mdstephens83

Ok almighty M272 gods, here's my dilemma:

I think I may finally be plagued by the dreaded balance shaft sprocket failure. That said, how would I know for sure? At present, the car will crank but the idle is ridiculously rough, the gas pedal is unresponsive, and will not idle for more than a few seconds. My scan tool is giving me the following codes:

P0016 - Cam Sensor Position
P0017 - Cam Sensor Position
P0018 - Cam Sensor Position
P0300 - Misfire
P0304 - Misfire
P0305 - Misfire
P0306 - Misfire
P0366 - Camshaft Sensor Signal Implausible
P0391 - Camshaft Sensor Signal Implausible

This is an 07 C230 with approx. 180K miles. I previously had codes P0016 and P0017 along with the P2006 for the intake runner. Am I dead in the water at this point? My guess is the P0366 and P0391 are residual and changing just the cam magnets will do absolutely no good at this point.

Any advice is appreciated. I'm honestly at the end of my rope here.

Russell Ormerod

There is only one true way to check. Remove all the cam sensors and check if all the circles line up with the holes.

C230 Sport Coup

Easier way to tell, is have you checked your Engine # against the TSB?
You need the datacard with the engine number, big thread on this in the W164 forum on benzworld,
someone can check for you.
180K, almost guaranteed if you're in the range.
Worn teeth lead to loose chain...
We just had this repaired after finally finding a mechanic competant enough to do it on
our 06 ML350 @ 170K miles. No it wasn't cheap, but it also had a ton of other things wrong
and we got them all fixed at once. Like a new car again.

mdstephens83

Crank pulley and TDC. This is the point where the stamp on the cam is visible through the Hall effect sensor hole on the timing chain cover. This should be at or around 305 degrees, which it clearly isn't. It's off by nearly 65 degrees.


After further review, I was able to determine that the telltale stamp is visible right around 240 degrees....nowhere near 305 like it is supposed to be. I had hoped that this would be something simple like a bad batch of gas, fuel pump going out (I say this because the motor was unresponsive to the gas pedal), or something of a similar ilk. Had even considered the possibility of a clogged catalytic convertor, vacuum leak, or an issue with the intake manifold.

My motor is confirmed to be in the affected range according to the datacard. Seems like I've got all the evidence I need to declare this a loss.
A very sad reality this morning. I need a drink...

C230 Sport Coup

Where are you located?
We finally found a guy here in San Jose who's competent on this.
And I know a guy in NJ as well.
Guy in San Jose, (former dealer mechanic) would be about 3-4 grand including the new intake manifold which it sounds
like you'd need. Sounds like a lot, but it's be perfect when you get it back.
Guy in Jersey does them on the side, and might be less.

Nektopoli

A quick run of the VIN number here https://www.datamb.com/ will let you know if the engine is in the effected range, and 180K miles is will past the 80K miles failure were being seen in. - NP

MBENZTECH

Having a worn out balance shaft should not cause the engine to misfire or run rough. I have a customer that has been driving his car with a worn out gear for more than a year (NOT recommended) If anything, it will vibrate like crazy if it's bad enough that the balance shaft is out of time. So I think what's causing your rough idle is the misfire codes, which high mileage M272 engines are known for when you have bad valve seats caused by loose valve guides. So you will probably need rebuild head (or heads), intake manifold and balance shaft kit installed. Along with any other gasket, fluids and so on.... Sounds easy but It's time consuming and expensive.

C230 Sport Coup

Worn gear equals loose chain, and advanced timing.
Ours ran like crap except when you had your foot into it.
We also had a blown intake manifold.
All fixed now, runs very quiet and smooth...oddly though, with a little less
giddyup.

mdstephens83

To give you an idea of what happened at the time of SOMETHING failing, I was attempting to pass someone on the highway and put my foot in the throttle to do so. Instead of the typical response of what can best be described as a turbo spooling and finally giving me some giddy up, all I got was a "whoosh" sound and an unresponsive gas pedal. After that, it's simply failing to run for more than a few seconds (all the while it sounds like a huge diesel motor) and the gas pedal is unresponsive as well. I have confirmed 54 PSI at the fuel rail, which should eliminate any fuel delivery issues. As you saw above, I also did the balance shaft test and found it to be well out of the acceptable parameters for that.

Does this knowledge change your opinion of my issues any? Or am I still looking at heads, intake manifold, and balance shaft? If so, then this is simply too costly a repair to justify keeping the vehicle.