southernjim

For the third time this month my C230K Sport Sedan has had an engine problem. Yesterday while cruising around 70 mph, the car shutters and the check engine light comes on. After exiting the interstate, the car is shaking and sputtering like it is about to die, also practically no acceleration power available. As soon as I cut the engine off and restart, everything is back to normal, except CHECK ENGINE light remains on. Later in the evening, I start the car and suddenly the CHECK ENGINE light is no longer illuminated.
The car is going back for it's third service on this issue next week. Has anyone else had this problem with the new (2003) 1.8 Kompressor engine? The dealership seems to be at a loss as to the cause. The first incident resulted in a "misfire" code (the check engine light was still on when I took it to the dealership). The second incident, by the time I got the car to the dealership the check engine light had "magically" gone off and there was no indication of a problem with the diagnostic system. I am assuming this will be the result on this third trip to the dealership.
The technican claims the only time the check engine light should "correct" itself is if I have not been using premium fuel (which I always do), or if I've gotten bad gas (since the first incident I have purposely gone to separate stations and brands to rule this out) or if the gas cap is not on tight (which it is).
If anyone has any experience with a similar issue please help! So far my first experience with Mercedes is turning out to be not what I had expected. Three month old car, 3600 miles, and three engine problem incidences with no fix or idea as to the cause.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

truelove

have them look into putting the newest version control unit and software in the car (if you don't already have it). that's what fixed my engine problems last month. in fact, the car runs better than when bought it now. can't guarantee this will fix your problems but it did for mine.

66 Roadster

Hey Jim - Sorry no idea of the problem.

Do you work at Marshall? There is a black sedan that parks at building 4200 - 4203 area.

I ordered my Coupe from Regal - how are they treating you? - if you bought/service at Regal.

The best of luck!!

Jim Banville

Bad fuel pump? I would tell the dealer that if they can't figure out what is wrong and fix it , then it is time to start replacing every component that could cause this type of problem (fuel delivery and ignition components first) until it gets fixed, or you will "lemon" it! Mercedes Benz is paying for all the aprts and labor anyway, so it isn't like they are losing anything.

WC68

Hey Jim, this is what I wrote a couple of weeks ago: I have a 2003 C230 sport sedan with 3,200 miles on it and last Thursday the check engine light comes on and the car goes in to "limp mode". I just left my house and it happened about 5 blocks away I was going up a hill at about 40mph and once I reached the top it happened. I pull over and turn off the car and restart and the check engine light is still on and I have very little power, so I drive home and call Merecedes customer service and they send a tow truck the next morning. They keep the car over the weekend and today I talked to the tech and he tells me there was two fault messages. 1) problem with alternator, 2) misfire in the number 2 cylinder. To top things off he does not know what is wrong with my car, he can't figure it out!!! Did anybody ever experience these problems? What do you think is wrong with my car? Thanks for your help. The dealer finally fixed my car after a week in the shop. They changed the spark plugs, air cleaner, timing case and udapted ECU. The car runs fine for now.

breastroker

just over a week ago my 2003 Coupe with 4000 miles did exactly the same, except the check engine stayed on. The dealer replaced the fuel pump.

southernjim

Thanks folks, i've printed out this thread and will take it with me to the dealership to discuss possible fixes.

66 Roadster - I do work at MSFC, I usually park in the North corner between buildings 4202 & 4203. I tried ordering from Regal, but kept getting the run around, ended up dealing with Crown in B'ham. Regal has treated me well on the service as far as giving me a loaner, etc (but I'd prefer them fix the problem as opposed to treating me "nicely" the multiple times I've had to be there in the past three weeks )

66 Roadster

Yep that is your car. Sorry for the drool marks

Yea Regal sales is not very honest. Hard to get a straight answer. As I said in the email - just called the my car shows up on the computer and should have a build date tomorrow (sales manager is out today- like that should make a difference!!) If I can't get some straight answers I will call Crown - got their number right here.

Good luck - if you need a ride or anything, let me know. I drive by Regal on the way to work.

southernjim

Hey 66 Roadster - I sent you a direct e-mail asking about your experience with Regal. E-mail be directly and I'll give you more details on my experience, I doubt most of the forum wants to hear more about my "issues".
Thanks for the offer on a ride, unfortunately, it's looking like that may be a possibility far more frequently than I had hoped.

mctwin2kman

Next time try to get the car to the dealership while it is doing it. Without re-starting. If you can make it there safely this is the best way to get them to see the problem.

brianhn1

I've had similar problems on my ML500 as you guys did. Many times my car would just stall or hesitate alot. It turned out that it was just bad gas (yes I was using premium gas but wtf). The dealership drained the gas out and put new gas in and the car ran fine.

Another time I had problems is because the fuel pump was not activating. Many times the fuel pump was changed but the problem continued to come back later (every 2 months). It turned out that the engine "rotation sensor" was bad that whole time. The sensor tells the fuel pump to activate or not. The service manager told me that problems like this occured when the weather got really hot, which was true because I got stuck on the side of the road about a month ago in really hot weather.

Sorry but I only experienced this stuff on our ML and not our C320. Thought maybe there could be some relevance.

MB///HRV

Knock on wood. I'm at 4,200 miles and not a problem. Engine runs smooth as silk. Thanks for all the info and updates on the topic. Hopefully I won't ever have to take it in for this but if/when it ever happens I'll have a starting point.

Keyser_Soze

I had two minor problems:

1.After crusing for about 1 hour at high speeds 70~115 I exit the highway go the gas station get some gas, drive through McD and after I ordered and was going to pull up to the window the car just kind of jerked about 3 times forward?!!!

2.I got off work got in the car, as usual turned off the ESP, croused out of the parking lot stoped at the light where I dirve out of our company into a major road....light turn green I floor it and make a right trun and i felt like right after i started rolling i lost power and then the car jerked and then i slowly got back power and right after the jerk my ESP tunred back on, on its own?!!! (the warning light went away)

These two incidents have been semi minor so i have let it slide thinking they never happen again.... but now after reading through this thread i'm not sure should i take it in....is this a begining of troubles ....

MB///HRV

Funny you say that because I did have that happen to me last weekend. I has ESP off and took an aggressive corner while accelerating and the ESP triangle flashed on the dash and then went away. Is this normal?

truelove

yes, if you turn the ESP 'off' with the button, it doesn't exactly turn it off. you'll have to get an answer from someone else as to what exactly the ESP off button does, cause i'm not sure.

milani

The ESP Off button does not disable all of the features of ESP. When driving happens to reach a certain threshold level, the ESP will kick in (ie - if you try to do donuts, fish tails, etc). If you really want ESP disabled, put your car into dyno mode.

Matt230K

ESP off disables the traction control and throttle cutoff. So you will always be able to spin the tires and the throttle will never back off. But the stability control stays on and it uses the brakes to keep you going in the proper direction.

MB///HRV

Ahhhh now it makes sense! Thanks guys!

steffen

And for the stability program (i.e. you take a curve too quickly without applying any power) ESP would take over but you wouldn't get any warning lights, right?

--Steffen