Crank, no start....

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bobins
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Crank, no start....

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Unexpected item in the garage area :shock:

Well, I wasn't expecting this. I turned up to work the other day and was told the old SL320 Merc in the garage needed to go. Did I want to buy it ? Ummmmm. Errrrr. :-k

I said 'yes' - with quite a lot of hesitation.

It belongs to one of the family I work for and it's been stuck in the garage for 'quite a few' years now #-o It used to run - I parked it up in the garage some time ago, but hasn't turned a wheel in ages apart from one exception.... it was flatbedded to and from a garage for a service and MOT about 3 or 4 years and has done precisely 0.3 miles since. There were great plans to use it, but they came to nought.

And now for the bad bits....
It doesn't run. It cranks fine, but not even a hint of firing.
It's had numerous mice living in the engine bay.
There's probably mouse damage to bits of wiring.
It's filthy. Covered in grease and bat 'detritous'.
The engine bay stinks of mouse pee and is a health hazard.
The driver's door has a big dent in it.
Someone keyed the bonnet many years ago and there's rust showing in places along the key line.
There's only one key :(
Innumerable other bits and pieces need fettling and fixing.
In need of recommissioning and a bloody good clean - own work.
In need of recommissioning and a bloody good clean - own work.
Evidence of mice - own work
Evidence of mice - own work
That collection of leaves and rubbish comes courtesy of some mice. It leads to.......
Air filter nest - own work
Air filter nest - own work
I think I'd call that full. That's the air filter housing :?

And in the opposite corner of the engine bay lies the ECUs and electrical gubbins - all nicely insulated by more mouse nests.
More mouse nests - own work
More mouse nests - own work
The box to the top of the picture that has the round cap in it - that's the ECU compartment. All around it is mouse nest #-o


And now for the good bits.....
The car is generally sound. It doesn't have any signs of body rust, and as these usually go at the front of the front wings and sometimes on the rear wheelarches - I'll take that as a win.
The mice only ever made it as far as the engine bay - so no damage to the inside, though it does need an almighty deep clean.
It's only done 30000 miles. 30017 to be precise. It's a 1997 car ! :shock: :P
It's mine now :-D

So the purpose of this blog is to hopefully document the resurrection of this SL320. First job is to see why it won't start to decontaminate the engine bay and reduce the chances of me catching Weil's disease :?

....and yes, I know, it's not a French car....... but you can't have everything :lol:
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CitroJim
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Re: Crank, no start....

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This is going to be interesting Robin :D
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Sloppysod
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Re: Crank, no start....

Unread post by Sloppysod »

Interesting, I will keep coming back to see how things are going, however, I had to google the car to find out what it looked like, could you add some "Asis" photos, please?
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bobins
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Re: Crank, no start....

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I'll certainly put up some more photos once I get it out of the garage. I'm loath to roll it out as I stand bu88er all chance of rolling it back into the garage on my own :lol: I might have one taken a few years ago showing it in a better condition before it <ahem> declined ! #-o
I'll update more as and when I find more (I believe they're called) 'features' with the car :lol:
I had a cursory look around the engine bay earlier today and can confirm that it still stinks of mouse pee but I couldn't find any obvious signs of wire damage. When I get a chance I'll have a more detailed investigation - probably on Saturday.

There's several different things that can stop it firing -
The most troublesome one could be an issue with the key and the immobiliser. I had a quick skim read of the 96 pages of the MB immobiliser guide (it's a cracking read ! :rofl2: ) and I think it's fitted with the DAS2b system. If that's at fault then the options are simple - I cry :bigcry:

It could be wiring damage in the engine bay.
Could be sensors / general gubbins that have failed.
Could be the injection and fuel system. Thankfully this has simple electronic injectors and not K-jetronic (or whatever was fitted earlier).
I'm sure MB have thought of other things to deploy to stop it firing as well :roll:
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bobins
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Re: Crank, no start....

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A photo from 3 years ago when it still looked 'OK' :?
The SL looking dusty - own work
The SL looking dusty - own work
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bobins
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Re: Crank, no start....

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Let the diagnosing begin. :)

So, I have a car that will happily crank but not start, and there may be various reasons for this.

