BoostFiend

Hello everyone. First I want to say I searched, but didn't find exactly what I was looking for. So I apoligize if I missed it if its been discussed already.

I just got a 1 owner , 06 E320 CDI with 74k miles on it last week from a dealership that was a new car trade in. I drove 8 hours round trip to get it. I really enjoyed driving it home and really like it so far. Although I did find it a little rough to start when the temps are around 20 F when sitting over night. I did find a receipt about 30k miles ago and 3 years ago where all 6 glow plugs were replaced. It didn't say what brand but did have correct part number. So not sure if the have the wrong voltage bosch plugs or if they are correct and I got a small air leak somewhere. (Although I have looked and no visable leaks) So still looking into that.

Anyways to the topic of the thread. I would like to disable the EGR for the several known reasons. Mainly to keep from clogging intake and also don't like the fact it makes oil dirty very quickly, and also just to eliminate the chance of running into limp mode while on a long drive etc if it sticks.

So I had emailed Mark at Malone tuning and he did mention they can just disable the EGR in the tune. I like this idea instead of doing any wiring or fooling boxes. My only concern is even though they have a good reputation for TDI's etc. I can not find a single review on a CDI tune and since the tune and flazilla combo is pretty pricey wanted to see if anyone here had done this and what thier thoughts are. BTW I am not really concerned so much with the power increase (raises it to 235hp/415ft ) although if its safe I won't mind the increase ;-)

Sorry I wrote a book on my first post!

Plutoe

Yep!

mtrevelino

My take on the cold hard starting is that you have the wrong glow plugs installed. The part number listed by MB two or three years ago was for the wrong plug. The only way to tell for sure is to have someone pull one to see if it says Beru 5V.
Mike T.

BoostFiend

I live in Kansas. So no emission testing. I have owned several diesel vehicles. Including many modern common rail and several old indirect and mechanic injection.
And yes on a direct injection diesel engine. Disabling the EGR will keep the oil clean for much longer. Although it may not matter much in a old indirect injection diesel. So you sir are mistaken. I will give a couple of examples of diesels I have owned that still had golden oil after few thousand miles. 97 7.3 powerstroke , 98 Dodge 5.9 cummins. Both would have golden oil and they had no egr. As soon as the newer engines added EGR they would get black right away. And I have had those as well. Including our 2012 Golf TDI and my 05 cummins (it actually used cam timing as a "In head" egr) they turn black almost immediatly.

BoostFiend

Thanks for the information. Yeah at this point I think that is the most likely scenerio. I will probably pull one out soon and if so replace them all. A little paranoid about breaking one coming out though.

mtrevelino

I would suggest that you try soaking (give it a squirt each day) the glow plug for a couple of days with something like Blaster PB penetrating oil. Others have said it will make removal easier. Also do it when the engine is hot.
Mike T.

Plutoe

Yep again!

BoostFiend

Plutoe

Why don't you go disappear. You have have nothing positive, or knowledgeable to offer.

Its not that the glow plugs have failed. If they did I would get a check engine light.
Its just that there is a known issue of the wrong voltage glow plugs that were used in replacements
that cause them not to get hot enough and can cause some poor cold starting.
So checking the ohm resistance won't be a clear indication. You have to pull one out and see
what is stamped on them.

So its you that doesn't have the foggiest whats going on.

edwinwalke

If you installed anything other than the 5Volt Behr plug you are going to have the problem you have described. Many online parts shops are selling the Bosch plugs which are 12volt and they don't work. Been there and done that.

BoostFiend

Thanks Edwin. What symptoms were you experiencing when you had this happen?

IngenereAMG

If you want more power as well as that EGR disabled, our tuning will do the job.

Let me know if you have any questions.

mtrevelino

When my cdi had the wrong plugs installed for approximately 3 months and 3,000 miles (October to January), I noticed that it ran rough for the first minute or so when first started. It did not do it often as 95-percent of the time my car was garaged and the garage temperature would rarely dip below 50 degrees.

Other than that you will not get any codes.

I hope you read the following posts regarding the glow plugs:

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...-starting.html

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w211...eru-not-4.html

Mike T.

BoostFiend

Thanks Mike.

edwinwalke

Mine did the same as Mike's.

BoostFiend

Well guys. I pulled out #2 and #3 since they were the easiest to get to. They were the wrong bosch plugs. 11.5 volt. So I will replace them all with the beru. Unfortuantly they did not use antiseize and they were pretty tight. I was very careful and those 2 came out ok. ( I did use pb blaster and warm up the engine)
I do have a question though. How did you get the 4 and 5 plugs there is the plastic wire harness holder that is kinda in the way did you have to remove that?

