There is and I had performed that test. Turning off #2 injector had no effect. Turning off any of the other injectors had significant change on how well the engine ran. From that I gleaned that there was simply no firing happening on cylinder #2 - however not sure that indicates the injector is bad or if there was no spark being made. That is why I was thinking a plug tester could help answer (though I'm unsure if a plug tester is safe to use on a modern fuel injected vehicle). Thoughts?

By the way - thank you thank you thank your for your time.

 

Swapping spark plug rules out the plug.

Swapping coils rules out the coil.

That leaves the injector or the harness (wire) leading to the #2 coil. These have not been fully investigated.

You can try the spark plug tester, see what happens. I have not used one so can't offer any suggestions. I have been jolted by ignition wires in the past, so be careful.

 

So a bit of an update. I could not track down the issue so I brought it to my local trusted indy. They are a bit confused as well. So far they have identified and confirmed my findings. The injector is working, spark plug was new and proper, coil & wire swapped again to verify. It just simply is not getting spark.

They did identify an air leak on 4 of the 6 intake gaskets (which I believe happened after I removed the intake for the first time. It is possible one was leaking before I removed the intake but should not cause a misfire). The mechanic suspects something else is happening that is causing the computer to shut down the coil for #2 - though no codes or suggestions I found in Xentry to suggest this is happening or even possible. (Oh how I miss the day of cap & rotor distributors)

The #2 plug is fouled again, so he is going to replace that and the intake seals hoping that somehow it was a leaking intake that triggered the issue- but not really sure where to go from there. It's going to be about $650 to get to that point. My guess is that is not going to fi it.

I'll update when I know more.

 

Cast a wider net. What other sensors would be wonky and cause #2 coil to not spark? And with no code? Doesn't seem to make sense.

Crank position sensor
O2 sensors
cam sensors and magnets
Coolant temp sensor
Intake air temp sensor

 

Update: today they determined the fuel injector is leaking. Pressure dropping from 1000 to 40. New injector and seals arriving in the AM. Hopefully will be up and running by end of day tomorrow. Will post results when I have them.

 

Watch how that goes. I passed up on replacing 2 out of 6 injectors that had no codes and upon examination had nothing wrong with them. Then somehow, after putting everything back together they magically went bad and $3000+ more. That led to a bank 1 catalyst code that came back. Now in the shop since mid-July needing both cats and mufflers which have been on an on-and-off backorder. I may not get my '16 GLE350 back and with a spring estimated delivery date for parts may be forced to trade it in if I ever want a car back. Be VERY careful of cascading part failures at this level and point in time.

 

Injector replacement fixed the issue. Toughest part was getting the parts sourced. $2200 later I am back and running. Thank you to all who assisted with the issue, and I hope some of this helps someone else in the future to help better identify an issue.

Happy New Year to all!

 

2016 GLE350 4matic, 95,000 miles

I was driving and the car had a slight stutter when idling, about once every 5 -10 seconds. After 2 days driving about 20 miles per day, I had the same issue described in this thread where it started to misfire and when checking the codes I had cylinders 4,5, and 6 misfire along with random misfire.

I usually change all spark plugs and coils when one goes bad just because if 1 has went bad, it’s likely the other 5 of the same age and mileage or on the edge as well. So I went ahead and changed all 6 coils and plugs.

after replacing them I had the same issue where I get 30 seconds or less of a good idle then the check engine light comes on with a rough idle and the same codes. I checked and all the connections looked good, so the only other thing I could think of was the fuel rail for that side or the injectors.
I didn’t want to cough up $1,800 for injectors yet because I would usually end up replacing 6 rather than one (not saying this is right, but that’s just me). So I started with some injector cleaners pouring a bottle of Dura Lube severe catalytic and exhaust treatment cleaner, 6oz bottle of gumout injector cleaner, and a bottle of seafoam in a full tank of E85 gas.
Afterwards I idled for 30 minutes (while codes still on and idling rough) and then took a 30 minute drive.
i got home and parked it for 2 hours. Once I was ready to go out for a drive again convinced this will do the trick, I started it up and it ran as smooth as the day I bought it. I cleared the codes and now 300 miles later there are no issues.

after the issues were gone I was wandering if this is caused by the E85 ($2.04/gallon now here in Ohio), so I started searching and came across this thread, which is phenomenal by the way, so I wanted to post the issue and the resolution that I experimented with. I also wanted to see if everyone that faced this issue ran E85 or if anyone was running 91+ octane?

I know some folks have reservations against some of the chemicals I used, but I’m convinced that they do more good than harm. I’m ran the tank pretty quick so it doesn’t sit in the hoses for too long. I say this from past experience. Either way I’ll post back in a couple more thousand miles, but I was looking to primarily:
1- share the issue and resolution since this is the only thread that I found that had a similar issue and same engine
2 - see if there’s a pattern with the use of E85
3 - see if anyone’s tried this before and noticed any issues afterwards

 

Thanks for the update. I just had the car start the same issues 3rd time in a row now (replaced 2 injectors so far at about $1600 each). The issue I was having was that the internal seals in the injectors were failing (causing them to leak by, fouling the plug and also causing misfires). The injector cleaner trick was not the issue with me, and really should not have made the difference you discussed. E85 itself is essentially a high powered cleaner. The "flex-fuel" vehicles simply are specced to ensure all hoses and seals in the system can hold up to the solvent nature of the E85 fuels. I believe in my instance the E85 was the cause. I drove the car for 2 years before my wife took it over. I always ran 91 Octane, but she used E85. Several months after she was driving it with the E85 all the issues started. I believe the injectors were simply not properly created to handle the E85 (also notice that MB does not offer flex fuel vehicles anymore).

 

I just got through the second tank of 93 octane and it’s been doing good thus far, I do believe it was definitely an injector issue and as I look further, I echo your conclusion on e85. I found this thread which describes the same issue you and I had with a similar solution to both of us. The interesting thing is they had the e85 in common. Thanks for your response!

 

Talking about leaking injectors, see what happens to an owner of a W212 (reported on another W212 Facebook group yesterday), same M276 NA engine



Due to "faulty coil pre-ignition" with fuel vapors in the engine due to leaky injectors.