In the ongoing saga of the dieing diesel, it's now been 3 weeks, & during that time I've had:
1. the K 40 relay replaced (without any improvement,) 2. fuel shut off solenoid replaced (again without any improvement,) 3. lower fuel pump replaced. NO error codes in the meantime. The car turned over & ran for a few days,albeit only sparce errands due to the unreliability, & yesterday while out on an appt 15 miles it died. I left it for a few hours & when I came back it turned over & started - running long enough to bring it back to the dealer,where they are baffled. Meanwhile I'm out close to $1000.00 for assorted labor & "repairs" (not including expenses for tows & being stranded) & back at square one. Most recently the IP developed a leak at the delivery line, but good ol Phil is sending the socket & we'll replace the delivery line O rings & washers. While at the dealer, (who does work with me,) I asked them to get MB involved & start throwing some of their nickels at correctly diagnosing this problem.

Terry - I still have the sporadic clattering from the belt tensioner area after replacing both the tensioner & shock. Told it's from the area below where the bolt goes into the block, but is not fatal. With the other issues it's taken a back seat.

After all this, I'm ready to abandon the car. I'm hoping it will finally be diagnosed & repaired, & with a trade in or sale max of only $5 - 7 K, I am thinking of keeping it for my son's car,considering all the recent maintenance done the past 2 years.Only 139,000 miles,new tires,brakes,plugs,etc. With all the out of state driving I do, I need confidence & reliablity.
I'm having a hard time justifying owning another Benz,or anything German presently. The past week test drove Infiniti M35 (cramped with little storage,)Lexus ES350 (good for napping)& today Acura (RL)-which for my money is quite a car. Teaser thoughts of a used CDI have crept in my mind as a dieseler,but the the cost of ownership & the German electronic's reliabilty & complications have left a soured taste. Any other areas to look at greatly appreciated. (no line leaks,replaced all fuel filters,gotta be some erratic electronic wiring or signal...?)
This forum has been of great help & I would've gotten rid of this boy long ago,had it not been for the details in the DIY dept. I only wish I could lend some insights to others with similar problems.

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06 CDI diesel fitter
96 E 300 D (sold but still chuggin)
87 300d (sold)
87 300TD (sold)
01 ML 320 (what was I thinkin?)

I assume when it runs, it runs fine?

When it dies is it spluttering and missing or is it sudden?

If slowly, it would lead one to think it is air related, if sudden (like key turned off) the shut off valve. Has the dealer checked current to the electrical pulg to the shutoff valve?

My wiring harness was repalced because of a bad connection to that valve causing it to close unexpectedly.

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

Yes,when it runs it runs fine. It's more the sudden type. There may be a moment or so that it may appear to be restarting,but that's probably my mind saying "Oh crap, not again." I'll mention it to my service adviser as an area to look at. IF the wiring to this valve is faulty,does that call for entire wiring harness or is a workaround possible? We'll see what this week brings. Thanks

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06 CDI diesel fitter
96 E 300 D (sold but still chuggin)
87 300d (sold)
87 300TD (sold)
01 ML 320 (what was I thinkin?)

That plug is an intergal part of the overall harness. Includes darn near every wire under the hood all interconnected. Mine flew here from Germany as the part was not stocked in the US. Seem to recall it was $600 at dealer to R & R???

Another area to consider is the fuel management circut board which may be sending a faulty signal through the K40 relay to the shutoff solenoid? Am not certain the exact path that signal travels.

Before the wiring harness, my dealer made me buy a new $3-400 key too....I held my ground and said no when they wanted a compression test as was an intermittent problem much like yours.....don't you love their lack of logic sometimes?

I think anything to do with the shutoff solenoid should create a code? It may be one that clears itself after 3 (good) cold starts so might be good to check immediately after the fault occurs.

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

Mitcheew,
I'm sorry to hear about your problems, and I know from experience what you're going through. You are chasing a problem that could be found in a number of places, somewhere, soon, or never.

In my case it was related to a 4Matic, but when you look at it it is related to the overwhelming amount of electronic components in "modern" cars.

Before you buy another car, any other car, let me tell you that the only way to avoid such problems in the future is to buy an older car. I, personally, think 1995 is the last year I would buy a Mercedes. Reliability issues were pretty much unknown in the earlier days for Mercedes; recently they have increased at an alarming rate. Most of them are related to 7-speed automatics, transmission computers that have to communicate with the engine computer, screens, navigation systems, etc. Buy a 300D and you will not have such problems. Recently I saw a 1995 E300D with 24K miles sell on eBay for $19,5K. The price tells you that there are quite a few people who are fed up with the new generation of cars.

You can't win the race against the Johnsons next door with a new Lexus. They buy a bigger or newer one. Best is not to play the game. Buy the best, lowest mile older Mercedes you can find, and keep it.

On a personal note: my business partner and I could pretty much afford to buy any car we'd like. Drive a Jaguar, even a Bentley, perhaps a Hummer.

He drove a 1998 Jeep, his third one, sold it with 160K miles to buy a new 2006 model. Sold it after 14 days, bought an almost new 2005 model. Sold it after 4 weeks and bought another 98, just because it's the better car, with better built quality and more interior space.

I'm driving a 1995 Mercedes Diesel every day. I would not trade it for a new one. Ever.

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Bernard
www.californiaclassix.com

My personal Diesel fleet:
1995 Mercedes E300D SE (24-valve, DOHC, 6-cylinder EDS Diesel--> 134hp)
1992 Dodge Ram (intercooled Cummins 6-cylinder turbodiesel--> 160hp)
1985 Mercedes 300CD (5-cylinder turbodiesel--> 120hp)
1978 Mercedes 240D (teenage daughter's first car--> 62hp . . . supposedly)

Two other possibilities worth considering:

1) Car Alarm Sytem. Intermiitent malfunction.
2) Defective Ignition switch.

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'95 E300 Diesel, 264,000 Miles. [Sold it]

I got your message about this, Terry.

Please don't lose all hope, Mitch. Your car is worth more than 7K in running condition, although I agree that it isn't that way now. I paid well over that for my '96 with 183K on the clock.

I don't know how you could eliminate the wiring harness without replacing it, and I really hate to suggest a $600 part on a hunch. It could be the harness though. It could also be the IFI computer. Another high-dollar part on a hunch. But mine had both of these replaced shortly before I got the car, plus a number of other expensive parts.

The only thing that can probably be eliminated is the rack modulator and its wiring, since the position sensor would cause the computer to throw a code.

I assume that you've inspected the plastic lines immediately after the engine died, to eliminate the possibility of air leaks.

If it were my car, I would inspect the wiring at the shut-off diverter valve on the IP first. Unwrap a bit of it both at the IP and at the connector on the front firewall, just outside of the module box. Also check to ensure that the connection to the IFI computer is secure. Barring any problems there, I might tap into the shut-off valve wiring and run a wire to the inside of the car, to an indicator lamp. The front fusebox is open to the passenger compartment under the dash, and I've fished a pair of wires through there to diagnose my M4 problems while driving.