G'day, Mike here from Australia. I have a 2005 313cdi 2.2 Turbo Sprinter with 35,000km on it. Just recently it has developed a starting problem, when you start it, it fires as normal then stalls requiring me to crank it over for 30 to 40 seconds before it will re-start . As i am doing so it sounds like it wants to fire but takes a while to do so, once it fires again it idles away happily as normal.
I had it to my Benz Dealer but they could not fault it.
I've worked it out that it is a time issue with perhaps the fuel draining back to the fuel tank because if it is parked for say 6 or 7 hours it starts fine but anything longer than say 10 hours it does this thing.
Has anyone had this problem? MB reckons they haven't but I find this hard to swallow. If this goes on much longer I'm afraid I might go to start it and the thing wont go at all. Apart from that I reckon it's a great van.
Cheers Mike.
That is a pretty low mileage vehicle to have problems. Did they really check the rail pressure at start-up? A friend of mine had a similar issue on an older Sprinter CDI, you could try to pull off the pressure sensor wire and try to start, then plug again.
Of course it could also be a leak at the input side of the low pressure lines. I don't know where the low pressure pump is on a Sprinter but on a sedan it would be at the fuel tank and basically an air leak would not be possible, a leak would always result to a visible diesel leak.
Thanks mate for the reply, well I was told by the dealer they did check the rail pressure and given that it is hard to start after a long period I guess nothing would show up. I've got it booked in at another Dealer who services a fleet of Amulances but they are 5 cyl models. I guess if there is a way of checking the pressure over a period of 10 hours it might show what is happening. Thanks again. Richo
If i was you i'd get them to check / replace the fuel pressure regulator 'o' ring as this can cause starting problems and if they can source just the 'o' ring it should be a cheap fix , also get them to do an injector run off test to check injector flow rates as this is a known problem and difficult starting is a symptom of a dodgy injector or 2'3'4', having said all that 35k does seem low mileage for any of these probs but not impossible i guess, post a reply if you fix the problem as i'm sure others would be interested......
Cheers Sprinterman, It's in the shop today they've had it overnight so will be interesting to see what pans out. I will post a message on the outcome, 'cause you never know some other poor soul will most likely have the same problem down the track.
Bye for now.
Richo1953
Cheers Sprinterman, It's in the shop today they've had it overnight so will be interesting to see what pans out. I will post a message on the outcome, 'cause you never know some other poor soul will most likely have the same problem down the track.
Bye for now.
Richo1953
hi Richo, i have a 313 cdi 2000 that has just started exactly the same problem and has done it three times so far,i was thinking the same as you about the fuel draining back and i also am worried it might not start one day atall.please let me know what happens (1.6.08.) john ..i also love my van !
Hi all, well the guys at the MB Shop had my Sprinter back in on Friday 30th May and replaced the fuel line and it starts fine now (it was after they replaced the o ring) so the problem was the fuel line and O ring were damaged when fitted at MB when the van was built but has taken nearly three years for this problem to arise.
I hope if anyone else has this problem what I've found may help.
How they picked up on the problem was, I left the van with them overnight and they hooked it up to the computer before they tried to start it. When they did start it and it stalled the computer told them there was no fuel pressure, so they knew where to look from there.
Happy motoring.
Mike (Richo 1953)
The failure of the two O ring seals at the back of the Common rail is well known in Australia and New Zealand. I carry a spare set in the van just in case. The set cost about $2.50. Fortunately I have not had to use them so far.
Sprinter Start/Stall 
start/stall 
Linear Mode
