There have been reports of sootclogged intake manifolds, causing limp home mode and expensive repair or even replacement of intake manifolds because of this clogging. Is there any way to prevent this soot buildup? ULSD fuel has been used since it was available. Does full throttle acceleration, ie " blowing it out", help? Thanks. My 05 cdi has 125,000 and my wife's has 88,000. No problems so far
05 CDI Intake and EGR Maintenance
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I think the ULSD would prevent the soot buildup but i guess a few had problems with the 2005 and early 2006 models since ULSD was not throughout the US yet. I would imagine if your car ran this long on the ULSD the soot that may have accumulated would have blown off by now..
ULSD is not going to solve the problem. The sulfur has been removed but the particulate matter that causes the soot is still there.
I have not heard of any problems with intake clogging. Your car has 125K. do you have problems? I have driven a 99 E300TD 200K miles with no problems with soot clogging.
I would drive on and address it if it ever comes up.
Soot buildup and ULSD
I have cleaned my EGR valve three times in six months and it is dirty every time. Since the failure mode is a limp home-no acceleration situation, I'm now looking at replacing the EGR or cleaning the intake.
I would like to know about the efficacy of an Italian Tuneup. My wife is stuck with the car 1000 miles from home and with a top speed of 54 mph.
Frustrated,
Peter
I have cleaned my EGR valve three times in six months and it is dirty every time. Since the failure mode is a limp home-no acceleration situation, I'm now looking at replacing the EGR or cleaning the intake.
I would like to know about the efficacy of an Italian Tuneup. My wife is stuck with the car 1000 miles from home and with a top speed of 54 mph.
Frustrated,
Peter
I have a 06 E320 CDI with 96K miles. Recently removed the EGR valve and it was clean -- no carbon build up. I am not sure what is contributing to the clogging you mention in you post.
Edwin, just curious, do you do anything in particular which you believe may be keeping the EGR valve clean, e.g., do you use any fuel additives, such as "Diesel Kleen" or maybe throttle it to the floor occasionally doing the "Italian tune-up"? Do you tend to heavy on the throttle? Perhaps we can find out if there's a cure. I haven't had any issues with mine yet, but want to avoid this issue in advance if there's a way.
I use Power Service Diesel Kleen (4-6 Oz) per fill up. Change oil at regular interval -- Avg miles 7500 and have been using Total Quartz Energy 9000 0W30 or Total Quartz INEO MC3 Low SAPS. Next change I will try Mobil 1 ESP Formula 5W30.
As for driving style I am light on the throttle most of the time but occassionally max the RPMs through the gears to blow out the carbon.
I do not think that the intake clogging is forming from oil in the intake manifold. There should not be any oil, or if is some it is coming from the turbo and will not be much, or you will get message “Add oil.” My theory is result of my observation when I replaced the gasket between the charge air pipe and air intake. Air flow from turbo goes to the intercooler and charged air temperature drops before entering the intake. Exhaust gases are passing through exhaust gas cooler before joining the gases from the turbo. At this point problem starts. Turbo gases will have temp between 30⁰ and 50⁰C depending on engine load, speed and outside temperature. Gases from EGR are water cooled and will have temperature close to engine temperature if not higher, not so sure how effective is that cooler, so somewhere between 85⁰ and 100⁰C. This difference in temperatures is leading to condensation which traps soot and particles and forms very sticky tar like fluid that sticks to the intake walls and gets carried downward.
Mine EGR was very clean, but the area of the intake where charged air pipe joins the intake had some tar build up. Cannot tell how clean or clogged is the intake manifold close to the engine.
My opinion: if someone wants clean air intake, get rid of the EGR. If someone already has EGR problems find tuning shop and get rid of it, will cost you about the same if you replace it or if you deleted it, but you will not going to have future problems. Plus better engine response and fuel economy.
Mescaline did yours EGR was deleted when you flash your ECU? And what happened w/intercooler issue you had?
