Hong Kong owners of G Military or G Professonal with EDC light problems

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Erik_Cartman
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Rumours has it that many 300 CDI in Hong Kong have EDC light problems, in that, they come on and stay on.

Is there any truth to that?

Thanks

 

Pistonhead
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Re: Hong Kong owners of G Military or G Professonal with EDC ...

As this problem is seemingly related to Hong Kong (HK)it could be due to poor quality fuel supply in the Country in general give rise to such a fault.Changing the fuel filter should clear the fault, if not then the fuel used the probable cause.

The other reason could be the Diesel Electronic Control unit but unlikely.

I have not heard of any common issues but our G-Wagen news and experiences are largely UK based. Does HK traffic get to drive hard, fast and far? Or it is urban and city driving in which case the vehicle does not have a chance to clear its self out. By my logic if the G-Wagens'  EDC light could be caused due to poor fuel; then other makes of vehicle should suffer similarly.

Erik_Cartman
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Re: Hong Kong owners of G Military or G Professonal with EDC ...

The fuel comes from the same Shell, Esso, Caltex (Texaco) with the addition of SinoPec and PetroChina. Quality should be First World standard. I'm not aware of red derv in Hong Kong. GDP per capita in 2014: UK is about US$42k Hong Kong is about US$32k. We are not too stone age here.

I'll check the fuel filter.

Driving is mostly urban. 2500 rpm would get me up any hill. Definitely not hard, not fast and not far. Conditions most suited for Chelsea tractors. I do drive a 30-40 km run on the motorway every weekend.

I'm concerned that engine oil got into the exhaust causing damage to the cat leading to the EDC light. The manual says:

"Do not add too much oil. If the oil level is above the "max" mark on the dipstick, too much oil has been added. This can lead to damage to the engine or the catalytic converter. Have excess oil siphoned off."

 

 

 

Arnie
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Re: Hong Kong owners of G Military or G Professonal with EDC ...

Summary:

  • Water-in-fuel sensor
  • actual water in fuel
  • DPF sensor
  • actual blocked DPF
  • O2 sensor in exhaust
  • get yourself a diagnostic tool to find out which

 

The EDC light is extremely unlikely related to the cat, as the latter is a passive system.

You should try to get a diagnostics for the fault-code behind the light. If your vehicle has Blue-tec/motion/efficiency (urea injection) it may be related to the level of the ad-blu liquid. Or, if you have a particulate filter, it may be that that is clogged up. In the UK it was found that many diesels (Nissan and others) with particulate filters in the exhaust suffer greatly from continued city driving, causing the filter to block and check-engine lights to come on. The cure is usually extended motorway runs at high rpm, achieving high exhaust temperatures, to clean the system out. Your weekly 30-40 km will probably not do that.

The problem with modern diesels is that they have too many systems added to reduce carbon particulates and NOx emissions. These measures increase fuel consumption, reduce engine power and cause problems, either for the manufacturer (eg VW) or the owner. City driving and short journeys will also have an effect on the EGR (exhaust-gas recirculation) valve and if this becomes inoperative due to soot build-up the EDC light will also result. A similar problem can occur with the turbo actuator for the variable guide-vanes.

In short, have a diagnostics done to find the root cause. Engine oil level and catalytic converters are unlikely to be the cause.

Unfortunately CDi engines appear to have a lot of issues of this type, as they contain many complex systems an numerous sensors. I read that one common cause of EDC warning on the G Professional is the failure of the O2 sensor in the exhaust or the failure of the fuel-sensor in the fuel filter. You may wish to check/replace these.

 

According to the sales brochure, the 3.0 engine has a DPF (diesel particulate filter). I would look at that too. Possibly the sensor which determines back-pressure to indicate a blocked filter. Interestingly, the G300 Professional,  was also available to special order as a Euro-3 spec and a 'down-grade' kit is available from MB, which eliminates the catalytic converter and DPF.. Some MB cars run an automatic purge/clean cycle on the DPF every 400 miles, noticeable by the engine idle speed increasing to around 800 rpm.Yours may do that so an actual blocked DPF may be less likely and a DPF sensor issue more likely.

 

Check if the warning light you have relates to the DPF and if so, try to do some extended runs to clean it out.

If the soot build-up gets too bad, there are some professional companies in Europe and the UK that can clean the filter for less than the cost of a new one ($1000s). You may also have similar outfits in HK.

