Crank no-start: Mercedes E320 - Part 1 (Diagnosis)

See, I told you that Mercedes with the air shock was going to be back in another video!
So now it's an intermittent crank no-start. The owner actually had to tow it 200 miles back to town since the big MB left him stranded!
We have to catch this thing in the act...
Enjoy!
Ivan

[@mikeoneill7360]

You don’t ever have to worry about being unemployed after this repair on a Mercedes of all vehicles. This. Is truly a major accomplishment of all your repairs. I’m sure for Jim, this day was like Christmas morning for him. Well done Ivan......

[@DaveSender66]

Just goes to show that the most important diagnostic tool on the job is the guy that figures out the why! As usual nice work Ivan !!!!!!

[@richardmikolajczakjr5016]

Jim is extremely lucky to have you on speed dial 👍. Great diagnosis Ivan.... have a great holiday

[@Thunderroad8517]

Good video Ivan and Jim. Crazy things can happen these days ehh. Will mark this one down for sure! Thanks men.

[@wilson713]

Having a working knowledge of power distribution is a huge part of diagnosing circuits on the German models. Usually sends new guys in circles.

[@JVerschueren]

Nice how a "wait a second"-moment led you down a completely different path with this diagnosis. Good job.

[@ozzstars_cars]

Nice find Ivan. I'm on another PHAD binge this evening....on to part 2 now.

[@theadventuresofjavier8698]

Excellent job. I own a clk cabriolet, any vids on Mercedes I watch intensely. Im.not surprised to see so many error codes in the various modules..my first guess when I saw the title was crank sensor or fuel pump.i have done tons of those. Once again great job

[@billyyoder8171]

Thank you Ivan. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

[@beechwood619]

Great Find Ivan, and a reasonable price for the fix.

[@baxrok2.]

Damn, it is so cool to see something like that. Nice work Ivan. Thanks!

[@colinaglae2605]

Thanx Ivan, great video & very helpful. It made me under understand the overview of diagnostics in detail !!

[@tam1381]

Nice job Ivan and with no test light or scope. I had a Freelander 2 couple of years ago with 57 fault codes but you have blown that total out the water.

[@fleurys2]

Thanks for the video. Great analysis. You and eric o are pretty much the only guys that I watch... keep the videos coming. merci.

[@rhkips]

I'm impressed to see the MaxiDAS has so much support for MB; kinda nice to see since these cars need a lot of attention. Seeing this brings back lots of memories of my college internship at an independent Mercedes shop. :D

[@arciefan]

Very nice work. I don't forget the video and editing on top is work. So special thank you!

[@kirkabrahamson1148]

Great work. Just as well there was a secondary way to access the boot. Gotta love car electrics

[@keyskwik]

Another great video Ivan! Mercedes or not P & G are always suspect. Green crusties are always a clue!

[@Diagnosedan]

Wel done ivan, Nice to see you work on a European car!

[@cowboyup8secsgold]

Good video, another common issue with power on the 211 chassis is a ground wire that runs along the hinge arm of trunk, it tends to break with movement of trunk due to zip tie holding harness. Most noticeable concern is trunk release inop, tail lamps inop power concern in rear sam, etc.

[@TGsrao1989]

That burnt wire was actually a big fire hazard! Gawd!

[@michaelkane732]

great job again as always. i like the autel

[@Micko350]

Man my heart was in my mouth watching you yank on that cable, I was waiting for the fuse block to snap in half!

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

pshhh it's a meted piece of plastic crap anyways that will be replaced! I wish it would have snapped lol!

[@Micko350]

Haha I know that now but at first I was freaking!

[@v8berenguer372]

Greetings from Portugal. Love your channel. To me one of top 3 youtube channel ( the other 2 is Scannerdanner and south main auto).

[@TheCowgirlNiamh]

Nice work Ivan!

