W240 E300 diesel owner, couple of problems

[Parrot of Doom]

I've just bought an E300 saloon with 164k on the clock. Its just had an MOT, and on the drive home everything felt ok, gearbox changed easily, engine pulled nicely, stopped and started in a straight line etc.

I noticed that when starting the car once the glow plug light has gone out, sometimes it will come immediately back on once the engine is idling (it goes back off after a few minutes driving and doesn't return). I understand that the glow plugs require attention on these engines, so is it worth having them replaced, or is this normal behaviour? Perhaps one of them is on the way out?

There is no toolbox on the car, just a jack. Will a bog standard toolbox do, or are there bits on the Merc one that are worth having?

I only have one key - how much would a spare key cost, do you have to order the fob as well?

Wheel balance feels off at about 70mph - likely just a balance issue as its been sat on a forecourt for a few weeks or so? I'll check the pressures later today.

 

[Parrot of Doom]

Also, can anybody advise of a good specialist in the Manchester area, or possibly good stealer that provides good service (and not just good coffee)?

 

[dogsbody]

W240 E300 diesel owner

Your glow plug problem is similar to another owner on a C220 on the forum The MB operating system periodically checks the resistance of the glow plug circuit as part of its "engine mismanagement function". If the resistance is low, this means that one of the glow plugs ( or more than 1) has gone to glowplug heaven and is due a replacement. The glow plug light will come on for about 30 seconds whilst you are driving, and is designed to tell you that you have a problem. You can either take it to a garage, or if you have a multimeter, you can measure the resistance of each plug in turn. Ones which are open circuit have had it, and need to be replaced. From memory the plug units are about £20 each ( Bosch) and take a few minutes to change if you have the right tools - one tip if you can unscrew a plug a fraction of a turn, then squirt with copious amounts of WD40, go and have a cup of coffee, then take the plug out!

 

[maddog]

As per my other post on the subject i recently did mine on my e320, 6 plugs cost me £56 or thereabouts , ngk items from www.sparkplug.co.uk, great service.

Did them myself in about 15minutes.

I would advise changing the set not just the faulty one/ones

 

[Parrot of Doom]

Yes I think changing the set would be a good idea then.

What brand would you recommend?

Can anybody explain the procedure? Are they difficult to get to? It won't be me doing them, its a mate of 30 years mechanical experience.

 

[maddog]

Yes I think changing the set would be a good idea then.

What brand would you recommend?

Can anybody explain the procedure? Are they difficult to get to? It won't be me doing them, its a mate of 30 years mechanical experience.

Glow plug are glow plugs imo

I really cant see anyone with half decent spannering skills having a problems changing glow plugs .

 

[Parrot of Doom]

Just checked the service history, the last service was from a MB dealer in Blackburn Lancashire, just over 10k miles ago and 13 months. It was a B service.

Anyone know what the A service costs normally, from a specialist? I don't intend on keeping the service history, but if any faults were brought to light on the previous service that the last owner chose to ignore, I'd like to know about them so I can get them sorted.

 

[Parrot of Doom]

hehe.

The oil is as black as night, the filters are filthy, so I think they'll be getting changed this weekend

Think I'll do the gearbox oil as well. Anyone know which oil to use? For that matter, whats a good oil for the engine?

 

[Bolide]

E300 Diesel

Keys are about £12 from the dealer

These diesel engines blacken the oil pretty quickly but change it anyway. Also change the fuel filter & prefilter. Gearbox oil & filter change is a good idea

Glow plugs are easy to change right up to the point one of them snaps. Then it's an easy £1500 job... Use all caution and preferably give the job to someone who's done them before

Tool-wise, all you really need is a breaker bar, wheel nut socket & jack. And a good torch...

Best of luck with the new acquistion!


Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[dogsbody]

W240 E300 diesel owner couple of problems

I was robbed! I am sure that I paid over £20 for just one Bosch glow plug on my E250!
If you can buy a set of 6 for £54 do it!
Still a word of warning - if you break the plug whilst extracting it suddenly becomes very expensive. Hence the use of WD40... also...
Some glow plugs last almost indefinitely, whilst other give up the ghost after 50k miles - why?
In any event, the engine will start even if say 4 plugs are still working, so there is no great pressure to immediately change say one faulty plug.
If you change 1 plug, rather than a set, you stand only 1/6th the chance of having a broken plug, than if you change all 6.
If all the other plugs are working why change them? You would not change all the fuses on a car just because one had blown. These glow plugs may go on for years. Dont fix what aint broke (unless of course it is a consumable)

 

[Parrot of Doom]

So, I took it to a specialist in Blackburn who showed me the problem. 2 of the glow plugs are faulty - fair enough. But another plug is faulty, and this plug has previously been welded into position.

The plugs are of the 'screw into threaded hole, and secure with locking nut' variety. On the one thats been welded, the locking nut is missing and someone has welded the plug directly onto the block/head, with what appears to be a washer of some description.

Now this isn't a massive job to fix - if they can remove the weld, and the 3 faulty plugs, its possibly only 3-4 hours of labour (£45 per hour), plus the cost of the plugs.

The problem is, if they can't remove the plug(s), they have to take the head off and drill all 3 out - its 7 hours work minimum, which for the entire job could be a £500 bill. Thats a hell of a lot cheaper than a stealer, so I'm not slitting my wrists!


So, I have a 3 month warranty from the trader I bought the car from. Now I don't think its reasonable to expect them to cough up for all the repairs - after all, the car does run normally, and it still starts ok in the morning - just that 3 cylinders don't have any heating. Once the engine is warm, the car runs perfectly.

So, if I phone the trader I bought it from, and ask if they'll sub some of the money for the repairs at my chosen specialist (I don't trust them to do the work themselves, for all I know they're the people that welded the glow plug in place anyway), is that reasonable? What rights do I have under the 3 month trader warranty period?

Help would be appreciated, its a lovely car and I don't mind spending a few hundred getting it 100%.

 

[Parrot of Doom]

By the way, I bought 2 glow plugs today from Eurocarparts. £7 each

 

[andy_k]

if a trader has supplied you with a car which has one glow plug welded into place I'd say that it was their responsibility to put that right. Now, if I was you. I'd be starting my negotiations with them supplying a new head and working back from that point until I got satisfaction (minumum having the current head completely refurbed).

If the dealer is less than helpful you'll have a good chance of getting it sorted if you got trading standards involved - I'm pretty sure that welded in glow plugs will fall under the sale of goods act

this sort of thing really does stress how important it is to get cars inspected by the experts before you buy

Good luck

Andy

 

[billy]

I have c220d which has all 4 plugs working,the car starts very smoothly and I have flashed all plugs and get a very good spark, but the warning light comes on some of the time and then goes out.