 

I don't know whether on your vehicle the EDC light covers also DPF issues or if you have a separate DPF warning light. In some Mercedes vehicles, like the Sprinter van, EDC can be triggered by DPF issues. In many cases, a reset will keep it off for a long time. So, the first step should be to try to read and note any fault-codes and then to reset any that are found. Some may be relevant but many can be spurious or non-related,particularly  if it is a long time since a diagnosis was last performed, as low batteries and other glitches can produce some false codes. Then if the issue returns, the new codes should be more valid. As you live in HK, I am sure you can pick up a code-reader / reset tool for Mercedes vehicles for relatively little. On newer vehicles like yours, all the diagnostics can be carried-out through the OBD connector in the driver's footwell. Simple !

 

Further reading:

'.... the problem of the so called "water in the diesel filter" is an "oversensitive sender unit". Gary Brown of Vaal Motors has taken up this issue with MB. There is an other issue of an over-sensitive sender unit, that is the Particle-Filter!
I have installed a BIG diesel pre-filter with water separator, after 10K km the EDC light came on and I have checked the so called water content in the main filter 0%-nothing-nada-asiko-silsch!!!!
Doing the Euro3 conversion will not remove the "water in diesel" problem but it will remove the "particle-filter" problem.
The matter of the "oversensitive-sensor" has been taken up and soon we will have an answer from MB Germany!
In my opinion MB should do a "recall" on the G300CDI!....

 

http://www.mb4x4.co.za/forum/archive/index.php/t-1564.html?s=19e24f6bfa72248117d43f595488455e

 

 

 

 

matthew.laight
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Re: Hong Kong owners of G Military or G Professonal with EDC ...

Hi,

I've just joined GWOA and am posting for the first time.  I live in Hong Kong and have a 2011 G300 Professional.

I am familiar with the EDC light problem and with the help of a facebook site called GWagon Resources have found a solution that seems to work well.  https://www.facebook.com/gwagenresources/

All credit should go to the author of the site.  He found the fix, not me.

The issue seems to be a clogged EGR valve as mentioned by Arnie.  The solution is to clean it out every 10,000km or so.  Basically do it every time you do an oil change.  The GWagon Resources website has clear instructions and pictures on how to do it.  My G has been running really well with no EDC light since I cleaned the EGC valve.

Prior to finding that fix I had suspected that the DPF was not getting cleaned out properly.  I tried regular long drives to the airport and I tried Wurth DPF cleaner.  The EDC light would clear for a bit, but then come back on after a few hundred km.  Having said that, a "long" motorway drive in Hong Kong is only 30km to 40km - we don't have any long motorways here.

Matt

 

Arnie
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Re: Hong Kong owners of G Military or G Professonal with EDC ...

In some countries you can buy Shell V-Power Diesel or BP Ultimate Diesel. These are not the only fuels of this type, but they are made from a gas-to liquid process (GTL), which significantly reduces soot, as well as having higher levels of detergents. If you can use these fuels, they will keep your engine parts cleaner, especially around town and with short journeys.

 

matthew.laight
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Re: Hong Kong owners of G Military or G Professonal with EDC ...

Thanks, useful information.  Unfortunately there is only one grade of diesel available here, and it is not V-Power diesel.

Erik_Cartman
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Re: Hong Kong owners of G Military or G Professonal with EDC ...

I ran into (just a figure of speech) the author of G-wagen Resources at the MOT centre, of all places, earlier this week. It is very good of him to share his know-how.

My EDC light problem was finally solved by replacing the DPF sensor and a forced regeneration. ( https://www.ukpartsdirect.com/dpf-products/dpf-differential-pressure-sen... )

 

 

 

 

matthew.laight
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Re: Hong Kong owners of G Military or G Professonal with EDC ...

Hi, how do you do a forced regeneration? I've not been able to work out how to do that?

Erik_Cartman
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Re: Hong Kong owners of G Military or G Professonal with EDC ...

For the forced regeneration, the mechanic triggered it with a laptop and drove couple laps round Fei Ngor Shan at high revs.

This thing https://www.ukpartsdirect.com/vehicle-diagnostic-tools/icarsoft-uk-diagnostic-tools/icarsoft-uk-2nd-gen-tools/mercedes-mbii-mb2-diagnostic-tool.html is supposed to be able to do the regeneration too.  I have it, but haven't tried it myself.