will only go to an independant.

 

[Xtractorfan]

aa1 .. I would be running a few cans of injector cleaner thru my engine before changing the injectors...how many miles have you got..

The EGR valve is situated on the inlet manifold just behind the fuel filter, the vacuum controlled actuator is held on with three torx screws, remove the screws lift off the actuator and spray as much wd40 /ts10 or whatever type of easing oil you've got into the manifold,... that is where the valve is and the part that sticks...sp spray away and let it sit for an hour or two and spray every ten minutes , refit the unit and start up and clouds of smoke should billow from the exhaust for abot 20 secs..then clean air.. ..job done...

 

[aa1]

Have fitted 3 bosch recon injectors (at great cost) and fault is still there. I am considering fitting the other 3 but will have a look at this valve tomorrow and see if I can do anything with it. regards AA

 

[aa1]

Have fitted 3 bosch recon injectors (at great cost) and fault is still there. I am considering fitting the other 3 but will have a look at this valve tomorrow and see if I can do anything with it. regards AA

The car has done 124,000 with full history.

 

[aa1]

The car has done 124,000 with full history.

Car now been back to merc dealer and had all error codes erased and still cutting out under acceleration. Then after 2 hours of head scratching and fiddling with diagnostics a fuel filter was fitted, He presto fixed, car is flying. I/they could not believe that a filter cured the problem. regards AA p.s. they charged for 1 hour and cost of filter £86.00 which I thought was more than fair.

 

[jimtav]

I don't go along with that. Apart from kickdown the performance on mine is totally normal. It only misbehaves when the kickdown is engaged. if the injectors were failing I recon that would show up in the general performance. I still think the problem is electrical. From what I read on this forum, trusting Merc to correctly diagnose faults and then fix them economicaly is an extremely bad idea! Mine will only go to an independant.

Did Frank Patten ever get that kick down problem sorted and if so what was it exactly?

 

[Frank Patten]

Hi All, after far too much delay I have sorted my kickdown problem. The problem got worse in that it would give a EPC fault without the limiter engaged and drop the speed to 60mph. My garage has now got a fault reader and first he found a MAF fault which he replaced (100 quid). Car went a bit better but fault not cured. Then he got a throttle sensor error so today he changed it (115 quid). Fault cured! Accelerator cable is now much lighter, car goes better, the kickdown works and the fault has gone (at town speeds). I am driving from Dieppe to Toulouse tomorrow so I will test it at 130kph!

 

[television]

Not too bad then Frank do have a good trip

 

[Frank Patten]

Hi All,
I finally solved my kickdown problem. My wife drives the car mostly so I hadn't got round to it but I was going on holiday near Toulouse so I got it done.
My mechanic found fault codes for the MAF, so we changed that (100 quid) and the fault was still there. He swore the MAF needed changing, said Merc does them every 40,000 miles. We then got fault codes for the throttle sensor so changed that (115 quid) and problem solved. Kickdown works properly, car much livelier and accelerator much lighter. Car went like a bomb down the autoroute, everything working smoothly. Well, except when the wife was driving!