C230 Sport Coup

My car died and I suspect the fuel pump.
Anyone do a fuel pump on an 2002 C230 Coupe ?
Come someone forward some links for me?

SeaCoupe

straight forward. Rear seat up, take off the protective plate. I beat the plastic cover into turning. Pull up the assembly. You'll have either the four pin in a row or the four pin in a square configuration. Doesn't matter. Connect the hot and ground. Then the two thinner awg wires for the gas gauge. If you are wrong, you'll have a none functioning gauge. Its 50/50 since it is only two wires for the gauge. If memory serves the pump is on the passenger side, and the slave on the drivers side.

I'm being silly telling you this, but, windows down, hatch open.

Kazi04

This is probably one of the best set of directions I have seen. Straight forward and to the point! I especially love the "beat the plastic cover into turning." LOL Thanks SeaCoupe!

wvadam

yes, most diy instructions will quote mb with a special tool you need to remove the ring that holds the fp cover on but that is bs. a flat head screwdriver and a hammer tapping at all different points around the ring will get it off fine. you may need to use more forces as mentioned above lol.

it was easy for me except i had a full tank of gas and it was a pia to get some out. half tank or less is ideal.

EuroDriverSD

Believe it or not, the fuller the tank, the less chance of a flash fire/explosion. If you've ever seen welders working on a gas tank, they do it with the tank full because there's less chance of the fumes igniting.

I would highly recommend you pick a humid day to do this - on dry days there's a lot more static electricity thus higher likelihood of something blowing up.

wvadam

the crazy thing was, with a nearly full tanks, when I started loosening the ring gas would start to exit the tank through the hole because the hole is not on the top of the tank so some of the fuel is elevated higher than the fuel pump access cover.

+1 on the humid day and have lots of air flow for the fumes.

C230 Sport Coup

Tomorrow morning, early while it's cool I plan to tackle this.
Got all the parts and some long *** gloves in case I have stick my hands in the tank.

For anyone going through this in the future,
I spent half a day trying to track down a retainer removal tool,
and finally discovered that both Napa and possibly Auto Zone
loan out a tool kit that has this tool and others for FREE!
You have to pay a heft deposit but you get at all back when you return it.
http://www.autozone.com/loan-a-tools...eplacement-kit

C230 Sport Coup

OK, off to Autozone for the toolkit, a 5 gallon gas can, siphon;
and then to Home Depot for a fire extinguisher which I hopefully won't need!!!!!

Here's the WIS doc from the service DVD for future reference.

EuroDriverSD

Forget the extinguisher - if it ignites, just run for dear life!

You should be fine - I've done this job on by BMWs a couple of times. Just make sure you are touching the frame at all times to get rid of the static electricity in your body.

SeaCoupe

So, are you all sorted? Any issues with the connectors? I ended up just cutting mine out.

VVF

Yeah, don't scare us, show some vital sign

C230 Sport Coup

It's all done except I noticed I had some cords showing on the inside of my tires,
so now I'm not driving it till I get some new shoes, but it's running fine.
The prep work took a lot of time, but the actual work
only took about 1-2 hours.
I jacked up the passenger side of the car a little, and the fuel was pretty much right to the top.
I got a little nervous when I had to a screwdriver to gently pry the clips on the fuel line hose.
So I didn't drain the tank or anything.
Ed, no I didn't have any connector issues.

tommy

I have to say I'm impressed.

You'll have the last remaining coupey on the road eventually.

C230 Sport Coup

Words to the wise.
When replacing your fuel pump,
put some tie wraps on the hoses.

The other night, after getting my new tires, and taking a spirited drive
after sitting for 2 weeks, I'm on my way home, and
..........nothing.
The car died. No codes, nada.
Once towed home, I ended up opening up the tank again following the old rule,
always go back to the last thing you did and found the top fuel line,
the high pressure one btw, had popped off.

At 1st I put a tie wrap on and just couldn't get it tight.
I ended up running to the hardware store, and getting a tool that
pulls the tire wrap as tight as t can go.
It's hard to get to get it to sit on the part where the clips are,
I ended up putting 2 on, and yes it fired right up.

I then treated myself to filet mignon dinner with my girl.

C230 Sport Coup

The old girl still has some miles to go.
And she's still loved.
So I keep driving her.
It's a benz after all.

Icebreaker

Is the pump located in the same place for the sedan as it is for the coup? Thank you.

C230 Sport Coup

Yes. Right side, or in the USA it's the passenger side.