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Thanks Niamh! Too fancy for my tastes...I would rather do a clutch job ;)

[@raymilligan9556]

nice work I-man, who knew , the Mercedes trunk is one big fuse box ,HAHA

[@valde3336]

Fuses are only couple of dollars/euros a peace. You could just put it together with a new fuse. Just make sure that fuses are making a good contact. I did that couple of years ago for my friend and the repair is still working fine.

[@haywardsautomotive6156]

Yep high resistance/corrosion generates some heat...that baby was burnt & melted. Nice diagnosis as usual and it'll be a good solid fix with the new box.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Until the next untimely failure lol...my guess it will be the air strut on the front left!

[@nicknicu1787]

Nice drag Ivan! 90% of those fault codes stored in the modules are related to battery low voltage.

[@nevillegoddard4966]

So many modules! The big boy broke all his toys. What a shame! You're doing a great job Ivan - just make sure you're getting reasonably paid for your effort. I'm sure the dealer got HIS 4 figure payment for bricking this piece of Advanced Motorised Garbage!

[@mintone2008]

You are really good! Great video!

[@josephwash109]

The power of the visual inspection! Less than a hundred dollars does seem cheap. I was figuring that little fuse box would be running around a thousand bucks from Mercedes!

[@miltonscornertobylove5068]

Great vid.!

[@testosteroneinc.3800]

30 modules?? 🤤 I"m keeping my cheap and simple 2017 Mitsubishi Lancer forever. Manual shift, manual non-heated seats, manual trunk release. 😍

[@pilskadden]

Funny you should say that. I just sold my Mitsubishi Lancer and replaced it with a Mercedes E-Class similar to the one in the video :-) The Lancer was a great car and very reliable, but the Mercedes is just in a different class with smoother ride, more power and luxury. But of course there is also a lot more that can go wrong.

[@jetjazz05]

No joke, I work at MB dealer and at any given time no matter how dead business is there is ALWAYS a vehicle in the bay of the guy who does mostly electrical work, about 85% of the time the carpet is all out of the trunk and he's got a bunch of fuses and modules pulled. Seems like a problem they let slide well into the 2010s.

[@danielhubbard6337]

Great job

[@jimheger]

Great job. Thanks.

[@BrettyUK]

Had a similar thing happen to me. With an S Class. Someone shorted their ratchet out on the alternator wiring while changing an egr valve causing all the windows to not work along with central locking amongst a long list of things. Turns out the mega fuse for the rh sam has blown. This sits in the the footwell under the carpet.

[@quaresma2288]

This is by far the best explained video Ani shoes like this I have come across I just subscribed to follow you guys and you guys are awesome

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Welcome!

[@jdtractorman7445]

Only 8 left in the country, makes me want to run out and buy one, ha! Good diagnosis. I had a customer bring their Saturn Ion in because they took it somewhere else for inspection and the NY dmv computer would not communicate with it. Long story short one of the can circuit wires had been cut behind the dlc, the insulation stripped off each end and just twisted back together with electrical tape. Then after I fixed it they had to take it back for inspection to the previous place instead of having us do it, go figure. I suspect there was some aftermarket device on the car at some point.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Weird...why would someone cut a CAN wire lol

[@omeral-tamimi7461]

Thank you for a useful lesson

[@herbertwatson1515]

learning so much where did you go to school or did you pick it up in the field hope to be on your level one day

[@bodgitandleggitgarage]

It's not nice when you start having problems with a box 😉😉😉 but then you're always will have problems .....🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@fieldsofomagh]

As you commented, it was a connection not tightened properly. Crusties never sleep.

[@opl500]

Something loose in the cockpit? Something tightened in the cockpit.

[@spelunkerd]

I had a similar thing happen on our Lexus hybrid. Drained the battery and needed booster cables that I had stored with spare tire. Couldn't open hatchback because battery was drained! We had a grate to keep dogs in the back, so I had to lift that out from the back seat before I could pull the floor up and reach the cables. Now we store cables under the seat, ha ha.

