Eagle Rare today. But also Sazzy, so that's okay:
Eagle Rare today. But also Sazzy, so that's okay:
Here's a weird one. I put the new O2 sensor in tonight and that cleared up the heater circuit code. That's not the weird part. The code for the M55 motor didn't come back on either. It's almost weird driving this car without a check engine light....
The old sprinter engine is almost ready to come out. It's amazing to me how many of the parts bolted onto the om642 are completely different and not interchangable between the sprinter and R class. These engines are the same model year and virtually nothing besides the long block fits both cars. Anyway, old engine comes out tomorrow.
Ultrasonic parts cleaner is my new best friend.
That looks surprisingly easy to get the motor in and out of in that picture. Does the Sprinter have a doghouse on the inside to facilitate getting to the bellhousing bolts? The ultrasonic cleaner is impressive.
I think I figured out why the M55 code didn't come back. If memory serves, it only actuates the flaps when the engine is cold. So I bet that comes back as soon as I cold-start it this morning.
Fascinating.... Just did a cold start, drove about 40 miles, still no code. I guess we wait.
It works even not on a cold start, it does things for whatever load maps it has. The Sprinter that kicked my butt would be fine and then set the code even when warm, but not when I was watching it. A real Heisenbug.
After the third or so time it came back, I was sitting there with the scan tool actuating it back and forth and finally it acted up while I was watching. Bad motor out of the box. Was getting power, ground, and signal, but did not want to move, not even straining, just nuthin'.
At least I was good at pulling the intake manifolds at that point.
Nothing makes a technician happier than a problem that can actually be reproduced!
Since the manifolds and swirl motor are covered by the warranty now, when they act up again I'm going to let Mercedes dealer with for me. A different dealer than the close one this time, though.
It is a little weird, though, because every time I cleared the codes before it would come back almost immediately.
I do need to take the turbo off and replace the cartridge yet. And I think I failed to seal the front cover properly. Those I'll have to do myself, but I'm sort of waiting for the settlement check to arrive before I spend any more money on this thing.
wae said:That looks surprisingly easy to get the motor in and out of in that picture. Does the Sprinter have a doghouse on the inside to facilitate getting to the bellhousing bolts? The ultrasonic cleaner is impressive.
I think I figured out why the M55 code didn't come back. If memory serves, it only actuates the flaps when the engine is cold. So I bet that comes back as soon as I cold-start it this morning.
No doghouse on the sprinter, there's room for 3 across seating in the front which I appreciate compared to old school American vans. That said they don't make it easy to separate the engine from the transmission because there's a bunch of crossmembers right there where the two meet. It's not impossible just a huge PITA. Also the downpipe combines the catalytic converter and again it's impossible to remove without pulling the engine. The amount damn near impossible to reach double jointed extension requiring bolts they hid behind the engine is just ridiculous. This is by far the slowest engine pull I've ever done.
That didn't last too long. Check Engine light is on again. Same m55 code.
Got lucky today and talked to a seemingly knowledgeable MB tech about the rear hatch function/ rear SAM issue the truck is currently exhibiting. Turns out there is a hidden layer of fault code that only Xentry or vediano can see & reset. If the SAM saw a strange signal on the wire to CHMSL, it could have tripped an event code & shutdown the hatch as a self protect function. If that's the case it's a 10 minute fix with a real scan tool.
If I'm gonna keep this thing, I'm gonna hafta get a copy of Xentry running on an old laptop.
I'm off to ebay to buy more MB stuff. [sighs]
In reply to FJ40Jim :
When you go looking for Xentry, make sure you get a very new version. My copy doesn't know how to talk to the new CDI Control Unit that the consent decree provided.
I've been moving parts from the old engine to the new for the past week. Slowly but surely getting there. I want to violate the human rights of whoever designed this intake manifold assembly.
In reply to Glutton4pain :
What's an intake manifold?
Oh, you must mean "charge air distribution lines".
It stands to reason that if they can't be bothered to just call it an intake manifold, they surely aren't going to make it easy to install! That little collar that links the coolant passages on the two sides is a real pain in the rear to deal with.
Son of a.... I got an email this evening with a "notice of deficient claim" from the settlement administrator. They don't like what I sent as proof that I owned the Subject Vehicle. Which is weird, since they said that the "registration from time of purchase" was permitted documentation and that's one of the things I sent in. At the time, the title was "around here somewhere" but it wasn't in the firebox with the rest of the titles. Since that time, however, my wife found it in the filing cabinet so I scanned that in and uploaded it. I'm going to call them tomorrow and make sure that they now have what they need. And try to figure out how much longer they're going to make me wait....
Glutton4pain said:I've been moving parts from the old engine to the new for the past week. Slowly but surely getting there. I want to violate the human rights of whoever designed this intake manifold assembly.
