update on blown engine in spain (1 Viewer)

[chesterfield hooligan]

Hi again there is another point has your van bin remaped or chipped which alters the timing which might cause the piston to self distruct if it has bin chipped or remaped then it could happen again perhaps you could check befor you fit the new engine
yours hooligan

 

[jacken]

God!! I never gave it a thought until you asked in your post. But--yes, it does have a chip thingy. It was on the van when I bought it. It is a little black box strapped to the inside of the bonnet. Do you think this could have caused one piston to go?

ken

 

[andyman]

I have been speaking to a friend who is a comercial vehicle dealer. And he tells me that damaging a piston is not uncommon on these engines and is usually due to a faulty injector.
Were you aware of a diesel knock over the last 1000 miles or so ?

Andy

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[chesterfield hooligan]

Hi again if you mess about with the timing you could end up with predetenation of the fuel which in itself could smash the piston or in the case of a petrol melt the piston as it retains the extea heat from the predetination I personly would be worried fitting a new engine I am not sure what I would perfaps the 2 year garentee might give you a little peace of mind it's still a lot of money I know I could not afford it I hope everything goes well I know if I blew a piston I would buy a new set and stick um in what would that cost £3000 max with shipping
good luck yours Hooligan

 

[Geo]

Hi
I have been waiting to run your problem by my oldest Son who is a Mercedes training/teaching tech, His comment!! I'm not at all surprised:Sad: this problem is well known in Mercedes land and is caused by a condition termed as "hosing" poor/faulty injector pattern causing a hot spot on the piston by concentrating a jet of fuel in one place instead of a spray pattern
Ask your self why a complete engine was almost waiting for you to come in, answer is because its almost a stock item due to demandoh:
his advise is, shout hard enough and long enough and you will almost certainly be offered a contribution, but you will have to stick at it, Mercedes are apparently extremely coy about recalls and many are carried out during routine servicing without the customers knowledge
Geo
ps the little black box proberbly had little if anything to do with the problem

 

[Bulletguy]

I have been waiting to run your problem by my oldest Son who is a Mercedes training/teaching tech, His comment!! I'm not at all surprised:Sad: this problem is well known in Mercedes land and is caused by a condition termed as "hosing".......
ps the little black box proberbly had little if anything to do with the problem

Hmmm. Personally i believe 'Chesterfield' guy makes a very strong point and i'm somewhat dismayed to hear from Ken that indeed it has been chipped (or would appear to be from what he describes).

Chipping re-modifies the engine which makes it 'non-standard spec' and can lead to all sorts of problems.....insurance being just one of them as people often fail to notify their insurers. Any engine manufactured to original spec is made that way for a purpose and modifying can lead to disastrous results when only part/s of the engine is modified.

Back in my car 'tinkering' days when insurance companies were not so fussy about 'mods', i used to 'mess about' with Cooper S engines. Most people modified the cylinder head and ports.....few bothered to think about the crank, rods 'n pistons because of money and effort involved. Brakes were even further down the list! Often it was only a matter of time before the crankshaft went bang!

At least i see this thread has generated a huge amount of interest with over 1600 views now. I'd like to think that Merc UK will show the same interest and at least find a way to help Ken recover some of his costs.

Just don't leave the engine there.....find a way of bringing it back!

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[Geo]

Just to clarify the black box does the same thing to all 5 injectors ie increase opening times and or delay closing, it has absolutely no effect on spray pattens your logic does not explain why white van man is suffering the same problem without the black box
the problem more than likely occurred only a very short while before the piston holed, tests have shown it to be a very rapid scenario from injector fault to damage apparently as short as 4 hrs running on a faulty injector
OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its been chipped!!!! thats it then Do you work for Mercedes Customer care by any chanceoh:

 

[ehuplad]

The problem the new Common rail engines have is cleanliness, The fuel system has to be assembled in operating theatre type cleanliness.

The main sympton of dirt in the fuel system is injector hosing

Minute particals of dirt grit etc get clogged in the injector which causes the problem we are talking dirt as low as 5 microns.

