LandSeaAir

I was in my driveway today, and turned the key quickly and nothing happened, the radio went on and the dashboard, but the engine didn't turn over at all or make any sounds.

Then I turned the key back and out, and then restarted and it was fine.

Should I take it in for that, or do you think its just a low battery?

Thinking about it, when I quickly insert my key and turn it fast, there is a bit of a delay between when you turn it and when it actually starts, probably about 1 second delay. Any one else have this delay?

Blazeitup123

you might have taken your foot off the brake before the car started?

I'd say nothing to worry about if its only happened one time.

Rogwp

No need to put your foot on the brake to start the car - only need to do this to put it into gear. To the O.P., try starting the car more slowly; if it happens again, take it in. There have been ignition key and battery problems with some cars. I got a new battery and battery heat sensor under warranty because this happened to me once, except in my case nothing came on, not even the radio.

rkliew

Happened to me roughly 5 - 6 times during the 24 months since I had the car. Happened to my previous W203 too.

Did not bother me much, just pull and reinsert the key and it should start fine.

I think it could be some IR communication problem between the car & the key.
Shouldn't of big concern.

RLE

There must be an epidemic of this problem because one of my keys has been doing this for months, failing to operate the starter about 20% of the time. I swapped to my other key for two weeks and the problem went away which proves that it is a problem with THAT key and not the car's system. The car is going in tomorrow for a check over before my warranty expires next month and I expect the bad key to be replaced.

As to the comments about batteries, for the one hundredth time, the battery in the key has NOTHING to do with any function except remote lock/unlock.

If anyone thinks they know better, remove the battery and observe that the engine starts without it.

Carsy

In this electronics age I consider it a good option to take your time in starting & moving off in your car.

ie Insert your key & wait a second for recognition ect .

Turn ignition on & wait for all components to be energised ( relays & switching going on everywhere) including the fuel pump to pressurise system.

Start & wait a second or two for auto gearbox to pressurise & engine oil pressure to come up.

Select drive & wait a second for the system to recognise command.

I might be talking absolute horse manure ! but I feel more confident in my car lasting the distance by having this routine. No sudden jerking , jolts or voltage spikes to the systems .

You also tend to listen to each stage & develop a sense of what is normal.

Normandie4life

Mine does dat too every now n then havent had any problems

LandSeaAir

Did all you do was tell them that it happened? Did they ask for proof?

LandSeaAir

I am definitely going to start doing that.

LandSeaAir

As far as battery is concerned I was talking about the car battery, it seems with Mercs, when the battery is a little low it either does nothing, or works, nothing in between.

It would be pretty cool to get a key under warranty!

myinternetsucks

Happened to me last week. The car had to be towed to the dealership for repairs. turns out that a switch to turn the car over had went bad. All still under warranty so didn't have to come outta pocket on this one. I'll look up the part name later when I get home, but it's in the steering column and when you insert the key you wont hear that robotic "Zip" unlock sound.

dcjwlee

I absolutely hate it when I see friend's who jump in the car, start the car, put it in gear and drive away in one swift movement. Also, when making k-turns they are practically on the gas as they switch through gears (once I got used to it, I really like the gated shifter in our car as opposed to a straight back and forth pull because it kept me from just slamming the thing into gear).

My routine is similar, though I skip the ignition on part (I will start doing that), if it is the first start of the day I will wait for the RPM's to settle before putting it in gear and hold the brake until I finish hearing the car shifting into gear.

At the least, if I am in a TERRIBLE rush, I wait for the beeping in the cabin to stop before I put the car in gear.

Rogwp

They could not replicate the issue, nor were there any codes to read. They put the car on their tester and said that the car battery heat sensor was not reading correctly and was sending information that could cause a drain on the battery, so they replaced the sensor and the car battery. No problems since

Helms

+1