Hi everyone! I am not much of a poster on this forum, but I enjoy reading everyone's input. So I figured I would share my story in hope of some answers.

We got freezing rain on last Tuesday and my car sat all night parked in my driveway. The next morning, I removed all the snow and ice off my car. Hop in it and start it. I noticed that the car was shaking and black smoke coming out of my exhaust. I let it warm up around 10 min and by then it was acting normal minus the check engine light. I didn't think much of what happened and went to work. However, the same thing happened when I was about to head home. The car presented the same symptoms as earlier, only this time the shaking didn't stop once it warmed up. I decided to try and get home (yes stupid of me...) Surprisingly, the car stopped shaking only when I gave it gas. I made it home and decided that I would take it to my mechanic first thing in the morning. And I did. Only with the help of a tow truck. The car would start and shut itself after 5 min. He looks at the faulty codes and it indicated that my spark plugs needed to be changed. So he did, but the car is still not running properly. I am towing my car to the dealer ASAP, but I was wondering if anyone experienced something similar. Or perhaps you guys might know or have an idea of what is going on with my car...


The car is a 2003 C230K. 90 000 kms
I heard about this "vacum hose thing" that seems to be replaced alot on our cars, but never to the extent where it could cause my car not to start...

Thanks in advance guys!

 

Could be the wires, or the $12 vacuum hose issue. The $12 vacuum hose is a recall.

 

Sounds like it's probably that hose or a sensor. Need to see the codes.
Sounds like your mechanic tried to take a random stab at it with spark plugs. Sure, it sounds like they need replacing with your mileage, but its really unlikely you would get such a sudden onset of such symptoms because of old worn out plugs. Wouldn't be going back to that mechanic, but that's just me and I'm told that I'm a little crazy.

 

This is a less common problem & I could be quite wrong. The only reason I'm mentioning it was your comment about black smoke. This is a rare problem on Benz but not unheard of. Failed temperature sender unit or temp sensor corroded & not earthing properly. (Brass into Aluminium)

This leads to the ECU believing that the engine is cold a thus chronic overfuelling - black smoke - & rough running.

Fix - replace sensor - or remove - clean threads - put thread compound on threads & reseat.

I don't know where the sensor is on your car.

 

...well the dealer called me back and apparently my car starter needs to be changed. But this is not the only problem, they said. They said they need to change it to investigate more on the problem...

 

Yes I think so. Black smoke & rough running has nothing to do with the starter motor???

 

that's what I think. The only thing I know for sure is that it's going to cost me quite a few bills...

 

If its the temp sensor it's a cheap fix - next possibility is MAF.