Saaboteur

Okay, I have managed to get the car to idle. It doesn't start the first try, it takes a couple of times. It only seems to want to work with an old aftermarket MAF, and not the original C43 one or the one that came with the E55 motor. I even tried swapping the one from my C55 and the same issues. Weird.

Here's some video:



Did a search, and the symptoms are similar to those described by Speedybenz here:
https://mbworld.org/forums/c36-amg-c...high-park.html

So, idles very poorly, try to get on the throttle even just a bit and it wants to die. Get onto the throttle more, and it revs up to 4000+, then just wants to die. I can only keep it running with throttle application.

I'm going to hunt for more vacuum leaks I suppose, but I'm fairly certain everything is sealed up tight.

Oh, and the BAS and ABS lights are on, but no CEL so no codes.

DRBC43AMG

Saab, good to see you back under the hood of your 43/55. Sorry to hear the problems are still open. I can't help but I'm staying tuned. My 43 is still up on axle stands and in different parts of reassembly.

Saaboteur

Update: I just moved the car off my patio (where it has been sitting since the fall) and into the garage under its own power!! Very exciting. If you're me, anyway. The total distance was only about 20 meters but still, it's a major hurdle for the car. There is still work to do though - the ABS and BAS lights are still on, and the idle is still poor. More later.

DRBC43AMG

Fingers crossed...

Saaboteur

Another busy week with life and such, so I only had a little bit of time on Saturday to muck around with the car. Fired it up again, and drove it out of my garage, into the alley, out onto the street, and back again. Total distance maybe 50m only. It stalled several times doing so. But the BAS/EPS and ABS lights went out! Frustrating!

Once I got it back into the garage, I just idled it, and again the right bank's primary cat started to glow. There is definitely some misfire/fuel issue going on. I'm going to try to drive it again, see if I make it around the block. If I do, I may try to drive it to the local indy shop during a quiet evening and have them look at it with the Star diagnostics.

More later.

DRBC43AMG

Fingers are still crossed and soon will be glued together. Hope something works out fine.
If the cat is getting cheery red, could that mean raw fuel burning there instead of combustion chamber? Ignition screwed up?

KJI3jflarryfe93

SAABO why don't you put your car on a trailerwagon and take it to the shop it's better than trying to drive it and risking to fry something else?

cm60k

^^+1^^,,

Vince, i think you soooo missed driving your candy C43 again, isn’t.......!?!,

need to unleash the pretty hidden monster pleeeeeease.......!!

ZAYED,,

Saaboteur

If the car doesn't run nicely, I will for sure just have it towed!

Saaboteur

Still don't know WTH is up with the car. The glowing cat worries me again. I think I'm going to pull all eight plugs on the right bank and see what I can see.

Saaboteur

So last night I removed all eight plugs and the coilpacks from the right bank. Nothing out of the ordinary (other than, of course, lots of black soot on the plugs from too much fuel). So I'm wondering about some sort of mixture issue causing the misfire.

Any idea if an ECU can just be swapped in, or is it more involved with VIN coding and such? If there are no other issues, perhaps I will have to go down that route.

DRBC43AMG

Saab, I don't recall if you are using the old 43 ECU or the one from the doner 55?
Another idea: Have you checked the cam and valve timimg? Are you sure somebody before you purchased the engine didn't screw up in there somewhere?

503C43 ////AMG

Isn't the 43 motor back in his car?

it could be bad ECU causing overly rich mixture, clogged fuel injectors, even bad /burnt valves and/or rings. Doubting its the valves or rings as the problem was the same between the 43 and the 55 motors.

Saab,
did you swap injectors from the 43 to 55 motor? There has to be a common part that was causing this which is why I was leaning towards the intake manifold.

Can you list all of the parts you switched from the 43 to 55 and back to the 43 motor?

Saaboteur

The 43 is in the car, yes, and has been since the fall. That's when I found out it wasn't the 55 but something up with wiring or something.

