Another no start - w124..... so much for reliability - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

yosshimura · #1 11-13-2004, 05:24 PM

Here we go again............. Let me see I have had so many breakdowns with this 95 since I bought it 6-7 months ago, I used my TOW limit on AAA, and had to get another memberhsip with my g/f's name...

First, it was the fuel pressure regulater, leaving me stranded....

Then the OVP, leaving me stranded...where? Oh, between my job and home a month after I got it...

No wait... it was the fuel pressure regulater that time..changed, no prob....

Then it was the ovp, leaving me stranded between home and work...

Then it was the ovp again at my freind's house.

Then it was the ovp again, this time, my local shop was VERY GOOD at detecting and fixing the water dripping onto the ovp... wait, there was another one, no start at a concert ....

Thought source of problem was fixed.... ok, wait total 3 ovp's, and 1 fuel pressure regulator...

TOday, I was idling for about 20-30 minutes - normal for me.. and started off and it died, started and stumbled....same symptioms as ovp before. For the last 1-2 weeks, when I take off from start it would like be short on fuel or something, a tiny bit studder then no problem, especially when flooring it (NOT normallly driven that way). POS died....

....

haasman · #2 11-14-2004, 12:25 AM

yosshimura

sorry to hear about your nightmares .... that is way too many OVPs to be going through. Do you have the plastic cover intalled between the battery and that expensive part? If so, try and trace why water is getting to it.

Haasman

yosshimura · #3 11-14-2004, 01:32 AM

Yeah, the plastic cover is there. I am going to look at it tommorrow, but after the local indi put the last ovp ( I had to take it in to diagnose why I was on the sec or third ovp...) and he saw there was water leakiing in, sealed it water tight, I double and triple checked during some heavy rains and not a drop, plus it hasn't rained here in a while

....

BTW, after it sat there for 2-3 hours (?) I went back and it started fine, and drove it home, floored it, drove slow, drove normal, no problem, home was only like 2-3 miles, so... who knows....

It stayed home tonight .... any other ideas? I asked a similar question last time, "why do OVP's crap out" and didn't really get an answer I guess.. anyway it was water on the last 2, this is the third.... I think I had a miscount on my original post here.

samiam4 · #4 11-14-2004, 12:43 PM

I didn't think a 95' model had an OVP relay?

IF we are talking about the car listed on below your signature- my guess is a bad engine wiring harness.

Michael

A264172 · #5 11-14-2004, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yosshimura

Yeah, the plastic cover is there. I am going to look at it tommorrow, but after the local indi put the last ovp ( I had to take it in to diagnose why I was on the sec or third ovp...) and he saw there was water leakiing in, sealed it water tight, I double and triple checked during some heavy rains and not a drop, plus it hasn't rained here in a while

....

I had a similar problem recently on a Friday I was driving around doing some deliveries (about 5 stops) during a heavy rain with no problems. After the last stop when I turned it over just a click no cranking. When I looked behind the cover where the OVP is (to see if KSE fuel injection had melted) there was water dripping on it. It was getting behind the gutter because the trim above it had come loose and the rubber seal above had slid down behind it. Pretty easy to fix, just pull it all out and insert the rubber seal down from the top. After a lot of drying and a jump-start (the battery checked out good though?) I got her rolling again. Similarly it has not rained much since.

I seems that if it were something protected by the OVP it would blow the fuse. Unless you've gotten a real bad streak of luck (OVP manufacturing defects) the only thing I can think of is to really clean out those sockets (that the OVP is inserted into) with a tiny wire brush, a vacuum, and some electrical cleaner in case there was corrosion.

I wonder how many fuses go through OVP's rather than the other way around as it should be. Mercedes should be ashamed that they haven’t solved this problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by samiam4

I didn't think a 95' model had an OVP relay?l

http://catalog.eautopartscatalog.com/mercedesshop/sophio/wizard.jsp?partner=mercedesshop&clientid=mercedesshop&baseurl=http://catalog.peachparts.com/&cookieid=1CL0O6GWD1DN0QE6MD&year=1995&make=MB&model=E-320-001&category=P&part=Overload+Relay

yosshimura · #6 11-14-2004, 03:25 PM

That was changed 24 months ago..... if the first one lasted longer than that, I rulle the new factory replacement out .

The differnce between now and the last 2-3 ovp's... is that the mother f'er started now and drove home

before it didn't ... well one of the times before, it died getting out of work, started, and got almost home and died and no more starts.... so I just can not imagine its anything else

... I just hate continueing changing ovp's..... with out finding what's causing it.

thanks on the rain comment, but like I said, highly unlikely, that was sealed very well. I WILL double check it today though... but

... dont' think so.

shoot me any other ideas ....

Its embarrasing at this point

... g/f's 2000 ford focus hasn't had a problem in the same period I have had my my e320

... nor has my other freind's '02 Civic

.....