[@throttlebottle5906]

most hybrids have an emergency jump post under the hood. but yeah clearly you need cables first :)

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Kind of ironic to have a Hybrid with a dead battery...damn thing should be able to jump itself!!

[@robinsonsmotorcycleandauto3929]

Good Job Ivan keep up the great work and really appreciate the more consistent uploads.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

I don't know if we will ever get to the Hummer lol

[@robinsonsmotorcycleandauto3929]

Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics Yeah Im really waiting on that keith wont even let the cat of the box. He hasnt even hinted lol. Really curious on it

[@giopirmisashvili5514]

Thank you

[@trainer2018]

Good job. Ivan did you by chance do a volt drop test at the connection across the wire? If so maybe you could put that in another video to show the viewers an example of how to perform a Volt drop test across a wire, connection,etc. Something tells me the drop across that connection with the circuit on will probably be close to source voltage.🙂

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

That would have been an interesting experiment! Would you use the LoadPro in this case Mike? Something tells me that it would be unnecessary haha

[@volvo09]

I want to see someone who absolutely HATES computers in cars to soo that system scan screen showing "Battery Control Module" with faults and record the reaction... haha. I love it! Edit - words left out, silly phone.

[@Badgertronix]

Nice work. A relatively cheap fix. Must have been loose from the factory

[@HUBBABUBBADOOPYDOOP]

*@**16:09** A 200 AMP CIGAR LIGHTER WITH THE BATTERY VENT TUBE POINTED RIGHT AT IT*

[@throttlebottle5906]

it's a Mercedes with over 20K, best that it burns anyway ;)

[@JackS425]

From the factory it's supposed to be a glass mat battery I believe. No hydrogen off gassing from those

[@manwiththestar2305]

Very nice! =)

[@timstrottman]

Thanks man! Saved me some money

[@hvvjuvhvvf5810]

طريقه شرح رائعه شكرا على المعلومات المفيدة

[@jacquesdaoud4263]

Hvvj Uvhvvf أتكلم عربي ياخي

[@bigalremington]

Thank you!!!

[@SmittySmithsonite]

That sucker was cookin'! You'd think the owner would've smelled that - odors from the trunk usually migrate fairly well into the cabin ... but it is a Benz, so maybe not. Zero experience with those - never even seen one drive through my town before, LOL. :D That car looks like a good moneymaker. Plenty of modules and wiring to fail. :)

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

It's a moneymaker only as long as the owner has money for the repairs haha

[@SmittySmithsonite]

YES, great point! LOL

[@syedpervez7009]

Thanks

[@Gmansour1971]

Most new cars require doing a full chassis scan in order to help find a problem. With CAN bus Diagnostics, different control modules tattle or snitch on each other and point fingers, and that helps to find out which one is offline or which one is leading to the core problem. Multiple faults in many different controllers is quite normal for Mercedes, Cadillac, BMW, or any other High line vehicle. They are designed that way. But the Germans have a special thing going on, for instance one of the Sam modules controls the windows. If you hold the window switch up or down too long, it may store a fault. This won't necessarily be a solid current fault, it will simply be a stored fault in history. If power is lost to a certain module, and the bias voltages to sensors, switches or actuators is lost, faults will store everywhere. The over-the-top false flagging is supposed to make it easier for a tech using a decent scanner to do his job, despite not always working out to the technicians advantage.

[@AP9311]

Ivan, great diagnosis!!!! If I was doing the fix, I'd put insulated tape on the bare metal where the fuse box is to shield it. Would you do that method? I figure the bare metal causing the arc melting the plastic. Can't hurt doing the extra protection, huh?

[@throttlebottle5906]

most likely the connection at the nut loosened and caused the damage by heating up. main reasons such things happen A) not tight enough from factory and loosened from thermal cycling over the years B) junk or dissimilar metals caused resistance, which equals heating and severe thermal cycling, which loosens it further until magic smoke is emitted :)

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Eh it was fine for 13 years, so just making it as good as stock would be fine in my book ;)

[@AP9311]

Ok, that's great :)

[@pookatim]

A 200 amp fuse is like no fuse at all, apparently.

