Wet Idle Problem
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1
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From: NYC
'95 C280
Wet Idle Problem
Hello All,
My first post. My brother-in-law and I recently looked at a pristine '95 C280 for him since his car was recently totalled. Car's got 107K miles on it but literally looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor. Previous owner used it as a highway commuter, didn't eat, drink, or smoke in the car. Anyway, we went to look at it Saturday and under initial inspection of engine run quality, everything was fine. Idle'd overly smoothly, no hesitations under throttle tip-in, and didn't "hunt" for idle on decel. However, after we let the fluids warm up and pulled out of the lot to take a test drive, the torrential downpours going on at the time uncovered something.
It appears that during high humidity situations (like the car/engine bay is soaked due to an incredible rain storm and puddles) the car has what feels like a misfire at idle and for the first 500 rpm. Car didn't stall, and ran above 1500rpm all the way to redline. 5 minutes later, after the rains had stopped (and I assume the moisture in the offending area had evaporated) ... the car idled fine again.
At first glance, this appears to me to be a coil problem. The idle is extremely rough (car shakes very noticibly) during these times and it could definately be running on 4 cylinders as the coil configuration would happen. I've been searching these forums and although I've found a few cases of the coil harness eroding, I figured I'd ask just to see if anyone else has any ideas. Do these cars have any chronic problems I should know about?
Yes, I've asked the dealer to look at it (he was in the car with us) and I just got off the phone with him 20 minutes ago. He says that since it isn't raining and the problem went away shortly after it happened, the mechanic can't diagnose the problem. Yes, this is bull**** I know, but it's a used car dealership so I didn't expect much in the first place. As it stands, this is ok because I can use this to negotiate the price and since I'll do any part swaps myself, I can negotiate in the labor without actually having to pay for it.
On that note, assuming a coil or coil harness problem, what am I looking at in regards to parts prices. Carparts.com has the coils at around $100 each, but I can't find the coil harness. If this is some other problem that one of you is about to tell me about, what am I looking at as far as price?? Thanks for your help in advance guys.
Bill
My first post. My brother-in-law and I recently looked at a pristine '95 C280 for him since his car was recently totalled. Car's got 107K miles on it but literally looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor. Previous owner used it as a highway commuter, didn't eat, drink, or smoke in the car. Anyway, we went to look at it Saturday and under initial inspection of engine run quality, everything was fine. Idle'd overly smoothly, no hesitations under throttle tip-in, and didn't "hunt" for idle on decel. However, after we let the fluids warm up and pulled out of the lot to take a test drive, the torrential downpours going on at the time uncovered something.
It appears that during high humidity situations (like the car/engine bay is soaked due to an incredible rain storm and puddles) the car has what feels like a misfire at idle and for the first 500 rpm. Car didn't stall, and ran above 1500rpm all the way to redline. 5 minutes later, after the rains had stopped (and I assume the moisture in the offending area had evaporated) ... the car idled fine again.
At first glance, this appears to me to be a coil problem. The idle is extremely rough (car shakes very noticibly) during these times and it could definately be running on 4 cylinders as the coil configuration would happen. I've been searching these forums and although I've found a few cases of the coil harness eroding, I figured I'd ask just to see if anyone else has any ideas. Do these cars have any chronic problems I should know about?
Yes, I've asked the dealer to look at it (he was in the car with us) and I just got off the phone with him 20 minutes ago. He says that since it isn't raining and the problem went away shortly after it happened, the mechanic can't diagnose the problem. Yes, this is bull**** I know, but it's a used car dealership so I didn't expect much in the first place. As it stands, this is ok because I can use this to negotiate the price and since I'll do any part swaps myself, I can negotiate in the labor without actually having to pay for it.
On that note, assuming a coil or coil harness problem, what am I looking at in regards to parts prices. Carparts.com has the coils at around $100 each, but I can't find the coil harness. If this is some other problem that one of you is about to tell me about, what am I looking at as far as price?? Thanks for your help in advance guys.
Bill
