C230 Mulac

so something really weird with the CEL happened to me.

about a month ago, i started my car after work to go over to my friends house and the CEL comes on so im like WTF is wrong now. I go over and hang out for a few hours. Then later when i turn on the car to go home, the CEL is off like it just turned off on its own? so i say ok, thats cool, i'll see if it comes on again...it doesn't...

...until last weekend. i start my car when i'm leaving my gf's house and it's on again! so i say alright, let's see. it stays on until the next day, i get in the car to go to the grocery store, and when i leave the store, it's off again and hasn't turned on again since.

what the hell is going on here?

jcnash

Its called the MB-UPWL. Mercedes Benz Unsavory Person Warning Light.

It lights up to warn you that your car doesnt like the person youre going to meet or are just returning from meeting....its described on page 37 of your manual....RTFM!







I kid...LOL...I hope you didnt actually go and pull out the manual to look this up. But heres my serious response:
Fault codes for MB are split up into 3 types - ones that are triggered and stored and show up on the dash as the CEL, ones that are triggered and show up on the dash as a CEL, but the car re-checks for these faults upon subsequent startups and removes the CEL if the fault isnt found, and the third type are the faults that can be seen only using STAR-DAS.

Your case is obviously the second. Usual faults under this category are things like improper airflow to certain sections of the engine, etc. I wouldnt worry about it unless is starts coming on very frequently and consistently (like once every week regularly), or until the CEL stops turning off on startup.

Meanwhile you can also give your air ducts a good cleaning to make sure that airflow isnt obstructed.

Hope this helps.

W203E35

Sounds like the infamous camshaft error AKA magnets. Get the code checked out. I think auto part stores will scan it for you for free.

C230 Mulac

i could do that but is the code still gonna be there even though the light turned off?

W203E35

Ya, it should still be there. I'm certain it's the camshaft magnet. On mine it came and went. At first it took months and then 6 months later it started popping more often. I even learned how to mimic it. When car wasn't fully warm and I kept high rpm I would get the code.

Just get the code checked out it should still be stored and tell us what the code is. If it's the magnets which are a common problem you can get them no more than 20 bucks each. So 80 bucks you can change all 4 and don't have to worry about them.

C230 Mulac

alright cool i'll check it out. are those pretty easy to install?

pcy

the code may be stored as PENDING CODE.

mskembo

Rediculously stupidly easy... All you need is a 1/4" 12point wrench. I made it harder than it was when I did mine. Once I understood that it was really easy.

C230 Mulac

awesome, is this a common problem with all of our cars? i'll prob just buy 4 so i have them on hand.

C230 Mulac

so i went to 2 different advanced auto's and neither one of the motherf***ers could link with my car. so i went to my local mechanic and told him my car, the mileage, and how the light would come on and then back off again. i didn't want to pay for an hour labor just to read the codes, so i asked him what he thought and he said he was almost certain it was either a c1200 or c1208 code. He's saying it's either the CPS magnets like some of you guys said, or...which is much much worse, he said there's something messed up with the timing of the camshaft which apparently there were several problems with the m272 engines where the timing slips and when it does that the light comes on. he said fixing it is a very major repair cause you have to take the whole engine out to do it and it's like 3-4K! i really hope this isn't it.

where can i take my car where they have a f***ing code reader that works?

RXBENZ

Just had the same thing happen AGAIN last weekend after a month of nothing...lucky for me still under warranty went in on Monday and had the "Camshaft sensor magnets" replaced...It's a commom thing, SA said since there isn't a seperate light for Camshaft sensor it just flips the CEL light

C230 Mulac

yeah i'm hoping it's just the magnets. how much did it cost you to get someone else to do it? i was thinking of doing it myself since the other guys say it's real easy but if it's cheap i'll just get someone else to do it.

RXBENZ

lucky for me I am still under warranty...took about 1hr from the time I brought it into MB service...it's probably a $20.00 part and took 20mins or less to install...

C230 Mulac

just to be clear here, when you guys say "CPS magnets" you are referring to the Crankshaft Position Sensor, correct?

billbillw

No, they are talking about camshaft position sensors (which I don't believe is the correct term anyway).

Nice long thread here. Make sure you read read to the end for the simplest fix.

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...-bank-1-a.html

C230 Mulac

thanks everyone for the help, i just ordered the cam magnets and hopefully that should take care of this problem!

Outkasted24

C230 Mulac

i guess that would explain why both times it came on was when i was visiting my girlfriend