No Start 2002 Sprinter

JeffButcher

New member
So this has been slowly giving me problems starting over the past year to the point where it will now not start. I replaced the fuel lines around the filter and replaced the filter twice. The second filter change was with the solid one without the water sensor (as recommended by someone on this site) as to eliminate the possibility of air entering the system.

I did see bubbles at one point and always thought it was a fuel feed issue. Yesterday I took the input fuel line off and tried to force feed it diesel from a squeeze bottle as I must do when it runs out of fuel. To my surprise, it did not start. I know that without a fuel pump, the suction of the diesel can be a problem so I expected it to start when force fed fuel. No dice.

So now I am at a loss. Most diesels will start with fuel and pressure but as we all know, things are different in Sprinterville.

I found some information about the fuel pressure regulator o ring issue, this seems like a potential problem. Any other ideas? I don't have a scan tool, it seems obd 1 or 2 will not work on this vehicle?

I also replaced the fuel line (plastic one) from the fuel filter to the inlet side of the low pressure pump. Saw one tiny bubble get sucked down the line so it seems as if the fuel is moving okay.

Almost seems electrical.

Hoping to have some feedback. I live in the bush in southeast Alaska so not alot of mechanics available here.
 

surlyoldbill

Well-known member
It cranks but won't start? Bunch of commonly known causes.

Not getting fuel to LP pump, but you ruled that out.
Bad or disconnected CAM sensor (on top by the 5th injector).
Bad or disconnected crank sensor (underneath at flywheel)
Fuel pressure not getting to minimum pressure required to allow engine to start:
order of likelihood by my experience and forum reports:
-Bad injector(s) allowing too much fuel to bleed back into the return fuel line (check with leak-off test)
-Bad o-rings in the fuel rail solenoid (way back by the firewall; 2 o-rings, known to eventually fail)(easiest to remove from underneath in my experience, 2 bolts)
-Bad HP fuel pump (on OM612 they seem to leak rather than stop pumping, so it's a longshot unless you have diesel running down the front of your engine)

Those are the ones I'd look at first.
 

JeffButcher

New member
Thanks so much for the information, this site is great!

I am getting somewhere now. I have always been thinking this has been a fuel delivery issue so I thought the leakdown test was the next step. With only solid blue lines run to clear bottles, it was evident that #1 injector was spitting a lot of fuel. I pulled it, rather easily. This thing only has 65K on it and it is very clean.

So the question at this point is how to best prep it for install. I read info about reaming the threads on the hold down bolt and that seems easy enough. Should I put anti-seize on the threads? Any prep for the hole in the head prior to inserting the new injector? I read through some forums here, afterward I was still a bit unclear.

For anyone interested, I just pulled the top of the injector off and used a 1" open end wrench to wiggle that injector back and forth. I sprayed it first with a bit of PB Blaster.

I intend to order a new (rebuilt) injector from Europarts SD, seems reasonable at 250+core of 50.

Thanks in advance for assistance
 

NelsonSprinter

Former Nelson BC Sprinter
yes tap the threads, no anti-seize , lightly oil injector/hole.
:cheers: If stuck in the bush without starting, lightly spray quik start for 1/4 second into EGR , any more may damage engine with premature ignition :thumbdown:
 

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