Cold - Hesitant Start!
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 43
Likes: 0
From: Airdrie, Alberta Canada
07 C230 Sport Sedan Orion Blue
Cold - Hesitant Start!
Hey Folks,
I have searched the forum and found stuff about hesitant starting but nothing that corrects my problem. I am in Alberta, Canada and it has been about -30 celsius which is approximately 2 fahreneheit. Cold I know. Anyways, when my car has been driven for a bit and then I park for a few hours, it still fires up easily when I try it later. I have my car parked in a garage but it isn't heated. I don't plug the car in either. When it has sat for approximately 8 hours or more it barely starts. I hold on the ignition and wait for it to turn over. Sometimes I have to give it a bit of gas and other times it starts but takes about 10 seconds to idle correctly. Sometimes I have to give it more gas to make it idle properly. I have tried turning the key to on so the electrical starts, the display on the car says "wait" and when that goes off I turn the key to start the car. It doesn't seem to help.
Hopefully this makes sense and sounds like something that someone else has experienced. I guess you would have to live in a cold area to understand this. I am nervous about contacting the dealer about anything but if I do have a problem and they look at it, will warranty cover even just looking at my car? If it isn't starting properly, regardless of the weather I think that something is faulty. My 05 Altima fires up immediately. My old 86 Tbird that I had fired up immediately. My $50,000 Benz doesn't. I have read a lot of problems that different owners have had on this site so you always here the bad stuff and rarely hear the good. Hopefully this car doesn't turn out to have problems. Any input would be greatly appreciated and I appreciate any info fellow members have provided to me in the past. If this is covered somewhere and I missed it, please point it out and delete this thread. I have under 3,000 km's on the car so it is still new. I had it parked for about 4 weeks until I got my winter tires and wheels on it.
1stBenzo!
I have searched the forum and found stuff about hesitant starting but nothing that corrects my problem. I am in Alberta, Canada and it has been about -30 celsius which is approximately 2 fahreneheit. Cold I know. Anyways, when my car has been driven for a bit and then I park for a few hours, it still fires up easily when I try it later. I have my car parked in a garage but it isn't heated. I don't plug the car in either. When it has sat for approximately 8 hours or more it barely starts. I hold on the ignition and wait for it to turn over. Sometimes I have to give it a bit of gas and other times it starts but takes about 10 seconds to idle correctly. Sometimes I have to give it more gas to make it idle properly. I have tried turning the key to on so the electrical starts, the display on the car says "wait" and when that goes off I turn the key to start the car. It doesn't seem to help.
Hopefully this makes sense and sounds like something that someone else has experienced. I guess you would have to live in a cold area to understand this. I am nervous about contacting the dealer about anything but if I do have a problem and they look at it, will warranty cover even just looking at my car? If it isn't starting properly, regardless of the weather I think that something is faulty. My 05 Altima fires up immediately. My old 86 Tbird that I had fired up immediately. My $50,000 Benz doesn't. I have read a lot of problems that different owners have had on this site so you always here the bad stuff and rarely hear the good. Hopefully this car doesn't turn out to have problems. Any input would be greatly appreciated and I appreciate any info fellow members have provided to me in the past. If this is covered somewhere and I missed it, please point it out and delete this thread. I have under 3,000 km's on the car so it is still new. I had it parked for about 4 weeks until I got my winter tires and wheels on it.
1stBenzo!
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 491
Likes: 1
From: Redding, California
AMG GTS
I'm sure this has been posted in the forum somewhere but I think I have heard that this is a possibility...again i'm not sure so i hope i don't get flamed on this but....I hear that after a certain time the fuel in your fuel lines all go back into your fuel tank...so that when you flick ur hand to turn on ur car...the gas doesnt get to where its supposed to be in time to start your car...the solution to this I hear is that you gotta put your key to the ON position (this is the position right before the car starts I believe)....and let it sit there for about a couple seconds...then move onto the next click to START your car and there should be no problem...the whole fueld retreating back into the gas tank does make sense..because they say that solution works because when you put your key to the ON position it lets the fuel flow back through the fuel lines...hope this helps and hope i'm not wrong...I used to have this problem in any weather (lowest it got out here was about 35 F) but now the car doesn't do it anymore...about 27,xxx miles on my 2003 C230k.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 43
Likes: 0
From: Airdrie, Alberta Canada
07 C230 Sport Sedan Orion Blue
Hey C230K415,
I appreciate the response to this and I have searched the forum, found the solution you mentioned and tried it. My car will eventually start but putting it in the "ON" position doesn't seem to help. I found that solution from another thread and tried it before making my thread. The weather is strange where I live because we get chinooks. It was 10 Fahrenheit yesterday and today it is 35 fahrenheit. My car started pretty good this morning because the weather has warmed up. I just hope this isn't anything major but I can't see why a brand new car and especially a prestige car like Mercedes would do this. Thanks for the info!
