Astafford92067

My 2005 C230K will not pass smog! I have been dealing with this for almost 6 months! My poor car has almost 143k miles and just recently started running really rough and shaking at freeway speeds. Originally, the codes that came up were P0170, or P0171 (cant remember exactly which one) P0442, P0456 and P0128. After lots of research, money and time I got all the codes cleared except P0442!!! When i reset the codes and check engine light everything went away for about 200-300 miles and then up came the CEL again. Now it keeps giving me the P0442 code and I am out of ideas on what the heck to do! While replacing the thermostat, the air intake hose that runs along the front of the engine completely crumbled and fell apart...I was hoping that might of been what the small evap leak was. But it doesnt seem to be it. I dont k now much about cars, and im a female, which doesnt help the situation. Anyone have any directions they can point me in??? I need my car to pass smog and the check engine light to go off.

FYI - My car has already been to the dealership for both the camshaft silenoid and the evap system recalls. I called Mercedes regarding the evap recall, cause it sounds like that may be my problem and its been almost 5 years, and this one hose ocassionally comes loose causing the car to surge really badly. They told me that once they perform the work thats it, they wont perform the work again free of charge!

mtnman82

P0442 is a small evaporative system leak. These can be very hard to find sometimes. Your best bet is to find a mechanic that has a 'smoke tester' and knows how to use it. They will slightly pressurize the system an dfill it with a benign smoke. If the system has a leak, it will be evident becasue it won't hold pressure and the smoke will indicate where the leak is. You don't need to go to a MB dealer to have this done. My dad just had this done with an old Ford van of his and it was on the order of $50 and an hour of time (after he spent weeks trying to track the leak down).

Astafford92067

so do most mechanics perform smoke tests or do I have to find a special one?

LILBENZ230

Have you replaced the fuel filler neck? That's a big issue on the 2005s.

Astafford92067

No, I haven't done that yet. It sounds very expensive....Do you know an approximate $ amount doing something like that is? Just the parts part of it?

LILBENZ230

It seems like someone on here paid $600 or so for the work at a dealer. At an indy mechanic, it would be cheaper. This went wrong with my car and caused a CEL at 35,000 miles. It was done under warranty but not before they tried everything else.

sammydragon3

before u replace the fuel filler neck...

why dont u pay the dealership or a mercedes independent shop to figure whats going wrong...?

Astafford92067

Ouch....$600! I know I should have taken it to Mercedes originally and had them run the STAR test on it, but unfortunately I didn't and I had an independent mechanic look at my vehicle and pull the OBDII codes and we figured that the P0442 code was due to all the other codes. We thought maybe once we fixed those it would take care of the small evap leak. Now, after dumping hundreds, even thousands of dollars into repairs....the funds are running low and I cant really afford to keep fixing this car.....I'm thinking I might just have to let the car have a break for awhile until I save up more $ to fix it.

LilBenz - Do you know how much a smoke test runs? And do I need to find a special mechanic to do this, or is this something most mechanic shops can perform?

LILBENZ230

Do the people here a favor and stay out of it since you don't know anything about the W203.


Astafford - The Mercedes dealer was doing the work on mine. The dealer will not smoke test things first, they throw parts at it. I was okay with this since mine was under warranty. They ended up replacing the charcoal canister, purge valve, etc. I don't know how much a smoke test costs but definitely do not take it to the dealer. Unfortunately the 05s were plagued by this problem and I wouldn't be surprised if that is at the heart of what is wrong with yours. Although the fuel filler neck issue seems to cause a P0456 code, not a P0442. Have you started simple and replaced the gas cap?

Astafford92067

LilBenz - Yes, I did replace the gas cap at the same time the thermostat and intake hose were replaced. I originally did have the P0456 code, but when i reset everything, that code went away and hasnt been back yet (fingers crossed). I have my own OBDII reader now so I plan on running it on my car tonight when I get home from work to see if anything new comes up. The stealership is really starting to **** me off! I went to get new rear tires last week and come to find out....the guys at Discount Tire tell me that I my wheels are not the right size. I should have the stagger set up with the wider wheels in back. Now the tire size is right but the actual wheel on my back passenger size is the same size as the front. Basically I have 3 front wheels and one rear wheel. So the lugs are too short for the one in the back and arent able to tighten completely. And all these codes started coming up after I took my car into the dealer to get the repairs done from the camshaft silenoid campaign. While they had my car for 3 days, they called me to tell me that they had busted something with my cooling or AC or something and that they now had to order parts to replace whatever it was they broke. Now all of a sudden, over the last 6 months, my car is falling apart. I know it has high miles but I am considering calling the manager over at the dealership and raising hell.

LILBENZ230

To review, let's make sure all things are covered..

The car started shaking, running rough, P0170 or 0171 codes come up.

What was done to correct this? Has your car had the recall performed for the $12 hose? See the sticky thread "M271 owners go to dealer recall" or something like that at the top of the forum.

