E-Class (W210) 1995-2002: E 200, E 220D, E 240, E 290TD, E 300TD, E 200, E 240, E 280, E 320, E 420, E 430 (Wagon, Touring, 4Matic)

Rough running e320

Old Jan 6, 2018 | 02:44 PM
  #1  
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From: Treasure coast Florida
96 Imperial Red r129 SL320 and 17 MK7 GTI
Rough running e320

Some background, I owned this E320 for 2 years, bought it at 80k miles. Mint shape. Slid into very low barrier in bad rain and cracked both oil pans. At the time I didn't have the money to fix it so I parked it at my house and drove my c280. It sat for about a year but I started it a few times now and then and made sure there was oil in it. It would just leak out over time. I then decided to gift it to my father for a birthday present because he's the reason I'm into mercedes. He fixed the oil pans and it drove great for a couple months. It's an 02 still with less than 90k miles. He recently had a really rough idle and misfire on cylinder 5. We put in a new plug and it fixed it for like a week. Then came back worse. He couldn't get over 45 but it wasn't in limp mode. We then changed coil packs and that made it a lot better he could drive it fine but it was still rough and had a cel but no code? Been that way for a few weeks now. Once he's over say, 2k it feels fine its rough on lower rpm though. Oddly enough the last two days the cel went off and it drove mint. It was also the 2 coldest days of the year here in Florida. Got in the 30s. Then it came back today and it's warmer. Making me thinking it's something with the combustion process? Possibly the air intake or vacuum line? We are pretty stumped. I'd love to get this running perfect for him if any of you guys have any ideas.
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Old Jan 6, 2018 | 08:56 PM
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From: Treasure coast Florida
96 Imperial Red r129 SL320 and 17 MK7 GTI
Originally Posted by Plutoe
Well you have a couple of choices---you can wait for PW to refer you to BARFA at Bens World dating service or look for someone with good diagnostics and get a quick scan for a starting point or you can park it for another couple of years and throw more money at the car in 2020
Well I was trying to figure it out before I get is scanned by a star...
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Old Jan 6, 2018 | 10:17 PM
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If you want to be prudent - the CEL can "probably" be read by a generic scanner...

1, "not going over 45mph" most likely that is Limp Home mode triggered by the tranny - and starting point for that is MB/Mopar tranny adapter plug + $9 can of MAF cleaner to clean Transmission Control Unit board + $20 eBay transmission dipstick to check fluid level - and "might" require Star if you have a tranny hard code

2. On "running right" - starting from the rear - $11 bottle of Stabil Marine Fuel additive (blue) you will use 1/2 bottle - fresh $32 Bosch or Mann fuel filter - then fresh $16 Mann air filter and use the other remaining 1/2 of the MAF cleaner to clean MAF - then do a tool/equip free "ECU" reset
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Old Jan 6, 2018 | 10:24 PM
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From: Treasure coast Florida
96 Imperial Red r129 SL320 and 17 MK7 GTI
Originally Posted by fabbrisd1
If you want to be prudent - the CEL can "probably" be read by a generic scanner...

1, "not going over 45mph" most likely that is Limp Home mode triggered by the tranny - and starting point for that is MB/Mopar tranny adapter plug + $9 can of MAF cleaner to clean Transmission Control Unit board + $20 eBay transmission dipstick to check fluid level - and "might" require Star if you have a tranny hard code

2. On "running right" - starting from the rear - $11 bottle of Stabil Marine Fuel additive (blue) you will use 1/2 bottle - fresh $32 Bosch or Mann fuel filter - then fresh $16 Mann air filter and use the other remaining 1/2 of the MAF cleaner to clean MAF - then do a tool/equip free "ECU" reset
The thing that makes me think it wasn't limp home mode was it was freely shifting between gears it just had no power like not all cylinders were firing. Swapping the coil pack fixed that its just not running a smoothly as it should now. Weird thing is my reader can not find a code. We've tried an additive just not that brand. I didn't think about it being the maf sensor I'll test that tomorrow.
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Old Jan 6, 2018 | 10:51 PM
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On an '02 E320 you must use a STAR scanner to read the codes from all of the modules. The OBD2 port is only connected to the ME and no other modules. i.e. you could read a code for the TPS but not any of the transmission, SRS, or ESP codes.
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Old Jan 6, 2018 | 11:02 PM
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From: Treasure coast Florida
96 Imperial Red r129 SL320 and 17 MK7 GTI
Originally Posted by bbirdwell
On an '02 E320 you must use a STAR scanner to read the codes from all of the modules. The OBD2 port is only connected to the ME and no other modules. i.e. you could read a code for the TPS but not any of the transmission, SRS, or ESP codes.
Yea I know you need a star for the more in depth codes. Let me get over there tomorrow and clean the MAF sensor and swap the fuel filter (I have an extra from just changing my c280) and see where it goes from there. He said the cel went off yesterday when it got cold outside and it ran perfect. Now today it came back and it's rough again. I'll see if I can read the code now.
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