[@mohammedbierey]

Give us more of these German cars diagnostics

[@Hitomaru-shiki.sensha]

i doubt anyone didnt see a broken mercedes coming back over and over and over. but some of us did doubt that anyone would care to fix one over and over and over

[@pauliroha5506]

Hi, thanks for sharing. Pls I will like you to explain the difference between a "stored code" and a "stored and current" fault code. my R350 will not go into drive and reverse. Upon towing, it started to drive and reverse. But suddenly stopped working. Any idea where to start diagnosing. Thanks.

[@robertdavis6708]

Ivan was slobbering all over that MB. That is pure quality there. What did the owner do? Leave the electric seats on too long?

[@HUBBABUBBADOOPYDOOP]

*Couple bread twisters and JB Weld... ship it.*

[@4WDIESEL1]

Scotty Kilmer said never buy a Mercedes. well done Ivan

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

I agree with Scotty on this one haha

[@JamesLee-oe7mt]

Wow 200a what all does that fuse power? And that is one of many high amp circuits back there. Crazy how much equipment is stuffed into a car sometimes.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Yeah! 200A is freaking huge...could probably turn the starter through it and still not blow lol

[@opl500]

Lol. This is starting out just like Scotty Kilmer. Look at those codes.

[@kylisirn]

But why did the fuse blow? Diagnosing Mercedes can only be done correctly by Star diagnosis tester. These are some testers that can read some modules, but really only Star Diagnosis is the one you should use. Mercedes are usually very easy to diagnose.

[@kylisirn]

Yes of course you can't read broken modules even with Star. And yes the fuse was not "blown" but still I was wondering why that connection was so bad. Has there been a water leak in the trunk, broken seal or something....

[@JLafix]

i think ivan showed the fuse was not blown, and a possibility of a lose terminal connection caused extra heat and voltage drop

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

My guess that they didn't torque the wire nut to the fuse to "factory spec" at the Mercedes factory. It held up for 13 years though!

[@juergenscholl2843]

On VW vehicles something similar happens with the fuses in the main fuse box on top of the battery .

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Yup! I've seen them crack from thermal fatigue as well.

[@Turbotomass]

Love people standing over my shoulder.

[@cojones8518]

BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Nice vid

[@DylanRabier]

This is only a 2004....imagine what overengineering is in the recent models 😉

[@petersonanson4300]

Dylan and the parts are so high

[@mcearl8073]

I have the same car but a year newer. Parts really aren’t that much, usually cheaper or equivalent to parts on my wife’s Honda. If you go to the dealer then yea expect to pay a lot. Otherwise they aren’t that bad. We’ve also had way more issues with the Honda, it’s one year newer than my MB and they both have the same mileage.

[@sv_endless6340]

I see it is 2017. So then i ask why did you not use the key to open the trunk. Or is it not a normal key you can slide out and open the trunk

[@jacquesdaoud4263]

I can’t believe that you can’t fix the fuse I know you can fix the light bulb change the reseating inside but after all it’s very nice job

[@kdmq]

I think going to the junkyard for the 200 amp fuse would have been the best option.

[@hectorrocha8626]

Current took out that wire but what would cause that? Would resistance cause heat to build up and take that wire ?

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Poor connection = voltage drop = power dissipation (V x I) = HEAT AND DESTRUCTION!!!

[@jetjazz05]

Can't wait to see this kind of "no error codes found" self driving car faults lol. I mean I suppose it's possible they will iron out every bug... but let's be honest, there's some combination of failed parts they didn't think about that will cause accidents. Still the number of accidents will likely be incredible small, self driving cars communicate with each other so if one of them went nuts the others would catch it and get out of it's way.

[@deesann4806]

Wich pin did u jump pin 30 or 87? To activate the pump?

