Bourton Fuel Feed Unit Failure

Driving home on Wednesday after a visit to a spray paint shop just outside Banchory in Aberdeenshire the engine suddenly lost power and stopped, luckily not on a very busy road but a single carriageway with reasonable passing visibility. So on with the hazard warnings and tried to restart, the engine was dead and not even turning over. Called Britannia Rescue ( this was at c.1530h) who said it would be about 1830h before they could get to us. We deployed our warning triangles and I fetched the Owners Manual to read. At this stage there was no warnings on the display before the failure, but of course once the engine had stopped the display lit up with all the icons. After 15 mins. I tried the engine again and it started, so we decided to keep driving and try for home, about 20 mins away. We only got about 4 miles when the engine failed again, this time with the amber engine icon on the display. Luckily this time I put the transmission into neutral and we managed to coast into a small unsurfaced lay by. I updated Britannia on our whereabouts and we waited until 1850 when the recovery vehicle arrived. The van was loaded and the driver dropped us off at home (which was on his way anyway).
The Bourton was taken to BLS the Mercedes Commercial dealer in Aberdeen and I asked them to do an A service and investigate the problem. Thy have come back and report that the fuel feed unit inside the fuel tank has failed and it will cost just over £800 to replace it. The unit I believe is made by Bosche and a new one costs £329. So all in all a rather expensive outing to the paint shop.
Just wonder if anyone else has had to replace one of these?

David.

Sorry to hear of this David.  We have a 2014 Bourton but have not heard of this before.  Have you done any general Google searches for the problem. I am sure it’s not a one off and something for us to bear in mind too.  Mrs Jimmee.

I have searched online Mrs Jimmee but this item failing does not seem to be common, there is not a lot of reports for the Sprinter diesel, so I think you are fairly safe in thinking it won't happen. Perhaps I just have a rogue unit. As far as I can find there have not been any other reports of this on the Forum.
David,

Not directly related to the topic but I thought that Mercs had lifetime free breakdown cover? The only qualification is after the 3 year warranty you get an annual service from a Mercedes dealer.

On my new Bourton I pressed the overhead call button and got an immediate response. This wasn’t a breakdown situation but it was interesting to see my VIN number come up on the display. Evidently they have online diagnostics. Impressive.

That's very interesting BornAgain, I wasn't aware of that policy, I don't remember reading anything about it in my manuals. Many thanks for the info., will contact Mercedes and see what the score is. We may be able to dispense with Britannia Rescue service if covered.
Thanks again,
David.

Possibly there is a sting in the tail. If you use a Merc dealer for service it may be double the cost of an independent!

possum3 wrote:That's very interesting BornAgain, I wasn't aware of that policy, I don't remember reading anything about it in my manuals. Many thanks for the info., will contact Mercedes and see what the score is. We may be able to dispense with Britannia Rescue service if covered.
Thanks again,
David.

All Sprinters from 2012(?) covered. https://www.mercedes-benz.co.uk/vans/en/Owners/MobiloVan

Yep, it certainly looks like we may be covered by the Mercedes plan thanks Ploughlin, of course we didn't buy from a Mercedes dealer but a Motorhome dealer, they probably in turn would have dealt with a registered Mercedes dealer (?). We usually get the servicing done at the local Merc. dealer so that's no problem.
From what I have seen about prices of service BornAgain the costs here in Aberdeen don't vary much from independant to official.
Many thanks for the useful info.,
David.

We had a failure of the in-tank fuel pump on our Stanton a few years back. I was blocking the entrance to the Haltwhistle site at the time; stopped at the barrier and the engine stopped dead! nobody could get in OR out! Managed to push the van downhill to a place we could plug in for an overnight stop. Next morning we and the van were transported to M-B Carlisle, where they diagnosed the problem and told me they didn't have a fuel pump and it would have to be ordered.

We hired a car to drive back to Cheshire (M-B were to pay)... we had literally just got home when they rang and said the van was ready, they had found a pump! As changing the pump involves getting the van on a lift, draining the tank and dropping the tank off the chassis to gain access I was now somewhat suspicious of the fault diagnosis and rapid repair- but what can you do? 

Drove the hire car back the next day to Carlisle where there was a bit of a row about how M-B were going to pay for the car and I finished up having to fork out and claim the dosh back from M-B. 

I've had two major away from home show-stoppers repaired under warranty and you don't receive any paperwork at all- it's just recorded on the M-B computer system.

Since then I have had THREE different ABS sensors fail (out of warranty) and all in really out of the way places miles from home. Evidently there has been a recall and free fitment of improved sensors (with lifetime replacement guarantee) in the USA but not in the UK! Not impressed!

Makes me question whether my decision to pay out £5k over the cost of a Nuevo for that legendary M-B reliability was such a brilliant idea.

Most of the above was documented on this forum at the time but it doesn't surprise me that a search didn't pull it up; I can't find it myself!