fuel leak location

[JoergM]

Originally Posted by OffroadSpike

No hints. Did you get it resolved?

Do you by any chance hear some rattling when going uphill? That could mean the loose gear is making contact with the flex plate and grinding itself while you're moving.

In any case, if you're going to replace the starter, you can fit in any of the Mercedes 270 cdi line with automatic 722.6 gearbox since it's the same motor and trans. ML270, and E 270, C 270 class and Sprinter T1N from the same age

Sorry for the absence. The car was sitting in the driveway and I did not have the time to work on it till now. So I got a starter motor from one of the forum members whos CRD went to shits. Issue was that his solenoid was shot but the motor itself was good. In my case it was the other way around the motor was done but the solenoid was good(which was already an aftermarket since it was no MB part compared to his motor).
So I replaced the solenoid and now the motor works well again,there is enough play for the bendix wheel to pop out and back when you disengage. I will now look for the fuel leak and exchange the motor mount on this side. I have an engine hoist but needed to bleed and top up the oil since the arm kept dropping within a couple of hours. Looks like the load is being hold now and I can use it to keep the engine up while I have the mount out.

On a second thought I was wondering if I can maybe get a brand new solenoid to avoid that this might cause issues down the road. Its used and I am not sure how long it will last. I checked online but cannot find the solenoid itself but only starter motors.

I am still wondering if I can get aftermarket fuel lines which I can connect to the fuel filter. Mine seem to be hard and brittle and I am wondering if I can replace them with some which are more flexible.

[JoergM]

So I replaced 4 of the O-rings, 2 at the high pressure pump, one at the filter and one at the bleeding valve.



I heard that there are 6 rings to replace but I cannot find the remaining 2 (if this is actually the case). I can only think of below the high pressure pump. I can see that there are more lines but they are getting a bit out of sight and am I am not sure how to get access underneath.

However I reckon in that area is actually my fuel leak since it is pretty wet in that area and looks like a lot of fluids are floating around.



Does anyone know what could be the case and how I can eliminate it? Does not look like the O-Ring is the issue but more a t-connector on the fuel lines which might be dripping.

[JoergM]

I found the 2 remaining lines and I realized that the bleeding valve seem not to have an O-ring to replace, or it is deep down almost impossible to reach. It is definitely not leaking so I do not worry about it.

I did not realize that the high pressure and the low pressure pumps are next to each other and actually 2 separate units rather than one. Once I followed the lines I fond the the 2 remaining lines underneath the high pressure pump held in place with a small bracket.





I also installed the new fuel filter with a primer pump. This should eliminate all the air bubbles I had in the fuel lines. I think Offroakspike was wondering about my previous setup. What seem to happen was that the previous owner eliminated the connector to the fuel filter and was feeding it straight in the fuel return line. Thats why I have only 2 lines (one in one out) on the fuel filter. I kept that by just adding the primer pump to it. Got this hack from a previous CRD owner and should work a treat. The filter is a bit bigger so I had to add some spacer as well as bend the bracket so that it can be held in place.



I will keep the swirl flaps as they are till I will get an error code. At the moment the engine does not throw any, so I am ok.

Next will be the engine mount replacement on the passenger side since I have everything out and clear access to the motor mount. I got the febest inlays and will replace them tomorrow. The rubber bushings are already for 2 days in the freezer and the bracket will go into the oven for a couple of minutes. This way they should slide right in without the need of a press (I have a 20 Ton press if I need but I would prefer getting it done without).

And then I just need to re-install the starter engine and I should be golden and back on the road.

I still need to do the motor mount on the other side but that's maybe down the road when I have nothing else to do. I just want to drive this thing for once without any longer interruptions. I have not even started installing any of the mods from the V8 and it consumes more time than the V8 ever did.

[JoergM]

Motor mounts are out and back in. But honestly this was a fight. Took me 1 1/2 days to get this al done. I guess if I would have bought the bracket with the bushings already pressed in I would have done it in 1 day. I am glad that I had my engine hoist, guess without it would not be possible.



The old bushing was shot and literally hang on a tiny bit of rubber and I could push the inner part out with my hand. It must be the one from when the car was leaving the production line since it had a Chrysler logo on it. I just hope that the other side is not that bad since I am not planning to do this anytime soon.



Pressing the new bushing in was also an adventure. I did of course not have such a big cup and had to improvise with sheet metal, and all sorts of metal parts I had somehow lying around. Although the bushing was in the freezer and I laid the bracket in the sun to heat it up, I still needed my workshop press. The difference was not big enough for the bushing to slide right in, as it was with my differential pinion bearing. Nonetheless somehow I got it in. I was marking the direction of the inner piece so that I could insert the bolt back in.



At that point I did not know that the worst part would yet to come. It took me ages to get the brackets with the 4 screws re-attached to the engine. Being by myself with no help did not really speed things up either. However, once I had the engine in the right position it took only 10 minutes and then another 30 to get the bolt back on.





I still want to install the new crank shaft sensor which I have for almost 2 years since i have access before i install the starter motor back in and stitch the rest back together but I hope by Sunday all is done. I am just glad that this is soon over.

[JeanLuke]

Doing the engine mounts on the 2.7 CRD is one of the worst jobs, second only to changing injector number 5.

What did you do about the bolt that clashes with the catalytic converter? The bolt on that side from the factory cannot be removed without dropping the cat. I just cut mine off and replaced it with a new bolt facing the opposite direction.

EDIT: I see in some of the earlier pictures that you have the plastic idlers on the serpentine belt. It's not worth changing for the sake of changing, but if you ever drop a bearing on one of them take note that metal ones are available. They dissipate bearing heat better.

[JoergM]

Originally Posted by JeanLuke

Doing the engine mounts on the 2.7 CRD is one of the worst jobs, second only to changing injector number 5.

What did you do about the bolt that clashes with the catalytic converter? The bolt on that side from the factory cannot be removed without dropping the cat. I just cut mine off and replaced it with a new bolt facing the opposite direction.

EDIT: I see in some of the earlier pictures that you have the plastic idlers on the serpentine belt. It's not worth changing for the sake of changing, but if you ever drop a bearing on one of them take note that metal ones are available. They dissipate bearing heat better.

I have not yet tackled the driver side. And I will not do it at least for the next 6 months or so. I had enough of a fight with the passenger side and given the fact that the other side is worse, I need a break and do something different. I still have my Landrover Defender sitting in my driveway which I have not done anything since this drama queen requires so much attention. But I am getting there and since i have a couple of weeks off I will start working on the Defender soon.

I guess I will do the same things as you and Offroadspike described. I dont want take the entire exhaust out to get the bolt off the bracket. Honestly whoever put this engine and transmission together should be sent to hell. Who on earth would use these male torx screws all of the place? That's insane and putting stuff together so that you cant take it apart unless you dismantle the entire car is just crazy. I have a old w123 300 Diesel car from the 80's. It is just a breeze working on this car. Everything is accessible, simple and put together with thoughts. So I refuse to think that this car was done by a German engineer or I question the sanity of this engineer.

[OffroadSpike]

Originally Posted by JoergM

Who on earth would use these male torx screws all of the place?

These fucking Germans... Theoretically they are better than hex bolts since there's more surface for it to grab but they are so easy to strip.

Exhaust side mount is not that hard to take out with the correct tools. As JeanLuke said the best way to remove the bolt is to cut it. The top bolts holding the mount need to be removed with a half moon torx wrench, don't try to remove them without those because I almost strip them using a regular wrench. I fit the rubber with a 20t press but had to be creative with the pressing fittings