2008 E230 Crank No Start
 

Hi I'm new to this forum but I need your help desperately.
My 2008 E230 has been down for 4 weeks now with a crank no start problem. The engine check lit is off and there are no error codes.
I initially thought it was the Intake manifold because this all started after installing a new Intake manifold.
However I tried the old intake manifold and no difference.
I then thought it was maybe spark or fuel related and checked the the rail fuel pressure which hovered around 50 PSI
I can also hear the fuel pump coming one when the key is switched on. I confirmed all the plugs have spark.
I'm now think CPS but there are no codes. Is it possible for the CPS to fail without the ECM knowing? I think unlikely.
So I'm thinking the only other things left to check is compression and timing.

Can anyone tell me if I'm missing anything?
What could this be? I'm desperate and baffled.

Thanks
Lawrie

I currently did the same and have a similar issue right now except I have misfire codes and p0020 & p0023. Try checking to make sure your crank and cam sensors are not switched around like mine. I have no clue what sensor goes to what plug. Also check your fuses, especially If you did the intake swap without disconnecting your battery.

2008 E230 Crank No Start
 

Thanks HurtE350 for your response. I will check the cam and crank. I have checked all known fuses those in the back of the car and those under the hood and they are all good. I believe I did disconnect the battery when doing the intake manifold swap. I had changed the spark clubs after all of this and put in some new iridium plugs however it seems the plugs may have been a little too long because I noticed all the tops were badly bent. So now I'm thinking cracked piston heads. I'm trying to borrow a compression tester to check engine compression.

An engine only requires 3 things to run. Air, fuel, spark. If you had all three like you claim, it would start. How did you confirm that the plugs all have spark but yet you say they are all smashed? Put your thumb over the spark plug hole in the head and have someone bump it over. You will be able to tell if its got any compression at all.

Thanks rodneypierce for your help much appreciated. My limited knowledge and research tells me that a car needs 6 things to start. Fuel, Air, Spark, Timing, Exhaust, and Compression the lack of anyone of these could cause a no start condition. Timing is important because you don't want the spark coming before the fuel is injected into the cylinder and compression is important because a compressed mixture of fuel and air is much more combustible and more likely to ignite.
I was able to confirm that there was spark after removing the damaged plugs and putting in new ones. I removed each plug and grounded/earthed the body of each one and had someone crank the engine. All of the plugs produced spark. I may be wrong but information I have says that the compression of each cylinder should exceed 100 psi. I'm not sure my thumb would be able to detect this hence the reason I'm looking to borrow a compression test set. But I take your point.

Exhaust is a given. But since this all started after an intake manifold change, I would assume it has something to do with that procedure. Have you triple checked that you have every harness plugged back in, etc? Timing would be correct, fuel, spark, air, compression (you will feel/hear any compression in the cylinder hiss past your thumb as you plug the hole and it rolls towards TDC)

Just seems odd that it all started after the intake manifold change, which would lead me to believe that it indeed had something to do with that process.

Also, how did you smash the plugs? Clearly its likely that they hit the piston tops, but that would have to be a pretty long plug thread.

hi I was able to test the compression on six cylinders and as expected I got some very low readings:
Cylinder 1 =150 psi
Cylinder 2 = 145 psi
Cylinder 3 = 0 psi
Cylinder 4 = 70 psi
Cylinder 5 = 120 psi
Cylinder 6 = 90 psi

It seems like cylinder 3 is gone and 4, 6 and maybe 5 are going as well.

What do you recommend I do next?

Thanks