Swapped parts - wiring harness, injectors, alternator, AC compressor, power steering pump (well, that one was new), coolant hoses, lower oil pan, valve covers, exhaust manifolds, all sensors (knock, cam, crank), EGR system valves, SAI pump, throttle body, fuel rail, low mileage spark plugs, coils, low mileage wires. Pretty comprehensive.

55 injectors were cleaned. 43 injectors were not. 43 injectors are back in the motor at the moment.

Multiple MAF sensors tried - four of them actually, including the known good one from my 203 C55!

Intake manifold is a frankenstein of both the original 43 manifold and the one off the 55. Pretty certain there is nothing wrong with it, all reassembled nicely and if there are any issues with the actuator, they shouldn't affect running this badly. I've verified proper operation of the actuator and the flaps.

ProjectC55

Here is my suggestion:

To me Jeffrey is simply amazing with these cars with all sorts of problems no matter what MB it is modded heavily or stock. I've seen him troubleshoot and fix them ALL!

My suggestion to you would be to put the 55 motor back in and send the car to Jeffrey and be done. After it is fixed and running perfectly you could sell it and make some money on it. Done!

cm60k

That’s a damn mystery puzzle Vince,,

Sure ECU can be interrupting the hole system in the car, need to star diagnosis carefully to catch the wrong signals go & back from the ECU,, ECU can be

adapt through the star, but not sure with model of the star can be used,(C3/C3T/C3 pro-C4-C5) with DAS system,,

if you already used star system, what was the result of the ECU adapt & the emission test.....??

also try to use the star while you driving the car, hoping you can find something......!!

ZAYED,,

DRBC43AMG

Driving the car with cats getting cherry red is a big risk IMO. I imagine Vince doesn't want to end up flaming the car
The Star tester must and most likely does show some codes.

cm60k

Sure,, not drive a car for long distance...?!?!?,, just like 200-300 meter & shut the car, then switch it on again, that can figure out about the all all signals

from the Crank sensor & emissions by the O2 sensor goes & back from the ECU,, my friends car shows a big big different of interrupted codes caught by

the star when he put it in D position & move the can a little bit forward, his car checked & solved by the dealer in this way,, when i asked them why you

moving the car to check,, they said little moving by D position can show a different issue with a star C-code.......!!!

ZAYED,,

Saaboteur

Okay, well the car is back at the independent Benz shop again, hooked up to Star diagnostics to see if they could find anything. Showed a lot of misfires, but still cannot pinpoint the source. They are keeping at it. Fingers crossed something will come out of it! It's driving me nuts!

503C43 ////AMG

sigh, everytime I see a post on this thread I rush to it thinking there will be some sort of resolution.

Alas this is not the case I truly hope this saga comes to an end soon, good luck .

Saaboteur

Just spoke with the shop. The tech (quite experienced, worked on the car last year too) is convinced there is some leak in the intake manifold. Had him check the MAF wiring. He tried changing injector seals, as they were worn, but no dice.

So...need to find another intake manifold or have them open it up and try to reseal. I'm not convinced (although I'm hopeful) so I will try and locate one and see. Anyone have one available?

503C43 ////AMG

This is what I have thought all along as it was one of the common parts you swapped between the 43 and 55 motor.

I hope you get this resolved, please keep us posted

DRBC43AMG

Fingers crossed.....

Saaboteur

I'm hopeful that something will be figured out. Once the car is running in 43 form again, it'll be a huge relief. When the problem's been identified, then the plan will be for next summer to drop the 55 back in.

Just spoke with a wrecker, and have purchased a low mileage C43 manifold. And also a W209 CLK grille for my C55.... Hopefully have it sorted out in a week or so.

Saaboteur

Updates: Low mileage (supposed to be 37,000 km only) C43 manifold should be here in the next day or so. Hopefully will have the techs put it back onto the car by early next week. Fingers crossed....

Meantime, I picked up another car for inter use! Link to my post in my C55 thread here:

https://mbworld.org/forums/5315093-post29.html