Mercedes 208D auto-trail diesel leak (1 Viewer)

Dan The motorhome man

Free Member
Nov 9, 2015
20
27
United Kingdom
Funster No
40,096
MH
Mercedes 208d autotrail
Exp
2014
Afternoon folks,
I've noticed i have a diesel leak and after hunting around underneath checking the fuel lines and wiping the crud off i found nothing. I took out the centre console in the cab to access the engine and it seem that diesel is wicking through the inlet manifold gasket down the side of the engine, its a very slow leak but has reduced my MPG to 10.
Im not 100% sure if it is the inlet manifold gasket but thats where if seems to be.
I've booked into a motorhome stop in spain and im hoping to (if i can) get parts delivered and repair my self.
If pictures or a video would help im more than happy to upload.

what are your thoughts?

Many Thanks
Dan
 
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Dan The motorhome man

Dan The motorhome man

Free Member
Nov 9, 2015
20
27
United Kingdom
Funster No
40,096
MH
Mercedes 208d autotrail
Exp
2014
Cheers for that, i just downloaded it on my phone through the scribd app and was wondering how to get it on the PC

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Dan The motorhome man

Dan The motorhome man

Free Member
Nov 9, 2015
20
27
United Kingdom
Funster No
40,096
MH
Mercedes 208d autotrail
Exp
2014
A pic from inside the cab. Has anyone seen this problem before from a gasket failure? or is it possible the diesel is coming from else where? its wet all alone the gasket line .
20151110_172625.jpg
 
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Dan The motorhome man

Dan The motorhome man

Free Member
Nov 9, 2015
20
27
United Kingdom
Funster No
40,096
MH
Mercedes 208d autotrail
Exp
2014
Thank you, im not familiar with diesel engines at all. But will assume its the braided hose coming from the injector. i will keep scouring the net for info but again thank you for pointing me in a direction!
 
Aug 18, 2014
23,539
131,308
Lorca,Murcia,Spain
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Transit PVC
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16 years since restarting
Yes as said that braided hose is leak off pipe & will loop from one injector to the next & then either return to tank , filter or even pump. The first injector will have a short piece of hose with a blank plug in it same as your photo. looking at that I'd think that the best way is to start the engine & see whether it is spraying out from somewhere. Be it the leak off pipe ,loose injector nut, even an injector pipe with a perforation in it.
When checking with it runinng DON'T use your hand/fingers as the high pressure can easily puncture skin . Use a piece of paper ,card , rag ,etc.

It is highly unlikely to be a fault with the inlet manifold gasket as basically it is only air coming in through the inlet manifold. The diesel would only be leaking from the injectors when it was running ,unless an injector nut was loose.
That leak off pipe you can obtain from any commercial repair garage here. Cheapest place normally . I pay 6€/metre.
Hope this helps.
P,S, Whereabouts are you in Spain.
 
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Dan The motorhome man

Dan The motorhome man

Free Member
Nov 9, 2015
20
27
United Kingdom
Funster No
40,096
MH
Mercedes 208d autotrail
Exp
2014
sounds like a positive outcome! and thank you for the advice, i'd say this forum membership had already paid for itself.
im currently just outside Almayate, véléz-Málaga. On a great little motorhome site.
 
Aug 18, 2014
23,539
131,308
Lorca,Murcia,Spain
Funster No
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Transit PVC
Exp
16 years since restarting
Another place that you can always obtain spares like leak off pipe , water & oil pipe & elbows ,etc is any tractor dealers. They are normally dotted about all over & keep an aladdins cave of parts that can be modified to suit older vehicles.

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Peter A Forbes

Free Member
Nov 23, 2014
270
184
Rushden, Northants, UK
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Mercedes 614D
Exp
10+
Volkswagen and many others use that same braided flexible leak-off pipe.

If that is some kind of screw jammed in the final short piece then diesel will run up the threads and leak out.

It is all push-fit stuff so buy a metre or so and renew it all, it's an hours job, nothing more.

The other thing to remember is that on a good injector there isn't much spill at all, it's only when the nozzle gets worn that it gets significant leak-off flow.

A bit of leak-off shouldn't affect your MPG hardly at all, so look for a bad injector pipe union somewhere that is leaking when running.

Peter
 

Jaws

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Sep 26, 2008
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Thetford Norfolk
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A leaky manifold gasket would cause a pretty nasty misfire !
 
Aug 6, 2013
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I know, its filthy! but im on a money saving adventure :) i shall definitely give it some elbow grease though
Don't think bling was the point. It's easier to find a leak when the area isn't covered in whatever is leaking :D.

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Dan The motorhome man

Dan The motorhome man

Free Member
Nov 9, 2015
20
27
United Kingdom
Funster No
40,096
MH
Mercedes 208d autotrail
Exp
2014
Ran the engine this morning and I could see the diesel almost pulsing out of the braiding of the hoses, as I was removing them almost all of them snapped in my hand, extremely brittle.
Had a trundle into town and managed to get a meters worth of hose for 3 euro. Once fitted, I ran the engine for 10min and it seems to have fixed it. After reading the comments on here, I now believe there may be an underlying problem, I have noticed a lack in power but put it down to the leak. so could injectors be next on the agenda?

Again thank you everyone for your help.
20151111_181556[1].jpg
 

Peter A Forbes

Free Member
Nov 23, 2014
270
184
Rushden, Northants, UK
Funster No
34,314
MH
Mercedes 614D
Exp
10+
The leak-off fluid wouldn't affect your performance unless it was introducing combustion gases into the fuel on the inlet to the injection pump.

I'd suggest getting the injectors tested though, new nozzles are about 25-30 euros each plus fitting and testing.

The better fuel consumption would pay for the work pretty quickly, assuming that worn nozzles are the issue.

If you PM me your VIN number I'll check on the Mercedes and Bosch part numbers tomorrow.

Peter
 

hiho

Free Member
May 21, 2016
2
1
crosshands
Funster No
43,216
MH
Mercedes 208D Auto-trail
Exp
not long
Thank you TheBig1 for the manual. I've been looking for one for along time.Cheers

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funflair

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Dec 11, 2013
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Guisborough
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You should know if you have an injector off it will knock like a bag of hammers when you start it from cold but settle down when hot.

If the pipe you have on the injector leak off is not the proper stuff just keep an eye on it when it warms up and make sure it's up to the job.

Martin
 

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