E320 Bluetec - Blown Intercooler line ?
 

All,
I have a 2007 E320 Bluetec with 48k on the clock. Today when I was passing someone I heard a POP then the car lost power :eek:
I hear the turbo building boost, but it sounds like a massive hairdryer - all the air is not going in the intake. I immediately turned around and went home (<2mi) and pulled the intake boots off. They were not shreded, broken, etc. However one of the O-rings does look suspect. Can you guys help me look for anything else ? I really don't see any other rubber fitting....

Thanks,
Steve

Just a quick update:

The car idles fine; but you can hear air leaking. I removed the intake side intercooler boot and there's boost coming through. The one thing I noticed when I shut it down was there was a little pop sound, almost like a backfire. Not loud, but something that I never heard previously.

CEL ought to be on. What codes?

Good point I missed:

That's what is interesting - the CEL light is not on....

You got to check all your hoses and connections between the turbo/intercooler/engine. You got a leak:).

Ok gents...I plugged in one of the bluetooth scanners I have and here's the codes it spit out:

P0171 - System too lean (Bank 1)
P0101 - Mass or Volume Air Flow Circuit Range/Performance problem
P2611 - A/C Refrigerant Distribution Valve Control Circuit/Open
P2011 - Intake Manf Runner Control Circuit/Open Bank 2a

I just checked the ECU last week for codes...nada. The A/C one is odd..

Well I took the turbo intake off, and I removed everything from the turbo to the intercooler (charge pipe, some plastic muffler looking piece, and the intercooler inlet hose). Everything looked fine, minimum amount of oil under the tubo, nothing really in the hoses. The O ring looked new on the charge pipe, and the ones on the rest looked ok.
I can still definitely hear air escaping when I rev the motor at idle. What I did notice however is when I turned the engine off, there was an electronic high-pitched buzzing coming from near the front of the motor (like where the throttle body would be). Is this normal, or should I look there next ?
I really do not find any obvious places of a leak. With the amount of air coming out (by sound anyway) it seems like it should be obvious - but at this point Im grasping at straws....and really getting worried.

Finally this morning the CEL came on...Still the same codes though. I hooked the scanner back up and took it for a ride around the block. Car runs bad (to be expected), and still sounds like I have a turbine under there when I call for boost. That said, can anyone tell me where the manifold pressure sensor is located ? This would be helpful because then I know that my leak is before this point.....As the engine was only reporting 5psi.

The whine/buzz is normal. It's the intercooler pump. It runs for about 30 seconds after the car is shut down. I have an '08 E320 Bluetec and an E55K and both cars do the same thing.

Unfortunately can't help out with your boost leak.

I had something similar happen the first time I removed the plastic Tee pipe connecting the two air filters to the turbo. One didn't seat on the bottom properly when I put it back together. No turbo, MAF faults, etc. Sucks air, sounds like a turbine fan, and wont accelarate.

Keep looking for air supply leaks. Check EGR on pass side of turbo inlet too.

Terry,
Interesting. I just had it off last night again when I went through everything; but I'll take another look now to make sure that it looks fine.

Edit - just looked at everything and it is connected properly.

Well I replaced all the O-Rings and still issues. I was pretty bummed after changing them all, so I decided to run one more test - and if I still couldn't find the cause - I'd take the car into the dealer.
I wanted to pressurize the system with the engine off. I figured if I pressurize the system just after the turbo - I should find the leak. Here's what I built - all for under $10:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-i.../IMG_00409.jpg

I then disconected the intercooler line from the muffler elbow in the front of the engine. I hooked up my pressure device, set my compressor regulator to 15psi, and let it go. Here's what I found:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/108306259852786561284/albums/5876513759512276961/5876514617984285314

Its the casting that the other intercooler hose connects to. The hole feels to be about 16mm in diameter, and it is smooth on the inside. My gut feeling tells me that there was a casting plug in there that I blew out ?
I need to examine this further. Perhaps I just did blow a casting plug - or is this an overboost safety, and I have a MAP or wastegate issue ? I find it difficult to imagine that its an over boost safety, as its in a real tight location - but ya never know.

Any ideas ? Im going to try to see if the dealer has one of the throttle bodies in stock that I can look at on the shelf to see what exactly goes in there. But for now - I feel much better knowing that Im getting closer to this saga being over :thumbsup:

Real hard to tell but are you sure that intercooler hose is secure?

Yep. There's actually a hole that I plugged with my finger. You can hear the pressure release when I unplug it in the video...

Looks like it may be a sensor blowed out? You don't have anything hanging loose in that area do you?