galaxygrrl

I'm so jinxed!

I thought when I parked last night I had a 1/4 of gas. But of course in the morning the gauge read 1/2 full, just thought I made a mistake, didn't think much of it.

So, on our way out to the trailhead, we all stopped at the super-inexpensive gas station. I filled up and before I knew it my car took almost 16 gallons of gas. It seems the fuel gauge was stuck on 1/2 full. The warning signal did not come on. After I filled the car, the gauge worked.

We were out in the middle of nowhere, if I hadn't filled up on the way, I would have run out of gas 50 miles from the closest station. (Yup I did have friends, my bike and a cell phone with me, so it would have been fine)

Anybody else have this problem? Any ideas why this happen and if it might again?

TIA!

mbtech208

It's a bad fuel level sending unit, an all too common problem with the C, CLK, E, and ML classes. There's an updated sending unit that came out not too long ago that should take care of your problem. The part number (if you care) is 203 470 17 41.

Neil

My car has just come back from its second week at the dealer for this problem. (The first week they couldnt get the part so, after they had taken care of some other problems, I got it back while we waited for the part.)

This week they had the part but it turns out they had to change the whole gas tank. (I dont know if this is because they couldnt get just the sender - seems unlikely - or because there was a problem with the tank.) I dont like the idea of a 6 week old car needing a new gas tank.

I'm told the problem is fixed but havent had a chance to check it for myself - been out of town.

(As a foot note - the dealer called my wife after she had picked the car up and asked her to pay for the gas they had had to put in to check if the gauge worked! She said shey would pass their request on to me. They called a few hours later to say they had decided not to go ahead and recover this cost after all!)

mbtech208

I wonder why they replaced the entire tank?? That doesn't sound right to me, nor that fact that they wanted reimbursement for the fuel needed to fix a factory defect. It sounds to me like it's time to find a new dealer.

Neil

I get the impression that the dealer is trying hard. I think they are short of information on the cars and a little less organised than you would think from their impressive premises and (presumably) demanding clientelle.

I plan to stick with them and work with them on a more detailed level, rather than just accepting their word.

My main dissappointment is that a MB needs the kind of work this one has had in the first few weeks of its life. Its my first MB and is a great car but I didnt expect this much hassle.

pixmation

at the meantime, you may want to reset your trip computer "After Reset" every time you fill up your tank. Keep your eye on the total miles and fill up every 200 miles or so just ot be safe.

So far I have numerous problems with the car and luckily (or not) fuel gauge is not one of them. (knock wood).

galaxygrrl

hmmmm....my fuel gauge has been replaced once about two weeks ago. Does it make sense that I got two bad fuel gauges in a row? Just seems kinda odd. I would think that it might be something else than.

Thanks for your input!

DtS

I have the same quesition. My sensor has been changed once, but now the guage has started to act strange again.

raymond

To quote Bachmann Turner Overdrive (showing my age here)

"BBBBBBaby you aint seen nothing yet!"

BTW, the gas gauge was one thing that didn't fail on myC230K...

Rick

I read a few months ago that there were several people having problems with their fuel gauges...
So I asked a service guy I know at Catena MB, here's what he told me:

The car should always be turned OFF when refueling. Leaving the car running while filling the tank will mess up the fuel sensors calibration and you'll notice it until you refuel again....with the car OFF.

galaxygrrl

Thanks guys for your comments!

Rick, actually it never occured to me to leave a car on while fueling -- sounds dangerous.

Raymond, let me tell you, I have a list that rivials yours. I've just been through I lemon law before, so I'm pretty mellow about it. Last time before I understood the process and how it works, it got a bit more worked up.

Bob, thanks! naw, not going to get nasty, not my style. I actually got feisty with VW, talked to their higher-ups etc. Got nowhere. Decided that it's not my job to talk to the powers that be at VW or MB about my car problems. The Dealership can either fix or not.

I'm just gonna hire a lawyer, for $500 the lawyer can fight it out. I would like to give them two more times on my seatbelt, but they really have no clue what it is. They are now telling me I'm too short. I'm 5'3' the average American woman is 5'4'. My friend is 5'2' and does not have this problem.

Actually, this might be OK, 'cause I bought an automatic. I have so much less control on these SF hills than with a stick. And I really love Capri Blue, so maybe MB might cut a deal on a replacement car.

Cheers,

Beth

MB-BOB

Beth:
Tell us more about the seatbelt problem. My wife is 5"3" also, and she's not brought up any "height-related" complaints with the seatbelt. There is a trick or two in adjusting the B-pillar belt tensioner, if you are having problems with the belt locking up as you just drive normally. Experienced it myself. A previous poster here said to raise the adjuster more than you might think in order to minimize the premature belt clamping. Don't know if that's your problem. Just guessing til you tell us more.

avlis

It was in the mid-70's yesterday decided to go on my first Sunday drive with the roof and windows open. After a couple hours I noticed that the belt became irritating. It seemed like the wind was driving the belt edge into my neck. I woke up this morning as was shocked to see a 3” long red scratch on my collarbone/neck!

tommy

Actually, two fill-up ago, I didn't do my normal routine, and left the key in the ignition. It didn't move when I started up the car again. Then I got home, locked the car up, then came back 5 minutes later, and the gauge worked normally.

This last fill-up, I did remove the key, and the gauge correctly showed that it was full when I started back up.

So, my gauge question would be: should it matter whether I remove the key? Sounds like the sensor needs to be replaced to me; is there any justifiable reason for why the gauge wouldn't respond correctly when the key remains in the ignition when you fill-up?