FWIW. I don't think you can remove the EGR anymore. They are too big a part of the engine performance. Besides the fact that the engine may not be able to run without EGR these days, the EGR is used in high volumes to control the combustion performance/temperature and fuel milage will deteriorate. It is not like the old days when EGR was a micro effect to reduce NOx and losing an EGR valve was a non-event.
My real question is whether a fix at the dealer is a fix or just another temporary cleaning. I'm going in on Friday and I priced the parts alone at $1500.
The other question is whether EPA mandated warrantees will cover mine at 6 years and 65,000 miles.
My real question is whether a fix at the dealer is a fix or just another temporary cleaning. I'm going in on Friday and I priced the parts alone at $1500.
The other question is whether EPA mandated warrantees will cover mine at 6 years and 65,000 miles.
Not physically removing the EGR, but deleting it from the ECU software when you do remapping. If you want you can physically removed it after remapping is done, but you will have to close the opening in the intake where EGR lives w/something specially made to fit and close that hole. And your mileage will not suffer, because the air entering combustion chamber will have lower temperature and higher density. Also exhaust gas temperature will drop which is good for your turbo.
I also change the oil every 7500 with Total Quartz INEO MC3 5W30. About a week ago, I picked up Power Service Diesel Kleen and gave the tank 6 oz and a full tank of diesel. So was good to see your posting that you use it and your EGR was clean at 90K+ miles on the odo. One thing here: my 08 Bluetec has ultra high pressure injectors ("pizza"?? injectors) and was concerned that these cetane/kleeners may have an outside chance of possibly gumming up the internals of the fuel system. I believe my concerns are unwarranted but if anyone has any additional info on this, please chime in. Oh, and by the way, I "know" what the manual says about diesel fuel additives so please don't respond with a litany of what the manual or WIS party line states. Even dealers use BG diesel fuel and BG MOA additives when you take your CDI in for service so additives are not verboten in real world application.
To reinforce what you said about the manual and use of additives in the fuel -- MB has said no additives since the early 1980's and I have been putting additives in my MB diesels since 1975 and have never had a pump fail or had to replace a fuel injector on the 9 I have owned. Also never had one of mine fail to start during the winter with temps down to just under 0 degrees F.
You can maintain your own E320 Bluetec -- I maintain mine
Thanks much. This confirms what I've suspected. Not rocket science here. The additives, in particular, Kleen Diesel, won't hurt the V-6 at all. It will keep the fuel system clean with regular usage. Probably the same or better ingredients than BG's diesel fuel treatment which the dealers put in after their rediculous A or B service, which is nothing more than a hyped oil change (check wiper blades, tire pressure, battery terminals, tire tread, brake linings, lube sunroof rails, etc., ... ad sickenum infinatum). I do all this stuff on a regular basis, no help needed, "Thank You". I've learned how to do the regular maintenance with the Star Service CD, a real plus for anyone who wants to save a bundle and likes working on their own Benz. The '08 E320 is probably a little more challenging to work on than the older model diesels just because the air intake manifold must be removed before some of these jobs can be performed, but after you've removed and replaced it the first time, you'll be able to remove/install it in minutes. I'm here to say -- you can change your own oil/filter, air filter, fuel filter, dust filter, glow plugs, and even sensors if you have the Star CD for the 211 and a little time to do the job. If you need any help, let me know. I have the Star CD.
From MB, cost 112$ for Star Service DVD, not for actual Star Diagnostics or Xentry Software now, which includes taxes and shipping.
I have a 05' cdi and on multiple past trips to Florida from Long island for the past 1 and half years I get 38-39mpg going 75 mph. I put in a eco tuning box and use total quartz 0w-30 and religiously use a additive. I now use xpd formula and get the best results. AS FAR AS EGR goes, as an experiment the last time i went was July for the last shuttle launch. I built myself a egr delete plate and put it were the the exhaust leaves the head not far from the egr. Well, I new I would go into limp mode, the car still accelerates but not like a true cdi, and check engine light was on but I shut that off every time I started the car for the long days run. Mpg was 41.6 mpg the fist leg. another leg on the way back was 40.9 and of course less mpg for the around town driving. SO no egr does increas mpg, all I need to do is get an egr delete and we are all set.
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