 

[Sundowners]

our daughter had a problem with front springs on a low mileage Cirroen c2 ?
She had checked beforehand, and there was a recall on her VIN No. The main dealer denied it.
The spring broke and they said she would have to pay to get the car to them and pay for a new spring.
It was sooooooooooo expensive that she had it done locally.
She then trawled forums and found that it was a VERY common known fault, so she sent copies to Citroen and threatened to go to the media---------------guess what????? they paid all her expenses.
The point is, do research and don't be afraid of the mighty. what can you lose ??????
We REALLY feel for you and hope you can get a bit back from Merc.
Nigel & Pamala

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[scotjimland]

Sprinter faults and servicing tips

Electronic injectors dont seem to last too long and you cant just replace them. you then need to go to mercs and have them callibrated by number as they are precision metering units. A worn injector can cause over fuelling to a cylinder and crack pistons which is engine out and replace...ouch!
E

Full thread here on BenzWorld forum

Link Removed

 

[Braunston]

Hi, Its really worth typing "mercedes sprinters piston damage" into a google search it makes very interesting reading, theres even a damaged engine for sale on ebay

Link Removed

 

[Bulletguy]

Just to clarify the black box does the same thing to all 5 injectors ie increase opening times and or delay closing, it has absolutely no effect on spray pattens your logic does not explain why white van man is suffering the same problem without the black box.

Depends on what 'the black box' is.

If it's an emu fitted as standard by Mercedes then fine ok. If not, then it may not be ok.

As for 'white van man'.......that just about covers 99% of mh's and campers!

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[jacken]

Many, Many thanks for all your advice and comments. Thanks to 'Geo' for enlisting help from your son. We are off to the garage to-morrow, when the new engine is being fitted. I will take the number from the blown engine and if possible, take photos of damage. I will also try to get a report of what they found when stripping the engine. We will, with the encouragement from you Funsters, write to Merc when we get home and see what happens.

ken

 

[olley]

Depends on what 'the black box' is.

If it's an emu fitted as standard by Mercedes then fine ok. If not, then it may not be ok.

As for 'white van man'.......that just about covers 99% of mh's and campers!

Emu? didn't rod hull have one of them

Olley

 

[Geo]

You knew what he meant, your getting as bad as meoh:

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[davejen]

Many, Many thanks for all your advice and comments. Thanks to 'Geo' for enlisting help from your son. We are off to the garage to-morrow, when the new engine is being fitted. I will take the number from the blown engine and if possible, take photos of damage. I will also try to get a report of what they found when stripping the engine. We will, with the encouragement from you Funsters, write to Merc when we get home and see what happens.

ken

Hi, Ken if I were you I would contact Mercedes STRAIGHT AWAY and explain the situation. Take note of all correspondence with NAMES and DATES etc. Obviously keep COPIES of any paperwork involved. I find that if you leave things till later you (or I) forget things!
Best of luck, Dave:thumb:

 

[Mikemoss]

Not sure how relevant (or not) this might be but ... I have a Mercedes E class of the series (W210) which has become notorious for body rust. After much initial fuss made by disgruntled owners, MB have been repairing and/or replacing affected panels on goodness knows how many vehicles - although the MobiloLife scheme covers rusting-through from underneath for up to 30 years, the repairs have been described as 'goodwill.'

My point is that to claim successfully, it is necessary to go through your MB dealer and be persistent (and I mean really, really persistent) in pushing the claim via the dealer. MB UK will expect a main dealer service record showing that the vehicle has been serviced by them within the past year or two (sorry, not sure of the exact details here).

What I'm leading up to is that it might well be worth sticking to your guns with this dreadful engine failing, and that enlisting the support of your MB dealer could be critical to success.

My 10-year-old E320, incidentally, has finally had all its rusty bits repaired with MB making a 50% contribution, which I felt was more than fair.

Anyway, which you every success in getting this sorted. For anyone else out there with a blown Merc engine, if Crewe Engines are still in business they do rebuilt Mercedes engines available either as a block, or cylinder head (or both, of course). Had one on an early W124 estate and it was fine.

 

[Bulletguy]

....anyone else out there with a blown Merc engine, if Crewe Engines are still in business they do rebuilt Mercedes engines available either as a block, or cylinder head (or both, of course). Had one on an early W124 estate and it was fine.

Indeed they are

Crewe Engines

Just twenty minutes away from where i live!
Interesting to note is they specialise in all types of Merc engines.

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[Blisters]

Not sure of how much help this would be, but the Sales of Goods Act says

'• For up to six years after purchase (five years from discovery in Scotland) purchasers can demand damages (which a court would equate to the cost of a repair or replacement).'

I don't know the ins and outs, but I think it's worth taking legal advise for this amount of money.