I NEED YOUR HELP! Awfully Strange, leads me to query the MB World Audience -

Following the installation of a brand new battery / OBD Scanned to find 3 dead coil packs on the same bank cylinders 6, 7, & 8 all dead or misfiring / while examining this in the night I noticed Catalytic Converter glowing red hot - so I unplugged the injectors to these dead coil packs - Now I am parking the car until I can perform the necessary repairs - Problem is that I am not in a city that I a from nor am I able to afford to live in a hotel indefinitely while I examine and fix these issues concurrently. While I am ordering the plugs and packs - I have to wonder what more I should be doing to examine the ground wire and or wiring that may have lead to all 3 packs on the same bank failing simultaneously.

The car was only driven a few miles before I parked it to find the dead coil packs lead to raw fuel dumping into catalytic converter which prompted me to unplug the electric lines to the injectors 6, 7, & 8. Now I am in a situation. And Time is not Friendly for me to be parked for such a length of time. First I need to diagnose my catalytic converter without any special tools to do so. Then I need to diagnose the reason why these 3 coil packs next to each other all died simultaneously.

Following this I need to order parts and get them in. I am not a mechanic - However, I am not well enough off to pay a mechanic - Hence I have no other option than to fix whatever it is or throw the car away.

I NEED YOUR HELP! Prioritize - Diagnose / Order Parts / Repair / Replace Etc...

 

moved to W220 forum...

 

Whats that the M113 engine?

Comment about dumping fuel in the cat stood out because I remembered reading about it in the manual for other engines. Skimmed thru a W220 manual and noticed something similar on the subject:

 

@TimC300

I have just driven from the mountains of Colorado into North Texas, 1,000 mile drive non stop. As soon as I shut the car off in Frisco TX, the issue became apparent that I she had no power whatsoever, not even enough to get the windows up or the keyfob to lock the car.

Waited till morning - called AAA. AAA jumpstarts her right up after a battery health check which reports 7% overall battery health on a 2 year old ultra AMG battery.

I drive straight to get Battery Replaced.

Batteries Replaced - Now shes running awfully rough all a sudden - I go to get an enhanced scan of the battery to see the condition of alternator starter etc...and then OBD.

Battery comes back clean -

OBD Reports 02 Sensor 2 position 2 out

OBD Reports Misfiring on Cylinders 6, 7, & 8 simultaneously

Troubling, running rough. I drive approximately 2 miles to park her and look under the hood to inspect for loose fittings / plug wires / etc...

While inspecting this I turn the car on and while im under the hood I see the Drivers side catalytic converter glowing bright red after a minute of being on - even though the car had been parked and sitting for hours - enough to have cooled from the battery install event.

Researching - lead me to believe that due to the misfire on cylinders 6, 7, & 8 that the injectors are in fact active and dumping raw fuel onto the catalytic converter which is causing it to rise above the 1000 degrees heat and start glowing in such a magnificent fashion within less than a minute of activation.

I then unplugged the electrical sockets to the injectors on 6, 7, & 8 and now here I am

Reaching out to the MB Universe and fine mechanics such as yourself to help me out here.

Though I am not a mechanic I do have a tool set and thats about it - I can order some parts to swap out but I do not have any specialty tools to diagnose and do a thorough examination to diagnose electrical systems etc...

Now I have never worked with a catalytic converter and it sounds expensive -

I just need to know how to prioritize where I am at and then receive step by step instructions on what I should do first

I am in a city that I am not from - and Im parked until I can get this car back on the road. Furthermore, every day without transportation is a day that I am not earning whatever its going to cost to fix the issues.

So, I am executing Emergency Maneuvers in reaching out to you all and asking for advice. - Coincidentally, I happen to have one spare coil pack in the trunk of the car that I had pulled from a parts donor car a ways back - I have the Amazon order loaded for spark plugs and coil packs to replace the 3 cylinders however, if there is some
electrical issue that caused these 3 to fail simultaneously then I have no idea on how to find it which would only put me back to where i began if it shorts the new packs

Couldn't figure out if it was the jumpstart that fried the coilpacks or some other issue that I have yet to find.

I unplugged the injectors and now the catalytic converter is not glowing as it did last night - However, the car is in no condition to be driving until I can get her fixed.

 

I understand your situation, far from home, need to get car running again asap.

I dont see any mention of the check engine light on. With the O2 sensor fault I would expect the check engine light to be on if not even flashing.

You mention getting a scan of the battery, alternator and starter. battery shows as good, but what about the charging system? With a nearly dead battery after driving all that way it would indicate a charging issue.

Where did you get the car scanned? I dont see any mention of specific fault codes. I recommend that everyone buy a Mercedes specific OBD scanner so they can scan and diagnose issues themselves. Something inexpensive like one of the Launch Creader obd scan tools from Amazon should do everything most people would want which is read/erase fault codes, function test components, and read live data. Using it one time will pay for a dealer scan. I think scans from auto stores can be helpful but may just show generic fault codes and may even lead someone in the wrong direction as to the issue.

I dont have a W220 or M113 engine so reading up on it as I go.

Cylinders 6,7 and 8 are the back three cylinders on the drivers side. The "O2 sensor position 2" appears to be the drivers side down stream O2 sensor, which is the side where the catalytic converter was glowing.

For the O2 sensor you are going to have to get under the car. Can you inspect the downstream o2 sensor, I wonder if the wires are melted with all the heat.

I have to go do a few things and just wanted to respond. I'll do some more research and hopefully come up with some ideas.

 

Fault Codes from Scan were as Follows:

PO300
PO306
PO307
PO308

I will have to check on the O2 Sensor code - I am currently in the Library - Where Coincidentally I will be living for the next week or so at the very least.

Engine light was on. Not Blinking. The entire Dash was blinking on and off as well as clicking before I got the battery changed out.

 

For free online repair manuals I use lemon-manuals.la

Here is a link to the 2002 W220 S430 manual I am looking thru for answers: https://lemon-manuals.la/Mercedes%20...d%20Diagnosis/

Most of the info related to ignition coils, catalytic converters and O2 sensors is under Powertrain Management.

To look up the meaning of fault codes look thru the very top selection ALL Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC).

The P0300 just means misfires detected. The P0306, P0307 and P0308 point to which cylinder. This is where an OBD scan tool comes in handy to be able to see live data.

 

While you’re waiting for parts you can swap 3 coils from other cylinders into 6,7,8 and see if that gets those three cylinders running without misfire

if it does fix 6,7,8 you know coils are bad . If it doesn’t fix it then you’ll know it’s not the coils themselves but perhaps the wiring to the coils or another issue

you can also visit a local junkyard to get coils immediately - any Mercedes with a v6 or v8 from the early 2000s has the same coils