P0456 code

What was done to correct this?

P0128

Did they replace the thermostat?

LILBENZ230

Well using a dealership is always going to mean that you end up losing, unfortunately. You should peruse the phone book and look for an independent mechanic that specializes in Euro cars in your area.

How long have you owned the car? I can't believe it would even drive right with the tire setup it is running. The rear wheels are an inch wider.

Were the oxygen sensors ever replaced?

Just trying to figure out what exactly has been done so far.

Astafford92067

The car has been in the family since 2004, my mom drove it off the lot when it had less than 19 miles on it. She drove it for the first two years, until she decided to purchase an SUV and I have had the Mercedes ever since.

Dont get me wrong....I LOVE my car! But as a single mom in my twenty's, living in San Diego, it isnt really the most practical car. I can hardly afford the maintenance on this car, let alone all the problems it is now starting to have.

Here is a little history on the car....

• 2008 - dealership performed repairs for the $12 hose recall/campaign
• July 2011 - dealership performed repairs for the camshaft silenoid recall and replaced the entire wiring harness as the oil had destroyed it. While performing these repairs, one of the mechanics cracked something having to do with my cooling or A/C (I will call my SA today to find out exactly what happend) and they replaced the part they broke. Three days after getting my car back I discovered a loud ticking noise in my dash and my defrost doesnt work. It blows really hard and then shuts off, blows hard, shuts off....etc.
• January 2012 - I took my car back to the dealership to make them double check their work and make sure my O2 sensors were ok. My understanding is that the oil leaking from the camshaft can cause problems with the O2 sensors and that the replacement of the sensors is covered under the campaign. My SA called me two hours later and said my car is fine, the O2 sensors are fine, come pick up my car.
• March 2012 - Discount Tire informs me that I have three front wheels and only one rear wheel
• Over the past 2-3 years the clips have come off the plastic guards that go in the wheel wells. One by one they have come off while driving and completely shredded the tire and left me stranded on a freeway or busy intersection

Recent repairs

• Thermostat replaced
• Air intake hose has been replaced
• Oil change and regular maintenance (Service A and Service B)

LILBENZ230

Dealerships can cause more problems than they can fix sometimes. I don't understand how you end up with three front wheels and one rear wheel, though. That is baffling, how does that even happen? If I were you, I'd sell it move on. It sounds like the car has long been paid for and it also sounds like the dealership has really screwed it up.

The blower motors sometimes fail in the cars and that could cause your A/C problem.

The O2 sensors are undoubtedly cycling too slowly at the age/mileage of the car. They need to be replaced.. figure $160 roughly per sensor and there are two.

You've got the 0442.. could be the fuel filler neck, small leak. Could be a lot of other things, very hard to find.

Astafford92067

Would the blower motor cause my car to fail smog?

LILBENZ230

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ode-p0442.html

That thread gives some insight to the fuel filler neck.

The blower motor is just responsible for HVAC.. It won't cause any CEL or smog problems.

Astafford92067

Thanks so much for all your knowledge and insight. You deffinetly helped in giving me a direction to go on. I appreciate it very much. I'll keep updating status as I find out more

dougo01

Hi: I may be able to help. I had a P0456 (very small leak evap) code pop, changed the gas cap.Then the MB dealer replaced a purge valve at $450. Didn't fix the problem so I brought the car back. They said I needed a new filler neck. This has been a problem in the 2005s and said I needed a new filler neck at a cost of $650.
I brought the car to my independent mechanic (he was unable to find the leak originally) and he fixed the part for about $90. The filler neck is located where you fill the car with gas. Ask your mechanic to remove the wheel and fender liner and look at the filler neck. There is a line that goes to the charcoal canister and that was where my problem was. He simply repaired the line.
In my opinion, your best bet is to find an independent mechanic and use him. If you don't know of one, ask around, someone you know will suggest someone trustworthy. This problem does not require specific MB stuff.
Hope this helps.

Astafford92067

$90 I can afford!!! Thank you so much! I will definitely start looking into that

mtnman82

Call around to some local independent shops and simply tell them you need to find a leak in your evaporative emissions system and am looking for someone with a smoke machine that can perform a smoke test and find the leak. The only shop I know of in SD is a high performance shop called Speed Force Racing - while I'm sure they can perform the test I'm not sure how busy they are or willing to do such a simple job, but it couldn't hurt to try calling. It's kind of hit and miss on shops that have the smoke machine so you have to call around.

nlpamg

Sounds like it could be the fuel filler neck.

You're lucky, you haven't really spent that much on your car in terms of maintenance and repairs.

If you're willing to drive up from San Diego to Huntington Beach, benzworks (http://benz-works.com/) does good quality work at reasonable prices. They replaced my fuel filler neck for a lot cheaper than what the dealer wanted.

mtnman82

Also, I might suggest having your service A & B performaed at a indy shop vs. the dealer = big bucks to be saved there.