Icebreaker

Thank you my friend. I actually just got the part this morning and already replaced it. Can't imagined someone said stealer would charge over a thousand for it as the part was only $114 and it took a better part of half an hour to install. The longest part was getting all the tools together to replace the pump....

Glyn M Ruck

Remember the procedure is in the Wiki.

C230 Sport Coup

Glyn,
I'm searching high and low for that wiki,
can you post a link or screen shot where on would click?
Oh and btw, good to see you posting.

zpbarnett

No holiday road trip would be complete without a roadside breakdown! Am I right? ;-)

Seriously though, My finance and I are 850 miles away from home and need some experienced minds to help us properly diagnose the problem with our 2003 C240 4Matic Wagon (125,000 miles). We would like to fix it ourselves if possible, but at the very least want to confidently know the root cause to avoid loosing our shirts to a local shop or worse the dealership. We have a couple of days, but this weekend we must be back rolling one way or another.

Here is the scoop. The car just received B-Service at my import shop back home in prep for the trip. I keep it well maintained. It drove the 850 mile trip up to NY without issue then yesterday on a leisurely drive in town... it suddenly would not accelerate, sputtered down, and died. Subsequent start attempts resulted in the car starting normally for a brief second then idling rough then dying again. Continued attempts resulted in worsening idle and eventually it would not hit and at all and the starter just spins over.

Thinking it might be the infamous Crankshaft position sensor, we let it cool overnight and tried again today. Same result, starter spins over with no hit at all. In a desperate act I took a tiny flathead screwdriver and depressed the Schrader value on the fuel rail while doing several on-off-on-off start cycles. I expected a powerful spray of fuel in my face, but I didn't get a drop of gas or any air pressure release. Nothing. I also lifted up the back seat and put my ear to the under carriage listening for the fuel pump to kick in again repeating the on-off-on-off test. I was expecting to hear a few seconds of low hum from a running fuel pump, but I don't hear that. I only hear a barely discernable very quiet "click." Nothing else.

So the big question... based on this information can I be confident it is without a doubt the fuel pump? Is there anything else in the mix that would result in this behavior we should check before opening our wallets?

Thanks,
zpbarnett

zpbarnett

Just a quick update... Since my original post I did some more testing:

I tested what I believe to be the fuel pump fuse and the fuel pump relay. The 7.5Amp fuse in the #3 position in the left rear fuse panel tested good with continuity checker. I then placed my ear up to the #1 relay in the left rear fuse panel while on-off-on-off ignition testing. The relay is clicking as it should.

Next I went to the fuel pump connection under the rear left seat behind the driver (removed access panel and unplugged). I put a multi-meter on the two thickest wires on the harness and found a solid 12volts comes through when the ignition is engaged.

All this combined with no fuel or air coming out of the fuel rail Schrader valve when opened during starting.

With all this, is there be any doubt it is the fuel pump? It has to be right?!?!

Icebreaker

My car had about 118k on it when I was traveling down a car pool lane with my wife doing 80 mph when the the car pool lane ended and became a "fast lane". At the same time this lane was coming to an end as we were approaching an overpass and the lane to my right became the "fast lane". Right about this time my car slowed down and shut off. I had to do a hurried stop and coast backwards so as not to be too close to the fast lane, it was quite scary. I tried to start once where the engine started and died. I knew right away that it was the fuel pump by the way it acted. If it was the crank sensor it wouldn't start and die. I was 50 miles from home and the tow was $450. As soon as I got home I ordered the fuel pump. The old one by the way was still running but I guess not enough to build the required pressure.
My next preventative project I think would be to replace alternator brushes and crank shaft positioning sensor (although not bad yet) and later maybe the water pump due to high mileage.
To answer your question, I have no doubt in my mind that it is the fuel pump which should be on the passenger seat side under the rear cushion.

zpbarnett

Thanks Icebreaker!

A new OEM Bosch fuel pump is on its way. Also, a family friend has graciously granted use of his spacious, well tooled, and HEATED garage to perform the work. Now we are just waiting for parts.

I will post an update on the job results. Things are beginning to look up here in Ithaca! :-)

Icebreaker

One question. When was the last time you changed the fuel filter? When my pump went I had changed the filter less than 10k miles so I didn't change it again. Just for GP I disconnected the ground on my battery. One thing I had to reset was my auto window, other than that the engine started right up after the job was done. I hope you didn't spend more than $150 for your pump, mine was also OEM. If you have a hard time taking out the pump assembly due to the float, you can just bend it out of the way as the new pump comes with the float anyways.