[@andredouglas8890]

Wish i saw this video before i junk my 2002 s500 had the same issue crank but don't start fuel pump was good new battery

[@calholli]

$100 for a silly fuse sounds pretty expensive to me. haha.. It looked to me like it was just loose. I would have probably wrapped that fuse in some electrical tape and cleaned everything up and tightened it down real good and called it a day. It should still work-- you just have to make it have good and tight contact again.

[@SuperM1687]

Ivan, would you want to verify the integrity of that wire feed and not just assume the poor connection at the fuse?

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

We did verify the integrity by connecting it to a neighboring fuse and running the car ;)

[@frankardos4211]

CPS? CLK320 had that issue(gas I know,but)

[@armandonika]

How did you knew it was that pump the problem of the no start Ivan?

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Didn't hear it run on prime. Jim also looked at the car before hand, and by the symptoms it sounded like a fuel delivery problem.

[@armandonika]

+Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics great thanks buddy!

[@karlbuttler]

Ya but that is a real heavy wire, what cooked it?

[@glenharper3136]

Use a crow bar to open the trunk!

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

It needs to be a special Mercedes-approved crow bar xD

[@richardcranium5839]

and cost you your next child lol

[@richardcranium5839]

hey you are sharp lol

[@davidjohnson1778]

you can find those fuses at parts authority

[@rtta51]

there should be a little key in the key FOB.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Owner had it separately from the fob lol

[@backyardbasher]

Interesting fact The Egg came before the Chiken

[@joemilton7552]

Where did that egg come from?

[@kennyyoung9896]

What's the link I can find that wiring diagram

[@Bekim8310]

You're lucky you didnt blow out the rear sam just by connecting the battery up again. Very sensitive cars. I think the achilles heel for those E classes is the crank shaft position sensor. When it goes bad you have to take out the engine to replace it.

[@batchnerd]

How would you blow the SAM by connecting the battery?

[@5477harry]

You don't have to take the engine out for the cps

[@JOHNPHUFNAGEL]

I think I would worry more about running jumper wires and blowing something out than hooking the battery up

[@sv_endless6340]

One thing i have learned with these european cars is that you have to read codes and read event memory and stored codes and then erase. And sometimes it has so many fault codes it shuts of half the modules. With autel you have to read every module and erase every module on its own and then you will have true codes ones most of them are erased. Some times it even works by just erasing codes. they are very weak in there electronics

[@aymenmohamed1134]

👍👍👍👍

[@NewLevelAuto]

Out of the thousands Mercedes vehicle that I work on I've only ever seen this once

[@Micko350]

New Level Auto so Ivan has seen something you haven't Keith, or you've only seen it once, prior to this?!

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

I thought you see at least one per week Keith ;)

[@NewLevelAuto]

Michael O only once where it failed on its own . I change tons of these after an accident for sure. I really thought it was going to be the typical Sam failure

[@raymilligan9556]

the part is 100 bucks, at Radio Shack its a dollar!

[@jamesfenton7338]

It's no different from all the other Euro trash, and just like the American diesels it gets a "for sale sign" and is parked on the corner. I have done too many diesel repairs in my career, and I know better than to rely upon Euro trash. Walking is not an option out here in Oregon.

[@georgebell3964]

👍

[@robertehlers4330]

I am going to see your experience in mercedes I have dame exact car . I have television so error. Needs to be coded to not present. So ibroughtto dealer because I don't have star. So I seen teleaid on your scanner will this be able to make television not present.

[@guest9169]

Since you are going to cut/repair that wire anyway (thus not keep it totally OEM after that) why not just replace the fuse and not the whole case/module? I mean I get that the dealer doesn't want to sell the fuses separately, but there are plenty of similar style fuses from other makes and also aftermarket ones for ICE and stuff and they only cost like 10$... Since the owner doesn't want to spend money on dealer repairs, and you're making money on diagnostics and not parts, who wins by spending 9 times more? :/

[@chuckwwillingham530]

Where is the Blade key Ivan??

[@Micko350]

Chuck W Willingham Chrome Trim/Garnish