I took the FOcus out last night, what adifference

..noisey , tires sound.... hit my knee with the dash ..... no pwer windows .... ... funny thing was at the car show (big South FL new car show), every year I vip park in the front..... this year I vip'ed with a ford focus :p , i was parked behind a Bentley in front of an S500, lOL,..... all the fancy cars up front and one Ford Focus..

edit......... Well I was at the car a little bit ago, it happened to rain heavy for an hour or so... took the cover off behind battery, and it was dry as heck back there, not a drop, not residue of moisture, very dry.... so this time water is not a factor

.... I let it idle for 45 minutes, and no problem, it didn't shut off, put it in reverse, moved back a bit to simulate what happened yesterday, and it didn't shut off....

Guess, I will drive it to work tommorrow and buy another ovp , maybe the last one was bad or something >>????? the first two I am writting off to water, since they were getting wet, but this one, #3... then again, I am ASSuming its the ovp....

dtf · #7 11-14-2004, 08:51 PM

Hey - I like those Ford Focus wagons.

Is your weather strip that seals out the elements from windshield runoff in good shape on the E320? Sometimes on my '94 it pops off and needs to be re-seated.

stevebfl · #8 11-14-2004, 09:20 PM

Sounds to me you are experiencing the reason the car was sold.

My guess is that when ever you find the real problem you will have a nice car. Any problem that can be blamed repeatedly on an OVP or can cause a repeated OVP failure is genuinely unusual. Who knows maybe someone else will aquire this strange problem when you off it on someone else. SOP now days. Usually becomes a great deal that actually turns that way when or if a real tech figures it all out.

haasman · #9 11-14-2004, 09:22 PM

Just a wild thought (I was cleaning house gutters today) check and make sure your car's drains on both sides are not clogged. If they are, water would pool and then flood the area.

Haasman

samiam4 · #10 11-14-2004, 11:05 PM

Hummm,

Sounds suspicious. I agree with Steve, those relays don't seem to be so problematic. Does it have a fuse like the earlier cars so you can replace the fuse??

With a good harness, you got to find out what is frying the relays. How's the alternator? Could too high of voltage or a bad diode effect the relay?

Michael

zafarhayatkhan · #11 11-15-2004, 09:19 AM

Have you replaced the Fuel Pump Relay ($20.00)?
You may also want to check if any codes are present in the various controllers.

Arthur Dalton · #12 11-15-2004, 12:16 PM

Repeated OVP failure may indicate a bad engine/chassis ground strap..............

DANSMB · #13 11-15-2004, 02:59 PM

Doesn't to book say to avoid prolonged idling? Under hood temps must be increadible after 45 minutes, probably hot enough to render most electronics inop.

Dan

ericgr · #14 11-15-2004, 04:41 PM

The OVP sacrifices itself when voltage exceeds acceptable levels in the system. At a certain point, it will self-destruct if it cannot protect the system within its electrical specifications.

If this were me, the first thing I'd do, when it dies, is to try reseating the OVP and see if that matters (unplugging it and plugging it back-in)-- I think on your car (?) the OVP is easy enough to get to.

The other thing I'd do is make darn sure that any "bad OVP" is fully verified to be bad. You should disassemble the OVP's and see if you can see any visual burning/damage. I'd basically be asking myself if the act of reseating the OVP (taking it out and putting one back in, maybe even the original one) actually solves the problem.

If reseating the OVP solves the problem, this leads to a few possible conclusions:

1) The OVP connector (including connection to the harness) may have a failure in it.

2) There is a grounding problem for the OVP connector and/or the harness to which the OVP is connected.

In the event the OVP is actually failing, I'd also go to the same two conclusions above, therefore agreeing with Arthur in one case that the ground can be a problem. In such a case, I think (???? I do not necessarily know what I'm talking about here, I have not looked at your car, connectors, harness) one thing to do would be to attempt to reground your OVP connector to a local ground in the car (a good solid part on the body) thereby no longer making use of the ground running to your OVP. If this is a bad idea for some reason (I can't think of it, there is only one ground in a car and you need it wherever you are even at the OVP) then someone can comment.

mctwin2kman · #15 11-15-2004, 05:34 PM

A good start would be to check the electrical charging system. Next would be how hot it is under the hood at the time of failure. Also check the grounds and leads to the battery. Engine to chasis ground. Fuel Pump Relay to see if hot as heck when it happens. You will find that most of the time it is a worn electronic, that when it gets hot enough either via actually heat or the fact that it is going south it will fail. Electronics are very heat sensitive, especially if near there max operating temperature, which will lower in some cases when aged. Sounds to me that you have a heat type issue here. Especially if it happens when idling for an extended period of time. Also could just be the engine does not like to idle that long and maybe floods out. I don't think anyone recommends running an engine at idle that long unless it is a diesel. The combustion chambers and exhaust will get super hot that way. As I type that the thought of th cat comes into mind as well. They tend to get hot when idling and I have seen them become red hot when idling for too long, since no air flow is passing to cool them. Next time look at your cat as well, if she is red she is going to restrict air flow and damage the cat. I have sene people catch there car on fire due to prolonged idle times.

May I ask what makes you idle for such a prolonged period of time? Is it something related to traffic or your job, or do you just like wasting gas? Just curious as the root of this problem could be due to idling so long and heating everything up without a good flow or air or coolant or exhaust gases!