Donmun

Hello everyone,
Once again my car decided to act up. it is a 2002 with 116K miles and today the temp. here in sunny south Fla. dropped to the mid 60's. this evening i noticed that my car was turning over longer than normal to start, but it started and everything was OK ( all my horses showed up to work). later on though, when i tried to start the same thing happened except it barely started and i had no rev for about 20 seconds and then all was well.

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing the problem and how to fix it?

Thanks
Donahue

Chazz

Worn out battery?

Donmun

not the battery, the car turns over strong

loungn14

open the oil cap in the engine and look under it (the cap) and post what you see......cream colored?

Donmun

the oil looks good, no blow by signs

ali saklaoui

90% this is the fuel filter.the fuel pressure regulator is integrated in.when you stop your engine the pressure regulator must keep a certain fuel pressure inside the the system.

calimax

pissing intercooler that is flooding the combustion chamber putting out the spark until the water exits out the exhaust valve?

ali saklaoui

Did you change the fuel filter?

Donmun

Sorry to be away so long, the MAN had me working. i changed the fuel filter yesterday and got hit with the fuel from the pump (almost cut my head off). I have not had anymore problems with it since that day, so now i am fearing it is a intermittent problem that will show up at an inconvenient time in the future. My brother thinks it may be the fuel pump, any thoughts?

calimax

can you hear the pump prime the first few seconds when key is in position 2? Does the pump sound glitchy, as if it were not a consistent smooth prime?

jacek9478

It does seem to me it might be CPS going bad. Cheap part, pain in the a.. to replace.
Longer cranking time or necesity of turning key couple of times is the first sign of CPS going bad. If th8is is the case it will get worse, up to engine stalling while driving. Go to any auto parts store and ask them to scan for codes.

Regards
Jack

Donmun

i will check when i start up in the morning, but generally when the car is running there is a high pitch sound comming from the rear of the car but it is not a solid tone is breaks for a 1/2 sec then on for another 3-5 secs. the sound seems to be comming from the filter ( was under the car while it was running after i changed the filter).

calimax

That sound you hear may be the common sound that comes from the rear of the C-class. I have heard many with this sound including mine. I don't know what it is, and nobody has been able to give me any clues as to what it is either. The sound of the fuel pump priming would be clearly audible before starting the car, as the exhaust note tends to drone the pump out while the motor is running.

Donmun

the pump sounds fine, but if i don't drive the car for longer than 14hrs it seems to be turning over longer before it starts. i may have to take it to auto zone to scan for codes.

Donmun

After pushing my luck for a number of weeks, with the problem happening more frequently, this morning i tried starting the car and nothing happened. the engine turned over but would not start. i noticed that i did not hear my fuel pump prime. in a panic, thinking that it was my fuel pump i almost started to pull the car apart, but then reason took over. i remembered that the electrical stuff usually goes before the mechanical so i checked the relay and found the culprit. if anything like this happens to anyone, check the relay first.

alkrstev

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but having the same problem. It takes a longer time for my car to start in the morning. It turns over fine, but it takes a long time and it feels like one side of the engine fires up first and then the other. I am worried about my fuel pump and want to solve this as soon as possible. It only does that the first time and the second time I start it it is fine. My question is where is the relay for the fuel pump? I also need to change my fuel filter as well as well as my front left wheel bearing.

tokyo0one

I had the exact same problem with my car. in the morning the car would have problem starting up and it progressively got worst as time went by. brought it to the shop and they said it was the fuel pump. Dealer replaced the front pumps at first (i didnt even know there were separate pumps for front and rear....or something like that) but the second day after i got the car back the engine died on a red light!!.. I could hear the engine struggling for fuel and then eventually just dead.... Got it towed back to the dealer and they replaced the rear pumps and its been solid ever since.

alkrstev

Well, my pump is not dead yet and I am going to change the fuel filter first and go from there. The car appears to be driving normally and after I start it the first time, it starts immediately throughout the day. I am leaning(hoping) its just a clogged fuel filter as I think I still have the original one on my 02 c32 with almost 80k. How long was it from the time the symptoms began to the time your pump completely died and did you ever think it maybe a clogged fuel filter giving you trouble? I did not know there is more than one fuel pump on the c32, that sucks if I have to replace both. I guess the c32's fuel pump or pumps only last up to around 80k and fail after that. I have read of many guys on here having that happen to them on their c32s with mileage.

tokyo0one

With regards to the multiple pumps I cannot give a definite answer because i was told i need another pump in the rear to be replaced..maybe someone else can fill the blanks here.

It took a while before it completely died out. Minor at first but it gradually took longer for the car to start. Mind you i parked outside back then and you could really notice the engine struggle on cold starts. I'd say maybe it took about 3 monthish for the problem to escalate to the point where it wont start.

Im still unsure what the exact source of the problem was but i just assumed that it was the fuel pumps since the cars been running strong for well over a year now since the pumps were replaced.

tokyo0one

btw, i think the car was around 100-110k kilometers when all this happened.

alkrstev

thanks for your good advice tokyo0one, I will definitely change the fuel filter first and pray it will fix the problem. If it doesnt, I will have to go the new fuel pump route.