C280 hard starting incident report
05-24-2011, 03:18 PM
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Mercedes Benz 2000 C280
C280 hard starting incident report
Usually, you see posts with the poster describing a problem and not providing answers - not this one.
My most recent W202 adventure involved a hard start condition - needed to crank it 3-10 times to get it to turn over and when it did fire, it ran slow an raggedy until engine management kicked in. Nine months ago I swapped out a failed fuel pump and swapped the fuel filter for good measure. So,
I was reluctant to consider another fuel pump failure so soon.
The problem was any start (quick or longer) required this repeated starting. I suspected that the fuel line pressure was not being maintained and after investigation, I learned that for the W202, the fuel pressure regulator is integrated into the fuel filter. Somewhere along the way, the Check Engine Light (CEL) came on and the codes were as follows:
P0171, P0173 and P0141. The archives seems to attribute the 171 and 173 to failed/failing Mass Air Sensor, clearly the 141 is O2 sensor related. So,
I swapped the MAS and no difference. My plan was to swap O2 sensors but no one stocks them, so before I purchased new O2 sensors, I tried swapping the fuel filter (in retrospect, should've started there first) and that seems to have solved my problem.
Current thinking is that the failing filter (MANN mfg in Israel) was either incorrectly manufactured or clogged (purchased at NAPA), I installed a BOSCH filter this time.
I believe the root cause to have been the clogged/failing fuel filter and NOT the MAS or the O2 sensor because both of the devices are not involved in Open Loop operation (i.e. starting) only in Closed Loop operation. So it seems possible to me that the low fuel volume being delivered by the clogged/failing filter could have caused the CEL and subsequently reported codes.
So, that's my story - learn from my fail.
Thanks to everyone seeking a solution to their problem - I hope this helps someone.
Cheers...
My most recent W202 adventure involved a hard start condition - needed to crank it 3-10 times to get it to turn over and when it did fire, it ran slow an raggedy until engine management kicked in. Nine months ago I swapped out a failed fuel pump and swapped the fuel filter for good measure. So,
I was reluctant to consider another fuel pump failure so soon.
The problem was any start (quick or longer) required this repeated starting. I suspected that the fuel line pressure was not being maintained and after investigation, I learned that for the W202, the fuel pressure regulator is integrated into the fuel filter. Somewhere along the way, the Check Engine Light (CEL) came on and the codes were as follows:
P0171, P0173 and P0141. The archives seems to attribute the 171 and 173 to failed/failing Mass Air Sensor, clearly the 141 is O2 sensor related. So,
I swapped the MAS and no difference. My plan was to swap O2 sensors but no one stocks them, so before I purchased new O2 sensors, I tried swapping the fuel filter (in retrospect, should've started there first) and that seems to have solved my problem.
Current thinking is that the failing filter (MANN mfg in Israel) was either incorrectly manufactured or clogged (purchased at NAPA), I installed a BOSCH filter this time.
I believe the root cause to have been the clogged/failing fuel filter and NOT the MAS or the O2 sensor because both of the devices are not involved in Open Loop operation (i.e. starting) only in Closed Loop operation. So it seems possible to me that the low fuel volume being delivered by the clogged/failing filter could have caused the CEL and subsequently reported codes.
So, that's my story - learn from my fail.
Thanks to everyone seeking a solution to their problem - I hope this helps someone.
Cheers...