No disrespect but this looks surprisingly like the Izuzu LB7 that currently reside in my DMax 03 2500extcab
WAE for you, good luck with beaurcatic nonsense that your up against...late
wae said:In reply to Glutton4pain :
What's an intake manifold?
Oh, you must mean "charge air distribution lines".
It stands to reason that if they can't be bothered to just call it an intake manifold, they surely aren't going to make it easy to install! That little collar that links the coolant passages on the two sides is a real pain in the rear to deal with.
It took me 3 tries. Eventually I used the fuel filter mounting bracket to help hold the manifolds together while installing them. What a PITA.
Called the Settlement Administrator. They are good with the title as proof of ownership, but I'm still not sure why the initial registration wasn't good enough. Whatever. Downside is that they don't know exactly when the check will be sent out, but that it is likely to be at the end of December.
Glutton4pain said:wae said:In reply to Glutton4pain :
What's an intake manifold?
Oh, you must mean "charge air distribution lines".
It stands to reason that if they can't be bothered to just call it an intake manifold, they surely aren't going to make it easy to install! That little collar that links the coolant passages on the two sides is a real pain in the rear to deal with.
It took me 3 tries. Eventually I used the fuel filter mounting bracket to help hold the manifolds together while installing them. What a PITA.
Ziptie them together.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:Glutton4pain said:wae said:In reply to Glutton4pain :
What's an intake manifold?
Oh, you must mean "charge air distribution lines".
It stands to reason that if they can't be bothered to just call it an intake manifold, they surely aren't going to make it easy to install! That little collar that links the coolant passages on the two sides is a real pain in the rear to deal with.
It took me 3 tries. Eventually I used the fuel filter mounting bracket to help hold the manifolds together while installing them. What a PITA.
Ziptie them together.
Haha if it was only that easy.
Slowly snakeing the wiring harness back in place. Labeling all 100 plugs paid off.
In reply to Glutton4pain :
Is there no EGR on the sprinter engine?
If yes, I know where to look for EGR delete parts if/when it becomes necessary.
In reply to Glutton4pain :
It really is 
FJ40Jim said:In reply to Glutton4pain :
Is there no EGR on the sprinter engine?
If yes, I know where to look for EGR delete parts if/when it becomes necessary.
EGR on the Sprinter is routed very differently That's why I can't reuse any of the intake parts from the r320.
EGR pipe from exhaust is routed under the downpipe towards the passenger side.
EGR cooler it's mounted above the passenger side exhaust manifold.
EGR valve is by the dip stick.
From there it dumps into the pipe containing the throttle valve just above the alternator. Pretty much every part that bolts to the outside of the OM642 long block on the Sprinter is completely different from the r320 donor and I assume ML and E-class etc.
I would like to do an EGR delete as long as it's reversible for smog and it keeps me out of limp home mode. I can live with a CEL. I've read about a few software deletes for the '07 through 09 Sprinter (pre bluetech) with questionable results.
The sprinter is up and running again with it's R320 engine. I had a few hiccups along the way like an oil leak from the vacuum pump and boost leak of my own making. The vac pump is sealed to the head with a sheet steel gasket. Every om642 I've seen is leaking oil from the vacuum pump so I ditched the steel gasket and resealed it with Hondabond. I'm sure there's a way to get that steel gasket to seal properly but I'm not smart enough to do it.
As an experiment I removed the EGR pipe between the EGR cooler and intake and removed the throttle plate from the throttle body. No tune, no software mods and no CEL or codes so far.
The throttle body is still there doing its thing, there's just no plate to block airflow.
I haven't put enough miles on it to measure oil consumption, that'll come later. It's running much smoother than before and throttle response is immediate. The pre bluetec sprinter had just 150hp so it'll never be quick. Hopefully it just be reliable.
Yay Glutton, Glad to hear it's running!
Good thinking on the EGR & throttle delete.
The ECU is still sending signals to the EGR valve and throttle valve, but not getting any effect (loss of power) from it, so it doesn't show as an electrically defective component. On the VWs, this lights the MIL because the ECU is expecting to see a drop in MAF airflow when the EGR is opened & some intake air is replaced by the EGR flow. It does not cause limp mode in the VWs, just the "insufficient EGR flow" code. Hopefully the MB software will react the same.
In reply to Glutton4pain :
That EGR routing is weird! At least compared to the way they did it for the sedans and SUVs. I wonder what drove that decision for the Sprinters. It looks like it doesn't really help with packaging, unless... oh.. you said those don't have any doghouse on them, right? So, yeah, you'd never be able to get to the EGR valve if it was mounted in the back. Very interesting!
Congrats on getting it up and running! Keep us posted on the low-impact EGR delete - I'm surprised the computer hasn't figured out a way to complain about it yet!
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