1stBenzo!
I appreciate the response to this and I have searched the forum, found the solution you mentioned and tried it. My car will eventually start but putting it in the "ON" position doesn't seem to help. I found that solution from another thread and tried it before making my thread. The weather is strange where I live because we get chinooks. It was 10 Fahrenheit yesterday and today it is 35 fahrenheit. My car started pretty good this morning because the weather has warmed up. I just hope this isn't anything major but I can't see why a brand new car and especially a prestige car like Mercedes would do this. Thanks for the info!
1stBenzo!
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 341
Likes: 0
From: Lake Worth, FL
2005 C230 SS
I kind of had the same problem...my car seemed rough when starting after it sat for 8 hours or more in the cold or heat. I took it to the dealer, they kept the car overnight and when they went to start it in the morning they noticed the problem. They kept my car for 3 days or so and after that my car has been fine. I am not sure what they did because this occurred over a year ago. I say take it back to the dealer and make a big deal....this topic has been discussed numerous times in the forum so you might want to keep researching for more info as well.
At least your problem is a somewhat common one...the un-common ones are the ones that get me worried.
Hope this helps!
At least your problem is a somewhat common one...the un-common ones are the ones that get me worried.
Hope this helps!
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 491
Likes: 1
From: Redding, California
AMG GTS
Hey C230K415,
I appreciate the response to this and I have searched the forum, found the solution you mentioned and tried it. My car will eventually start but putting it in the "ON" position doesn't seem to help. I found that solution from another thread and tried it before making my thread. The weather is strange where I live because we get chinooks. It was 10 Fahrenheit yesterday and today it is 35 fahrenheit. My car started pretty good this morning because the weather has warmed up. I just hope this isn't anything major but I can't see why a brand new car and especially a prestige car like Mercedes would do this. Thanks for the info!
1stBenzo!
I appreciate the response to this and I have searched the forum, found the solution you mentioned and tried it. My car will eventually start but putting it in the "ON" position doesn't seem to help. I found that solution from another thread and tried it before making my thread. The weather is strange where I live because we get chinooks. It was 10 Fahrenheit yesterday and today it is 35 fahrenheit. My car started pretty good this morning because the weather has warmed up. I just hope this isn't anything major but I can't see why a brand new car and especially a prestige car like Mercedes would do this. Thanks for the info!
1stBenzo!
I usually back out ouf the garage then warm-up my car but on cold-days when I back out I have to keep on the brake really carefully cause the throttle seems to "pump" a lot...anyone else got this problem? it simply feels like the car is just pumping the gas pedal when my foot isn't even on the gas.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 43
Likes: 0
From: Airdrie, Alberta Canada
07 C230 Sport Sedan Orion Blue
Hey All,
Well I talked to my sales rep and he said that I should do 2 things:
1) Get gas at a different place. I do put 91 octane Premium in it but I buy it from Superstore which might not have the best gas.
2) Buy some gasline antifreeze which will remove any water that might be in there.
I will try this and then I am taking the car on a road trip tomorrow which should burn anything bad out of it if there is something. If I find the problem persists then I am taking it to the shop. It is now 36 fahrenheit or +4 celsius so it starts like it should now. Thanks again for any info fellow Benz lovers!
1stBenzo!
Well I talked to my sales rep and he said that I should do 2 things:
1) Get gas at a different place. I do put 91 octane Premium in it but I buy it from Superstore which might not have the best gas.
2) Buy some gasline antifreeze which will remove any water that might be in there.
I will try this and then I am taking the car on a road trip tomorrow which should burn anything bad out of it if there is something. If I find the problem persists then I am taking it to the shop. It is now 36 fahrenheit or +4 celsius so it starts like it should now. Thanks again for any info fellow Benz lovers!
1stBenzo!