I started by cleaning the engine bay to remove as much evidence of mouse as possible. I sneaked a bit of time during the week with some TFR and a paintbrush followed by a gentle spraying off with a pressurised garden sprayer - all this meant it was in an acceptable condition for me to have a closer look at the wiring and other bits today. Out of all the wires that could have been chewed, they appear to only have got at the power wires for the small fan that cools the ECU compartment in the back corner of the engine bay. It was still a pig to get at though.
Trying to unscrew the fan - own work
Trying to unscrew the fan - own work
I thought I might just be able to unscrew it and withdraw it - but it appears to have been assembled onto the ECU compartment on the bench and then the whole lot put in the car on the bulkhead - and removing this would have meant removing the interior. So that's not going to happen :roll:
Instead, I cut off the chewed wires, de-pinned the plug, made good with new wires, and re-joined the wires back with soldered joints. It was a struggle as I've got large hands and there's bu88er all space to do anything - especially when you need 3 hands to join two bits of wire and hold the soldering iron.
Mouse damaged wires - own work
Mouse damaged wires - own work
One thing I noticed - these two wires were the only ones I could find that weren't wrapped in waxed (or doped ?) loom tape. All the properly wrapped wires hadn't been touched by mice, whereas this one section of plastic sheathed wire had.

I then moved on to a diagnostics session. As this is a 1997 car, it all seems a bit vague with diagnostics. The car has a 38 pin round diagnostics port which seems to work with both a blink code reader and a conventional OBD code reader. I tried both to see what would happen :)
OBD port and 'readers' - own work
OBD port and 'readers' - own work
I built myself a blink code reader out of random bits of electrical stuff lying in the back of a drawer :lol:
Blink code reader - own work
Blink code reader - own work
It worked ! Or at least it showed no faults were present, so either I was doing something wrong.... or no faults were present. I also tried the 38 - 16 pin converter and plugged it into my Topdon 800BT OBD reader and surprisingly it found the correct protocol in the end and reported a very basic diagnostics with no faults. I'll take that as a result. No critical mouse damage and no faults found. Hurrah ! :-D

Next I checked for a spark at cranking. Yep - nice big sparks present and correct.
Slowly we're getting there.
Next was fuel. I put a fuel pressure gauge on the injection line and found.......... no pressure. A-ha !
No fuel pressure can be because -
The pump isn't being commanded to pump.
There's no petrol in the tank !
The system is blocked.
The fuel pump relay is dead (a known issue).
The fuel pump is dead.

I know there's fuel in the tank as I put 20 litres in ! I know the filter is good as a new one was fitted when it was MOT'd and serviced a few years ago.... and it'd only done 0.3 miles since !! I voluntold a mate to help me check that the relay was getting a signal (it was) and I bench tested the relay and it worked. So..... by process of elimination.......
A dodgy fuel pump - own work
A dodgy fuel pump - own work
Jack up the car, check the pump is getting power (it was), hit it several times to try and get it going (it didn't), so remove it and order a new one. Prices range from £35 delivered, to just shy of £20million for a genuine Merc one #-o . I settled on a £100 Bosch one which will be with me early next week. Hopefully that might get the engine running :-D
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CitroJim
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Re: Crank, no start....

Unread post by CitroJim »

An excellent start Robin :D And indeed it'll soon be starting!
Jim

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bobins
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Re: Crank, no start....

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It'z verking :)

It's ALIVE \:D/ :bd: :yeah:

Crank, crank, crank, cough, crank, splutter splutter.... tick-tick-tick-tick.
It runs - and more importantly, no magic smoke has escaped from the engine or wiring so things are looking good :)

New fuel pump fitted, repeatedly turn on and off the ignition to prime the lines and also open up the pressure testing point to bleed out some old fuel.
Crank it over and after a little hesitation it stumbled then burst into life - along with some ticking from the engine as things got lubed and the hydraulic tappets got working properly.
I left it running for about 45 minutes and a lot of the ticking noises went, but there's still noticeable noise from the injectors - it may be a quirk of the engine, or they may be in need of an Italian (German ? :-D ) tune-up.

I tentatively eased it out into the open air and had a go at the engine bay with a backpack blower to remove even more mouse remnants - loads of bits of leaves and Beech nuts came out from all corners #-o
It's first drive in years - all of about 10 yards. - own work
It's first drive in years - all of about 10 yards. - own work
As it's still only done 0.3 miles since its last MOT I felt confident enough to book it in for a new one - so next week we'll see how it does :-D

At some point in the indeterminate future I'll have to see if the hardtop will come off and the hydraulics for the roof work OK. Very lots of money if the electronics for the roof don't work. Only slightly lots of money if the 30-dozen hydraulic rams spring a leak and need resealing :roll:
Then there's also the obvious dent in the door that needs reducing.
And the scratch in the bonnet.
And the aerial that doesn't retract properly.
And the cubby box on the dash that doesn't shut properly.
And the fact the interior needs a very deep clean.
And all the leather needs feeding.
And... and .... and......
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mickthemaverick
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Re: Crank, no start....

Unread post by mickthemaverick »

Well done that man!! Great stuff and now for a very interesting MOT.............. :-D
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CitroJim
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Re: Crank, no start....