Buellwinkle

Avlis, is the MB making you a redneck?

Beth, are you ready for another lemon-law fix? You have to stay away from tempermental cars like MBs and VWs. If you want to be lucky on your next car think American or Asian. It took me since 1984 (my last MB lemon) to forget about how tempermental MBs are. If history repeats itself my next MB should come in 2020! They should have their QC problems sorted out by then.

galaxygrrl

Lots of people on this board have been just fine with an MB. I'm just jinxed. Given my luck, I would buy a Honda and have the same problem. Did you really say that about American Cars. They are horrible. Look at consumer reports. Plus, they are all ugly.

I love my coupe. But you know, I'm having very serious SLK fantasies. Everytime I see one I get kinda lusty. Just don't know what I would do with the mountainbike, skis or kayak.

young

there's a study at Princeton that was done on a person's attitude and electronics (computers, etc.).

one of the tests was a random flip of a coin on the computer. and you'd try to think "heads" and a tiny but significant amount was measured. (yeah, i know that there's no such thing as a real random number generator on a computer, but a correction factor can be used).

galaxygrl, think positive and loving thoughts about your car...

avlis

Yes, that's one way to put it!

Perhaps it's punishing me for the oil cap fiasco.

galaxygrrl

OK, despite all these problems...I LOVE MY CAR! I really do. I will think positive thoughts. Power of positive thinking, maybe my car will just fix itself. But I'm still going to have that affair with the SLK OK? That pretty red one in my neighborhood. If I do say so myself, I would look so cute in it.

Bob, thanks for the offer of help.

The height issue is not really an issue, I think the tech was just throwing out ideas and made me justify why it could not be an issue that I'm 5'3'. The service manager (we're getting to be pretty good friends...he's a nice guy) corrected the tech.

I had the guys in the shop go over how my seatbelt is supposed to be set up, so I think we're fine on that. The seat belt just locks up. It's more on hills and acceleration or slowing down, but it happens on flat straight-aways too. It’s odd.

I know a lot about seatbelts now and my guess is that the pendulum that registers the movement of the car is broken. I mentioned this to the techs and they said they would look into it. My car does have that new sensor part that people have mentioned also.

If anyone has any ideas, I would really appriciate it. Thanks

Beth

trench

A problem with the pendulum mechanism would also be my (semi-edumacated) guess. Or perhaps the bar (see figure) is bent down slightly and catches the ratchets. It seems like this should be a relatively simple thing to check, perhaps it's a pain to get at the mechanism.



Hope they can fix everything.

BT

mleskovar

It took me three visits to get the passenger seat belt tensioner replaced. 1st visit I explained what was happening in depth to the service advisor....the seat belt wouldn't extend about 1/2 the time so the passenger couldn't put it on. Wait a while driving and it starts working usually. The advisor said they wouldn't order anything until checked out. So they checked it (A service) and said I was doing it wrong. I said wait, there are two in the front and we only have trouble with one. Anyway when I went to drive away I leaned over and
tugged on the belt....it jammed. Went and got the advisor and he played with it for five minutes tugging this way and that and it finally released. I said, now will you order the part so when I have time to return you'll have it? Sure he said. Brought it in just for the belt and they checked it out and said they needed to order the part....grrrrrr. Third time they replaced and fixed it. I bet few of us would be so turned off by the failures if they were fixed right the first time and without making us feel they were doing us a favor. Blaming the failure on the customer without positive knowledge is a real customer satisfaction faux pas and exudes arrogance along with stupidity.

Buellwinkle

Ok, I saw this in a movie yesterday, Disney's The Rookie. Get a St. Rita medallion, patron saint of impossible causes, and pray that your car won't break again. I've called 2 Catholic supply stores in my area and they have been cleaned out of them since the movie hit last week. I need one for my car (and I'm not even Catholic). This may be the only thing that can exorcise the demon's in our jinx'es!

American cars may not suit your tastes but from my personal experiences I've never had one as bad as a Mercedes. I'ld trade my coupe for a Mustang GT Convertible right now. If I can deal with a 2 seater the T-Bird really looks great, better than the aging SLK.

galaxygrrl

I saw that movie too, I'm fan of baseball movies and Dennis Quid (although he's gettin' a bit older) was fine too.

Buellie you making things worse: STOP! OK....please. This is not that bad. MB will either fix my car or give me a new one. It's really simple. I'm just unlucky. MB-BOB might be right, if I keep on getting in discussions like this with you I would need to find a picture of Joan Jett.

I still want the red SLK. I think I would look much cuter in it than the T-bird! You know, the T-bird is my Dad's dream car (the red '57 one). Can't have the same one as him.

You know, he's a old guy from Brooklyn too:p

Rick

Buell....the Mustang GT is a good car...if you can afford the Gas and Tires (GT...get it?) You'd probably be happier with the Cobra R or Mach 1 as they both sport more power and independant rear suspension...now that you're spoiled by the ride of your MB.

Galaxy.....would you really give up the extra space for a drop top SLiK? (nickname penned by none other than...moi). You cant even fit your dad's golf clubs in the trunk with the top down...and forget about room for packs, tents, gear, oars, hiking pals etc.
If I were you, I'd push for the replacement. Give them the chance to repair...but plant the thought in their mind as well as the MB Marketing Rep. I'm sure he'd rather have a happy customer with a few good friends than a problem customer with a lot more 'aquaintances'...
BTW.... Capri Blue is a wonderful color on the coupe...if only they'd offer it with java interior

young

good idea! i support that... it's not about practicality.