willc55

So I guess when it rains it pours. After all the problems I had with the oil changes, and the oil level sensor I guess my car decided to get all of its problems out of the way at one time.

A few weeks ago, as I was driving around running some errands, I noticed once or twice that when I put the car in park the engine stuttered a bit and shut off. This concerned me a little, but other than that it was running fine, I didn't get a CEL and it only happened twice, and not back to back so I wasn't too concerned.

Then a week or so ago, I'm driving home from the city and am running low on gas, but there are only a couple of gas stations in Manhattan, and they are ridiculously expensive, so I decided to wait until I got back to Brooklyn to fill up, which would take me close to empty, but not close enough where running out of gas was a real possibility. So, I get to the gas station without incident, but after filling up the car won't start. It cranks but won't turn over. The gas station mechanic guy informs me that because I went close to empty some gunk from the bottom of my tank must have gotten into the fuel line and now I need to replace my whole fuel system. Needless to say he was a moron, and after the engine cooled a little bit it started up again with a CEL.

Since I had previously gotten an isolated CEL about the CPS, and all the symptoms pointed that way, I was pretty sure thats what was wrong, but I thought I had some time before my car would die on me.

I was wrong, last night I'm driving to a basketball game and the car just shuts down on me on an onramp to the Grand Central Parkway. Luckily I could use my momentum to safely pull onto a grass verge, and get towed to the shop that advans recommends.. They looked at it today and told me that the CPS was shot, and the car needed a complete tune up, including air filters and spark plugs.

Plus I still need to replace my crank pulley, so they are going to do that at the same time. A special thanks go out to Anthony at TVTdesign who hooked me up with the pulley for the cost of the shipping, when it was going to cost ~$400 at the dealership. Anthony's a great guy and I highly recommend dealing with him.

So the damage is going to be around $800 for parts and labor, but hopefully after that the car will be good as new. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

91RS

Wow, I didn't know the C55 had the crank position sensor problem, I thought that was just older cars. How many miles do you have? I guess that's something I'll need to watch out for down the road.

JonMBZ

I don't think the C55 has that problem at least not like the older cars, I am sure they still fail though. I thought it was a crank sensor as well reading the first bit.

loudandheard

Sounds like your problem was only the cps, it looks like they got you for a lot more. I had the same thing happen with my car and I replaced the cps on my own. It was a bit difficult, but I saved a lot of money. As for doing the tune up, I've barely done that and I did it myself. If you would have given me $800, I would have been able to do every thing with better parts and kept around $400 or $500.

Viper98912

The C55 is a fantastic car that has good reliability (we believe, so far). Don't let these little hiccups get you down man, hopefully this will be the last.

Quicktwinturbo

CPS is a common problem.. glad to hear that u got it all sort it out.

Phil C55

Check your mileage and your warranty book for the state you're in because a CPS is covered under the Federal emmisions warranty. The exact parts and duration are listed in the warranty book. For most states it's part of 8 year/80k miles. California, Maine, and Vermont are different, but check first......the repair might be $0 at the dealer.

Sephiroth

yup, definitely CPS. I had mine replace just recently as well. It took ~ 1 month between the first occurrence to it being a constant problem. too bad you had to learn the hard way.

FrankW

what damage?

all you need is a $35 CPS.

add some fuel/injector cleaners to the next tank of gas before filling it up if you have some rough idle issue.

OEM spark plugs aka NGK are good for at least 70k miles before they start showing any sign of going bad. they're iridium for god sake.

air filter just pick your poison if you want K&N or Green or BMC or stock/oem that are cheap.

there is no need to spent $800 on your car.

TemjinX2

i wonder if anyone's told that gas station mechanic, thats why cars have fuel filters now.

Phil C55

If it's covered under warranty, why would he pay for any repair?

ivanj

After you get your problems sorted out, use Techron only once a month when you fill up. It is MBUSA recommended. None of the other gas additives are authorized at the present time. Use only 93 octane gas, if possible, from a busy station.

Techron a great product. It really keeps your intake clean. Wally Mart has the best prices.

F1Bobby

Damn! Hate to hear that.... Glad you got it sorted out...
The C55 is a great car (IMHO)...

willc55

First of all where do you get a new OEM CPS for $35? Second of all, I put fuel injector cleaner in, and it didn't help and my car has about 65k so basically time for plugs?

Also, I live in the city so doing things myself in the street is actually against the law, I have no choice but to take it to a mechanic.

TemjinX2

its on ebay...its made by bosch. They just dont have the mb sticker.

65k should be ok. I'm at 106k on stock plugs. I'm changing them out to colder step plugs since i'm running a lot more boost.

FrankW

they're about $35-38 on ebay. M113/112 has the same sensor. about $50 from rmeuropean for a Bosch unit. aftermarket one works just fine.

if you can take off the airbox and feel the injector and see if they are all firing in regular patterns.

some idle issue could also be your engine mounts. best way to diagnos is to have it hooked up to the STAR and run the "engine running smoothness" test to see which cylinder is off. IF all are running within it's spec then probably your engine mount is done. a little bit more labor intensive for replacing engine mount, but members here have done it DIY before.

65k miles replacing the plugs you'll probably see slightly better mpg, but that's about it. no guarantee it'll fix the idle issue.

I'm sure some of your local shop can do it cheaper for you for what's needed. CPS all you need to do is take of the airbox and reach down. there's a diy out for it.

my local MB mech who worked on my car for fixing the cam, replacing the valve etc. had $60 hr rate vs $125 at dealership. saved tons of money by going to them vs dealership.