Hello all,
I would really appreciate your advice. My E550 2010 has been stored this winter for almost 6 months, battery on tender. I came across some sites saying that you should not start the engine if the car was sitting for a long period of time, engine has to be pre-lubed. There is a procedure called "clear flood mode" which, apparently, MB does not have it. What would be the best way to start the car in a situation like mine.
Thank you
P.S. Oil was changed 4 months before storing the car (0W-40)

 

Maybe disconnect the fuel injectors and park plugs, and just crank it for a bit. Just a guess. What does google say?

 

I hope it brings you comfort to know cylinders are chemically dry-lubeb using approved MB lubricants. So oil or no oil surfaces are in low-friction condition.

If you have the urge to prime things up turn the crankshaft by hand.

Nobody cares about the tranny that in part drains out besides converter.

 

You need Xentry, no aftermarket scanner can do this Compression test, that is what I know of so far.
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...operation.html

 

Right, there were suggestions of removing the spark plugs and crank the car. Thank you all for your replies.

 

I don't think you need to remove plugs, just disconnect the electrical connector.

 

6 months is absolutely no concern. Just start the engine and enjoy driving it. Do check your tire pressures and make sure to top up the fuel tank with some fresh fuel at the earliest possibility.

 

Yeah in my naval career left several vehicles for weeks to over 6 months. Only issue I had was the first 4 month underway I learned to disconnect the batteries before leaving. Once I learned that lesson it was no issue what so ever.

 

Just start it. It will be fine. Just make sure you run it to operating temperature by driving, don’t idle it. Next year put fuel stabilizer in.
think of how many snowbirds park their cars for winter.

 

Just because the engine will surely start after 6 months, that does not mean we can't do a bit extra work to make sure oil spread better at slowest RPM and with out crankshaft loaded with combustion pressure.

If one has Xentry, such a waste if you guys do not use its Compression Test which can be used as Pre-Lubing....well sort of.


1st Attempt
44 days engine OFF. See piston speed is slow. Because left over oil film is not as good as one which is say 3 days ago engine OFF.


200 RPM is the cranking speed. No combustion pressure at all, so crankshaft load is not high.
This is as low cost and easy and safe to pre-lube the engine without a real stand alone pressurized pre-luber.


2nd attempt



3rd attempt


If you do this 6-7 seconds Compression Test/pre-lube , your engine oil will hit peak oil pressure within 2 seconds when engine first started and in COLD start mode it is an offensive 1,300 RPM immediately after engine start.
If you don't do this, your engine oil probably need 7 seconds to hit peak oil pressure and imagine all the extra wear and tear for those 5 seconds delay at 1,300 RPM.

I been instrumenting my engine, so I know and I have the data. Hence I always use Compression test feature to pre-lube when my engine been OFF for more than 30 days.

 

besides while you're building head pressure the cylinders remain bone dry below 2500.RPM regardless of oil pump solenoid status.

The only way to spray cylinders around 1500.RPM is with enhanced oil pressure.

The low tension rings are compatible with being dry-lubed by the ZDP package in approved MB oil.

1300.RPM is too low to spray pistons so cylinders warmup... dry no matter what.

 

OP wants to make sure that at the least the engine has better oil spread before he started a 6 months sleeping engine.
The crankshaft big counterweight albeit not an oil squirter is a good thing to splash oil on underside of piston.
Also compression test is a starter driving the crankshaft, engine running is explosion in compression chamber driving the crankshaft.
This two is totally different load on friction surfaces and of involved pressures.

Able to pre-prime oil pump at low speed of 200 RPM is good. Also this 6-7 seconds burst of Compression Test when done twice or 3 times has obvious benefit.
You saw the piston can speed up faster because of less friction between Comp test 1 and Comp Test 2 and 3. Where are the friction points ?...probably all over the engine.
That is so simple to see that less friction occurred by this simple pre-lubing.

We are not talking of an engine already running, that is Lubing and not pre-lubing.

If one takes an amperage clamp to the starter, we will get the same result.
Compression Test 1 need more battery power compared to Comp test 3, if the RPM is to stay exact same.

The benefit of Xentry Comp Test is good as a crude pre-luber if one already has Xentry.

 

Is there a 'fuel injection fuse' that will stop the injectors from firing while turning the engine over to prime the oil distribution after long storage? Which fuse?And where is it?

 

There's a good chance folks don't know what the Compression Test is.

Basically, the Compression Test function puts the car into a non-start mode while you apply both the brake and accelerator pedals and turning the key to the Start position. It'll crank without starting for 6-7 seconds before completing the test. My understanding is that this must be done using XENTRY, but I thought I saw the option in the LAUNCH Creader. I need to check that. Here are the results that show the test is completed.

 

Probably. Search for the fuse chart for your car. If not fuse(s) for the fuel injectors, there are certainly fuses for the fuel pump. But, if you can easily access the injectors, just disconnect the wire from the top.

EDIT: Per @S-Prihadi disconnecting the fuel injectors is NOT a good idea.

 

Yes it is like clear-flood mode in US engine, but with more complex procedure and data gathering.

It is actually Relative Compression Mode, as it can not read compression pressure, but will tell you which cylinder/s is faster ( or loose more air ) than others.
M276, M278 and M157 - Since our engine is GDI with piezzo injector, one best not mess with it by disconnecting all 6 injectors.
Also there is no fuse for INJECTORS, all 6 o 8 are driven by ECM directly and is of very high voltage, like 170ish volts.
Disconnecting injectors may hurt the driver/s inside the ECM.

That is why the procedure for Compression Test is a bit complex, Ignition ON and OFF and accelerator pedal 100% to the metal.
Our engine is throttle by wire, when you put pedal to the metal ( engine running ) , the actual opening of throttle body is NOT 100%, it depends on what the ECM program at that point in time based on
engine operating conditions. Hence we do not get jerky acceleration. In Compression Test Xentry allows 100% throttle body opening, so that the piston is not starved of air and make the test result skewed.
In fact if you do not push down accelerator to the metal, the test will not be allowed.

If one uses the easier amperage clamp based Relative Compression Test, the result will be in a way identical to ID which cylinder consume less power ( aka less compression ), but not as precise
as crankshaft speed type Xentry Compression Test where CRANKpos sensor can read crankshaft speed with great accuracy.

This is a great feature to have for troubleshooting, but me love using it for oil -prelubing or oil pressure pre-priming after an engine oil change.

 

You guys get freaked out about this ya should start a cummins with the valve cover removed on a normal cold start.

 

Just start the car. It'll be fine.

maw

 

@Ferris_E550 You don't need Xentry or anything special to do this. If you really want to pre-lube the engine before starting it........ Make sure the battery is fully charged, make sure the key is NOT inserted in switch and find the starter relay. Jump 30 and 87. The engine should crank for as long as you are jumping 30 and 87. I would suggest cranking for 10 seconds should be enough.

 

When jumping green starter relay 30 to 87, please make sure the relay male pins are still is touching front sam female pins. We don't want him to loose function of the voltage spike suppression diode of the green starter relay at its pin 87A.
ECM has direct +12V from Circuit 30z at all times from fuse 27 or its equivalent depending on engine variant, so ECM is never electrically isolated 100% even when ignition is OFF or key removed.


MBENZTECH,
I have wanted to try this method a long time ago, but I worry DTC will be registered. Any DTC after this method ?
Thank you.