[Richard888]

Hello all! Just finished replacing my airmatic compressor and valve block. Pretty simple, no issues. However, when I started the car up, it runs until the compressor kicks in and then it stalls. I put the old compressor back on and it did the same thing. I did pull the relay and the fuses out before I did the work. Did I miss anything else?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Deplore]

What stalls? The compressor or the engine?

 

[Richard888]

What stalls? The compressor or the engine?

The engine will stall after about 5 seconds at the same time compressor turns on. The old compressor, which did not stall the engine originally, stalls the engine now.

 

[Deplore]

Alternator is not charging. Put voltmeter on the jump start terminals and check voltage.

 

[Richard888]

Alternator is not charging. Put voltmeter on the jump start terminals and check voltage.

I'll try that when I get home, but the volt meter on the dash showed minimum 12v at start and would jump to 14 before engine cuts.

 

[Deplore]

Pull the airmatic relay and see if car shuts off.

 

[Richard888]

Pull the airmatic relay and see if car shuts off.

I thought of that yesterday just to see if I can get the car to run, but with the relay out, the engine won't turn over at all. When I unplug the big electrical plug to the compressor, the car starts and runs, but the airmatic is not functional.

 

[Deplore]

You need to start pulling codes with a scanner that can connect to Mercedes equipment and see what's up.

You sure you're pulling the right relay? I believe it's a green relay.

What about the big 40a orange fuse?

 

[Richard888]

You need to start pulling codes with a scanner that can connect to Mercedes equipment and see what's up.

You sure you're pulling the right relay? I believe it's a green relay.

What about the big 40a orange fuse?

That is correct. Both orange fuses and the green relay. I even tried swapping the relay with the other green one. Same result...

 

[nrphlly]

I’ve had this problem before. Did you buy a factory Airmatic pump or cheap Chinese version?

 

[Richard888]

I’ve had this problem before. Did you buy a factory Airmatic pump or cheap Chinese version?

Cheap version...

 

[Richard888]

According to one of the codes I pulled, the auxiliary battery had an issue. I think that's my next step this morning...

Appreciate everyone's help!

 

[StenoPete1911]

Hello. Aux battery will not cause your compressor issue. Your issue lies with the cheap airmatic compressor, so return that, and get yourself a brand name, OEM, a MUST - speaking from experience. If you start your car enough times and it shuts off, you will burn out your fuse box and will need to get a new one. Again, speaking from experience. That fuse box has an internal metal wire on the outer diameter of the box and it will burn out from the load. Get MB OEM or Arnott, fcpeuro.com has both, and I bought the Arnott with the valve block. Lifetime warranty on parts. GL.

 

[Richard888]

Hello. Aux battery will not cause your compressor issue. Your issue lies with the cheap airmatic compressor, so return that, and get yourself a brand name, OEM, a MUST - speaking from experience. If you start your car enough times and it shuts off, you will burn out your fuse box and will need to get a new one. Again, speaking from experience. That fuse box has an internal metal wire on the outer diameter of the box and it will burn out from the load. Get MB OEM or Arnott, fcpeuro.com has both, and I bought the Arnott with the valve block. Lifetime warranty on parts. GL.

So I followed your suggestion and bought a arnott from FCP. In your case, just swapping the compressor fixed the stalling issue? I tried my old compressor and although it didn't stall before, now even the original compressor stalls the engine. Again, the fuse box and all the fuses look perfect.

Appreciate your help.

 

[StenoPete1911]

So I followed your suggestion and bought a arnott from FCP. In your case, just swapping the compressor fixed the stalling issue? I tried my old compressor and although it didn't stall before, now even the original compressor stalls the engine. Again, the fuse box and all the fuses look perfect.

Appreciate your help.

Hello. Good decision on the Arnott. Make sure to also buy the valve box, by Arnott, for the air lines. Let me take a guess, it starts, runs for about 2/3 seconds and dies? That is indicative of what I mentioned earlier - your fuse box is shot. The Chinese compressor/fuse overloaded your fuse box and the box did what it was supposed to, it protected the system. Speaking from experience as the same thing happened to me.

There are three screws holding it in place, then disconnect all the bottom connectors, then you'll see a part number. Use that to search on eBay for a replacement. Used boxes work fine and you'll get a 30/90 day warranty. Following the part number there's going to be another series of numbers - it's like a version designation - make sure it supercedes the one you're replacing. Once the replacement arrives, installation is the reverse of what you did earlier.

You could try to run the engine, to verify, by removing the compressor fuse, but it'll just stall.

GL.

 

[StenoPete1911]

Hello. Here's a visual of the internal fusebox problem. Also, while you're there, don't forget to change the air filter for the compressor. It runs up towards the wheel fender. Old ones are pretty much done after 5 years. GL.

 

[Richard888]

Hello. Here's a visual of the internal fusebox problem. Also, while you're there, don't forget to change the air filter for the compressor. It runs up towards the wheel fender. Old ones are pretty much done after 5 years. GL. View attachment 2795687

Yes, I have a new air filter already. Just to confirm, were taking about the fuse box that holds the 2 orange fuses and the green relay, correct? The underside of my box does not have that colored strip shown in your picture. I'll post when I get home...

 

[StenoPete1911]

Yes, I have a new air filter already. Just to confirm, were taking about the fuse box that holds the 2 orange fuses and the green relay, correct? The underside of my box does not have that colored strip shown in your picture. I'll post when I get home...

Hello. It's the fuse box that holds the compressor relay. It won't be on the underside of the fuse box, but inside, and if you want to you can try to take it apart, then do so. If your welding skills are good then you might be able to salvage your fuse box, but you won't know what else fried on the board. Either way, post what you got and we'll go from there. GL.

 

[Richard888]

Hello. It's the fuse box that holds the compressor relay. It won't be on the underside of the fuse box, but inside, and if you want to you can try to take it apart, then do so. If your welding skills are good then you might be able to salvage your fuse box, but you won't know what else fried on the board. Either way, post what you got and we'll go from there. GL.

 

[Teutone]

View attachment 2795697
View attachment 2795696
View attachment 2795695

For having found the X164 forum section = chassis for your car.
Please Complete your Profile to show the year and model of your car next to every one of your posts.
Members are not likely to search for the one post the model of the car is mentioned.

The forum section archives have a wealth of DIY / technical information.
When researching an issue / posting, you can also Search the forum archives of your chassis section via the 'Search Community' box on top..

The stickies on top of the 'Welcome' section will help to navigate the site.