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29 Posts
hi there everyone, hope someone can help me here its a BIG one(i think!)
bit of background first.
had my 2002 e320 cdi for a while now,it has always ran fine but i knew it was in limp mode from the start, i was quite happy to drive it like this as i don't thrash around anymore, however a friend borrowed it and said its guzzling fuel! i was used to an old ford escort and the trip meter on my merc was showing 28-32 mpg average,i didn't think this was bad for the size of car and engine,so i lived with it,anyways while he had it he took it to a diagnostics indie and it came back it was slightly down on pressure on the rearmost cylinder,upon looking he found there was a slight leak from the injector, he said he'd ordered the seals and i could have them when they arrived, i'm a pretty competant mechanic so got inquisitive, found a vid on youtube of a guy changing an injector and in 5 mins his was out and back in,ahh no problem i thought i could do that!
so,with spanner in hand i proceded to undo the clamp retaining bolt,disconnected this that and the other and made a tool to pull the inj.
however it was stuck so solid that i didnt want to force anything and break it so decided to call it a day and put it back together, this is when i encountered my first problem, the clamp thread hole had filled with black death crud half way and trying to put the bolt back in it compressed and wouldnt budge until i snapped the bolt off!
threw me toys out the pram then!
so i thought has it snapped or just stripped the thread?i know i'll take another out for comparison,MISTAKE N0 2!.
yes the first bolt had snapped upon comparison but the second bolt wouldn't bite either!
because the inj were stuck so hard i decided i might get away with driving gently the two mile to pick up a heli coil set,MISTAKE N0 3!
100 yards and smoke,thumping from the engine bay!i knew damn well what had happened but managed to get it home.
no1 inj had been pushed 4 " upwards,snapped to plastic return diesel plug on top,sprayed diesel all over the engine but still ran!lol.
anyway,by now you're probably thinkin what a twat i must be,trust me i was too!
ok,so, borrowed a car,got heli coils,installed them fine,highly recommended and very solid repair,but still leaking inj 1,so now it had been out it came out no prob, and i saw the copper seal had blown.
called my mate( this is 3 days later now) no answer no seals, so bodged a repair with silicon sealant around the shaft of the injector and the car fired up and had come out of limp mode!fantastic i thought,except the silicon had started to be blown out so it started leaking again.
so for now i popped it out,smeared it in sealer left it overnight to set and hoped it would be sealed till my mate finally gets the proper seals to me.
heres where the problem starts and i need your help!
got in this morning,car fired up ran for 20 secs and cut out, it was out of fuel, rang another mate,he said he had a set of inj i could have and nip me for a gallon of fuel,he did so and left.
put fuel in managed to start it again, limp mode and now stuck in 2nd gear.
popped out the inj again,replaced with a known good one,second hand seal that had been with the injectors and looked better than mine,went in, no leaks this time without silicon etc,so thats all good,
still in limp mode,so disconnected the battery to clear the codes, reconnected,started up, now i've got bas/esp/abs light limp mode stuck in 2nd gear!
tried everything i could all day,managed to get the abs/esp/bas light to go out and stay off until i disconnect the battery,then its back until ive started the car four or five times then it clears again,but it still wont rev past 3000 rpm and stuck in second gear?
has anyone any ideas what i could try next, got 8 kids so dealer and star are out of the question at the mo.
please help?
Dan.
bit of background first.
had my 2002 e320 cdi for a while now,it has always ran fine but i knew it was in limp mode from the start, i was quite happy to drive it like this as i don't thrash around anymore, however a friend borrowed it and said its guzzling fuel! i was used to an old ford escort and the trip meter on my merc was showing 28-32 mpg average,i didn't think this was bad for the size of car and engine,so i lived with it,anyways while he had it he took it to a diagnostics indie and it came back it was slightly down on pressure on the rearmost cylinder,upon looking he found there was a slight leak from the injector, he said he'd ordered the seals and i could have them when they arrived, i'm a pretty competant mechanic so got inquisitive, found a vid on youtube of a guy changing an injector and in 5 mins his was out and back in,ahh no problem i thought i could do that!
so,with spanner in hand i proceded to undo the clamp retaining bolt,disconnected this that and the other and made a tool to pull the inj.
however it was stuck so solid that i didnt want to force anything and break it so decided to call it a day and put it back together, this is when i encountered my first problem, the clamp thread hole had filled with black death crud half way and trying to put the bolt back in it compressed and wouldnt budge until i snapped the bolt off!
threw me toys out the pram then!
so i thought has it snapped or just stripped the thread?i know i'll take another out for comparison,MISTAKE N0 2!.
yes the first bolt had snapped upon comparison but the second bolt wouldn't bite either!
because the inj were stuck so hard i decided i might get away with driving gently the two mile to pick up a heli coil set,MISTAKE N0 3!
100 yards and smoke,thumping from the engine bay!i knew damn well what had happened but managed to get it home.
no1 inj had been pushed 4 " upwards,snapped to plastic return diesel plug on top,sprayed diesel all over the engine but still ran!lol.
anyway,by now you're probably thinkin what a twat i must be,trust me i was too!
ok,so, borrowed a car,got heli coils,installed them fine,highly recommended and very solid repair,but still leaking inj 1,so now it had been out it came out no prob, and i saw the copper seal had blown.
called my mate( this is 3 days later now) no answer no seals, so bodged a repair with silicon sealant around the shaft of the injector and the car fired up and had come out of limp mode!fantastic i thought,except the silicon had started to be blown out so it started leaking again.
so for now i popped it out,smeared it in sealer left it overnight to set and hoped it would be sealed till my mate finally gets the proper seals to me.
heres where the problem starts and i need your help!
got in this morning,car fired up ran for 20 secs and cut out, it was out of fuel, rang another mate,he said he had a set of inj i could have and nip me for a gallon of fuel,he did so and left.
put fuel in managed to start it again, limp mode and now stuck in 2nd gear.
popped out the inj again,replaced with a known good one,second hand seal that had been with the injectors and looked better than mine,went in, no leaks this time without silicon etc,so thats all good,
still in limp mode,so disconnected the battery to clear the codes, reconnected,started up, now i've got bas/esp/abs light limp mode stuck in 2nd gear!
tried everything i could all day,managed to get the abs/esp/bas light to go out and stay off until i disconnect the battery,then its back until ive started the car four or five times then it clears again,but it still wont rev past 3000 rpm and stuck in second gear?
has anyone any ideas what i could try next, got 8 kids so dealer and star are out of the question at the mo.
please help?
Dan.