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Excellent progress :D
Jim

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bobins
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Re: Crank, no start....

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A 4 day Bank holiday weekend can only mean one thing - rain. :roll: ......
.......two things - I got some more work done on 'Helga' as a friend has christened it.

More cleaning was undertaken, along with some maintenance of things that were a bit creaky.

First up - both front windows were protesting when going up and down. A general slowness along with a few interesting noises were diagnosed as dry window runners, so door cards needed to be removed. A remarkably easy job to do - all things considered. A few screws and bolts tucked away which were swiftly undone, and a heave-ho on the door card in an upwards direction and it came off.
First - read the removal instructions on your dodgy copy of the MB workshop manual - own work
First - read the removal instructions on your dodgy copy of the MB workshop manual - own work
Second - reveal the inner workings of the door - own work
Second - reveal the inner workings of the door - own work
Silicon grease was liberally applied to the runners and winder mechanism, and in the process of grovelling in the door innards I came across an orphaned bolt. Easy enough to find out where it came from though. Shocking build quality though - after 27 years a bolt has come loose #-o :-D
AWOL winder bolt - own work
AWOL winder bolt - own work
Next was onto the radio aerial. It'd steadfastly refused to retract all the way back so off it came for some benchtop encouragement.
A nAerial - own work
A nAerial - own work
I stripped it as much as I could, and gently heated the mast whilst <ahem> tapping it home with a blunt object. Success - although it still protests a bit when fully retracting. More grease and lube was applied to the internals of the mast and gearbox and it was reassembled and put back from whence it came.

I had a prolonged session with the polishing MOP and some light cutting compound to get some of the car shiny again. At present it's just to make it all look less 'tired', but in the process of polishing I started totting up all the paint and bodywork imperfections. Stone chips with tiny amounts of rust, the odd slight dent - along with the big dent on the driver's door, the rusty part of the bonnet that was 'keyed' many years ago. Hmmmmm - does it deserve a proper all over paint job at some point in the future ? :-k

Meanwhile - back to reality.....
I'd noticed a light pool of oil in the inlet tract of the manifold - I presume it's just a result of the engine not really being used much over the years. I had to be resourceful to get at it to mop it up - prop open the throttle plate and use a really long pair of pliers to get some blue roll onto the oil to soak it up.
Intake tract oil removal - own work
Intake tract oil removal - own work
The only other job was a fairly simple one of putting new caps on to the fuel pump terminals. The Bosch pump I'd fitted didn't come with new rubber terminal covers, and the old ones fell apart when I removed the old pump - so it was a fairly simple job of crawling underneath the back of the car, taking off the power leads one by one, and slipping on the new rubber covers.
Pump terminal covers - own work
Pump terminal covers - own work
Slowly I'm getting it back up to scratch again. Jobs still to do are ladling copious quantities of leather food onto the acres of leather, fitting a new radio that looks more in keeping with the interior, replace the boot struts, have a look at the reverse light switch which may or may not need replacing, clean more things, and generally tinker with it :-D
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mickthemaverick
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Re: Crank, no start....

Unread post by mickthemaverick »

A good amount of progress there Robin, well done, looking forward to seeing it on the road!! :-D
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bobins
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Re: Crank, no start....

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So am I, Mick, so am I ! :lol:

Two things that might fail it on the MOT - one is a known unknown, and one is an unknown unknown. The reverse light switch might work fine, but if it doesn't then I think that's an MOT fail, the other is if the mice have been at some rubber bits in areas unknown to me which could be a fail - I'm thinking rubber boots on the suspension and steering etc.
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mickthemaverick
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Re: Crank, no start....

Unread post by mickthemaverick »

At least an MOT will give you a list of issues to work from, lets just hope it's a short one! 🤠
I used to be indecisive, now I'm not so sure!
I used to ride on two wheels, but now I need all four!
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bobins
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Re: Crank, no start....

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It passed its MOT :bd: :beer: :cd:

Woo ! and/or Hoo ! :-D

Nothing to report either. Emissions were very good and everything was up to scratch.
So I drove it home, taxed it*, then took it for a test ride........
....only to find another 'feature' to be dealt with. One of the multiplugs that goes into the climate dash control unit is loose due to a broken clip and this is putting the electric fans on full blast in the engine bay, it also stops some of the dash vents opening under auto control. Nothing too serious, but the cheapest place I can get a currently get a second hand replacement plug from is ebay from Lithuania ! About £10 delivered for a piddly little 1" long multiway plug :roll:

*- the SL320 with its 3.2 litre engine is about £40 cheaper to tax than the hairdrier with its 1.6 litre engine :roll: