IntoTheBlue

I'm currently in TX and my 2004 C230 is over in Ga until i get back. I just got the car a month ago and my mom took it to get emissions tested today where it failed. The car isn't certified used through a MB dealer but it was taken there last week to go through an inspection as if it were getting certified. No problems arose with the MB dealer inspections.

My mom was told to just drive the car for 200 miles and get it reinspected by the inspector and the MB dealer. Any ideas of what caused it to fail? The car hasn't been driven much at all in a month, and who knows how long it sat on a dealership lot...i'm thinking the previous owner/dealer must've put in 87 octane gas, would that cause a fail? Does carbon buildup if the car remains parked for a while?

Is there any additive i can get from pep boys to clean out the innards so i'll pass emissions the next time?

C230 Sport Coup

Well if the gas in the tank has been there a while, yeh, you want to run it out, and put fresh gas in, make sure the car is hot.
Other than that, you don't say how many miles are on the car or what it failed on.

TemjinX2

sometimes if there cat isn't warm enough then you can fail smog. The cat needs to be pretty hot to be operating at full capacity. Just drive the car hard on the freeway for about 20min before the test and dont turn off the car.

then test it. If not, have mb check the cat. I believe the cat is warrantied up to 5yrs with mercedes.

FrankW

2003 shouldn't have any problem passing the emission. other than the above post described.

OR it is either you have disconnected the battery previously and reset the ecu and/or the gas cap test failed. If the testing facility told your mom to drive another 200 miles or so I would guess it is the former. However, if it is the former, driving 200 miles won't clear all the hidden faults in the ECU. You WILL have to drive somewhere close to 900-1000 miles for the ECU to recognize everything is normal and tells the odbii smog test POS that everything is normal.

IntoTheBlue

now that you mention it she did say it failed while they were testing the gas cap, any easy fix for that? (is it as easy as getting a new gas cap?) of course they are running other tests simultaneously so i don't wanna pin it on the gascap just yet until i see the paperwork myself.

C230 Sport Coup

My point exactly.
You aren't giving us any info to work from.
Test has 2 parts, the inspection, and the
actual tailpipe.

Since you haven't stated what you failed on, how can we possible respond?
And yes, you can fail for a gas cap,
and you can also fail for any CEL irregardless of what its related to.
If the light is on, you fail!
If you failed at the tailpipe, well, for what?
How many miles on the car? Any CEL's?

If it was only the gas cap, yes, then you just buy a new one.

I got a pre-test, and the guy forgot to check the cap.
Then on the real test he's fumbling to find the correct adapter.

I asked what he was doing, 'oh I need to test the cap, I forgot when I was doing the pre-test'. Uh, dude, don't expect me to pay you if it fails for the cap you passed on the pre-test, and now that you're connected to the DMV computer, you remember to test the cap? He let it go, couldn't find the right adapter anyway.

Note to self. Buy new gas cap before next smog check.

IntoTheBlue

I would have more info if i had it myself, my mom isn't the best with cars and all that mumbo jumbo. I'll have to try and get her to read off the paperwork over the phone so i can get more details. The car has 52,000 miles on it.

TemjinX2

just scan the print out so we can all see it. usually obdII cars only fail smog because of cels.