BoostFiend

Ok I got all the plugs removed except #4. Some were very squeaky coming out and I was a bit nervous!
So this #4 glow plug whats the best way to get it out? It looks like I might have to atleast loosing the wiring harness to get it out. I don't have any reverse torx for those bolts ,but looks like I should pick some up.

mtrevelino

Sorry, I cannot help you on this one as I did not change out my plugs myself. I am glad that you found your cold start problem.
On another note, my #4 plug went out about 8 months ago. I only had that one replaced. I did purchase it and gave it to the mechanic that I use. It was a good thing because he never heard of the 5V Beru plugs, and would have purchased and installed the 11V Bosch plug..
Mike T.

BoostFiend

Ok I got the #4 out. But not without a little drama. I was using a 3/8 10mm on the others and that would not work and I couldn't find my 1/4 drive one, so I went to the parts store and got one. There was still a little pressure because of the angle then I would of liked from the ext pressing against the wiring harness. So I got it what I thought all the way out but it just kept spinning and would not come out. I finally screwed it back in and it went in ok. So I tried it again same thing. What I figured out to help with the angle as I got towards the top I used a flat head screwdriver in the back of the 10 mm socket. And then at the very top I wiggled it a little bit with needle nose and it came out. So now just waiting on my new plugs to get in.
I think the hang up was like the very last thread on the glow plug got slightly distorted from the slight pressure of the angle if that makes sense.
Anyways its a relief I was starting to get worried on that last one.

mtrevelino

It's funny that you mentioned this. When I tried to get my #4 out, it just spun. I even tried starting the car to see if it would pop out. I finally gave up and screwed it back in and let my indie do it. He said he did not have any problems with getting it out. I knew that it could not be carbon holding it in as it was not that old. I thought that maybe the "probe" blew out or ballooned and was stopping it from coming out. Lesson learned for the next time!
Mike T.

BoostFiend

So just to follow up. I did get my new BERU plugs in today. And got them installed after work. Its been very cold out here,(-10 yesterday) started right up and no smoke no missing etc.

Thanks for everyone's help.

mtrevelino

Another satisfied customer! I am glad the correct glow plugs corrected your cold starting issue.
Mike T.

edwinwalke

For what its worth, if I remember correctly I ended grinding a little plastic from the wiring harness so there was no tension on the socket. came righty out. I also used antiseize on the new plugs. Just had to replace two of those and they came out without a hitch.


Glad to hear you are back in business.

mmuthart

Boostfiend,

Any updates on your search for a tune? I'm in a similar situation as you....I'm coming from the Powerstroke world where tunes are plentiful and cheap. I've had my '05 CDI for a couple months and have yet to pull the trigger on a tune. I'm looking for better fuel economy and EGR delete. I've spoken with InMotion Tuning and he said disabling the EGR completely was not possible but his tune would lower the duty cycle but he wouldn't say by how much. In fact, he wouldn't devuldge any details on his tune, claiming they were propriatary. Kinda strange...

I've also contacted EuroCharged, but they apparently are not too interested in a sale, they did respond once but have not answered my follow-up questions.

Please post up your finding on a tune and I'll do the same! Thanks.

BoostFiend

Hello there. Yeah its been a little difficult to find one with much feedback. I will say I have NOT been impressed with Malone tuning. It takes several days to weeks to get a response and the engine they have listed on thier site is the 3.0 liter which would be the om642 , but has the horsepower torque figures match our engine OM648, but last time I tried to ask for clarification I haven't got a respone yet.
I have got a few PM's from tuners who visit this site, and some of them look good but most of thier tuning is on gas engines (or atleast that is what it looked like based off their site and feedback) I just recently seen Green Diesel Engineering site and they have a good reputation on mercedes diesel for Jeeps CRD's and do have our car listed as well. They will disable the EGR and tuning should give 2-5 mpg increase as well as about 29 horse increase. Also when I asked some questions they got back to me immediatly.I will likely go with them and will post update once I do.

mmuthart

I looked at Green Diesel Engineering as well, but was a bit turned off by the $695 price tag. At that price they include a tuner but looking back at my Powerstroke experience, a tuner is nice, but ultimately just ends up sitting in the glove box collecting dust. I wonder if they have an option to download the tune without selling the programmer?

EuroCharged, the folks who haven't reponded to my latest questions, can update your ECU over the web with a supplied cable for only $299: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercedes-ECU-Tune-Performance-Engine-Tuning-C320-E320-C240-C230-SLK320-/280838963137?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item41634e7fc1&vxp=mtr#ht_1100wt_981
InMotion Tuning would loan you the tool but preferred you send in the ECU. They want $400 for the tune.