well, been having some starting issues for a while. initially, car struggled to turn on and stay on....would quickly die....several times in a row. buddy told me it was bad gas? I was like meh....finally got it turned on, filled it up, no problems for a while

then when starting, car would rev up to high 2k, 3k. I'd shut it off. Restart. Repeat. Restart. Repeat. Only with time (5-15 minutes) would this resolve and I could drive again.

Brought the car in and since I needed a service A anyway, the guy said maybe it was a bad fuel filter. Got it back, no problems....for two weeks. I did start noticing that my MPGs have been dropping. Probably due for spark plugs, which i need anyway (i think it's been about 30k)

Started happening again. Same thing. Rev up high...~15 minutes later (whether i did the "tcu reset") or not it typically would start normally. This happened once a month or so. Haven't had any time (at all) to take it back in, but now it's just becoming a bigger inconvenience

most recent codes are seen in attached pictures put are P0120 and P0221. I did my reading over the other threads (include the ruh roh one) and am hoping not to have similar difficulty with these codes (P0120 in particular).

any thoughts? is this still along the lines of either that y-shaped vaccum hose issue? or some electric plug on the actuator? TPS or pedal assembly? i know i need new spark plugs, but dont know if the old/fouled out plugs would cause these occurrences and codes.

thx guys

Uggggh, sorry to hear this, but it sounds like your throttle body to me.

Next time the idle starts bouncing around when starting try doing this as a temporary fix:

turn off car, pop the hood and unplug the wire harness from the throttle body
for one minute.
Then plug it back in, turn key to position two, wait one minute,
then start car.

Is this a reset of some kind. Very interested.

Hey..jturkel.. I have same exact problem. I have those two exact codes. When I start it first time it dies right avay. On the second attempt, it will run longer but I have to hold the throttle. It will shut off otherwise. I'm currently looking for a shop in the area that and trying to figure out what's going on. If you get it resolved let me know.. If I get it fixed soon ill post it as well. thx

see initially i was having the problem where the car would die right away, and now it has evolved to reving up to like 2.5-3k on startup about once a month. sorry to hear you're experiencing the same/similar thing. hopefully we get this figured out. i haven't had another episode of starting since i first posted this, so i haven't tried the grammas recommended temp fix yet

help me. it's happening again and now with the P0105 code with the other two. i had the throttle actuator replaced recently (which was expensive) and it's happening again. any ideas what else it could be? pedal assembly? is that the next step? honestly, i'm gonna be getting rid of this car in the next couple of months but i'd love to figure this out. thx

Check all the vacuum houses for leaks, especially the breather house that connects to the TB. Also, consider replacing your wiring that goes between the TB and the Engine harness. The MB# 1131500028. Should be under $90. If you want to try a new gas pedal assembly, PM me. Do you use Sprintboost? if you do, remove it and see what happens. And don't forget about the "sneaky ECU reset" procedure.

thanks for the suggestions. i'll check the hoses and consider the wiring or gas pedal assembly. i'll PM you if i decide to go that route. I no longer use a sprintbooster (sold it like 5 yrs ago). tried the sneaky ecu reset without luck. i'll keep my fingers crossed for the time being

I had this problem again last week, it said my TB, throttle pedal problem.
I was so sure it couldn't be the TB & TP my garage checked all 3 harness connections by sanding and wd40, after re plugging everything back together it worked with no errors.

thanks for the input. will definitely check these.

problem still happening. had the pedal assembly switched out last week and problem back again. my mechanic thinks it might be the TB actuator again (despite installing a new one in November) and thinks it might have been a bad part. mechanic also wondering if it's the harnesses but says they look good. any thoughts? also anyone know how much said harnesses would cost? i'm unsure of the part number(s). thanks

Its most probably your engine harness, i had lots of problems with TP, TB, and many other items as soon as i changed the harness everything went away.
Personally don't waste money on TB and just change the harness.

Engine Wire Harness
2035404433 (New Part No.)
2035400232 (Old)

thank you. my mechanic is quoting my 120 for the part. any idea as to how many hours of labor this job should take? thanks again

The part cost me $750 new and took around 5 hours to replace. Make sure they take there time, its quite tricky and easy to miss a few things out.
$120 for the part is very very cheap, make sure its a complete engine harness.

i just googled the part number as i couldnt find it on any of the online parts stores and stumbled across an old thread where you mentioned how much it was. i still can't seem to find it on any parts sites (parts.com. autopartswarehouse.com, etc). if it isn't an inconvenience for you, would you mind sending me a link to the part? perhaps i'm just copy-pasting the part number wrong. i feel dumb lol. i just want to forward it to my car guy in case he's looking at the wrong thing. thx

EDIT: I've also noticed when googling that i get links to a harness that is 2035404333 vs the 2035404433. not sure if they are two different parts or perhaps a typo? http://www.mbpartsworld.com/p/__/ELE...035404333.html

I used this place: http://www.snjindustries.com/

Can try http://ecspareparts.com/

1131500028 cable is just an extension between the TB and the main engine harness. It retails for $120 and is $90 from parts.com. On my car (2002) the main engine harness is 2035404333. You can get it for under $500. I didn't think that replacing the pedal would work. That's how I have an extra pedal.

thanks everyone for the posts. still need a little help. just talked to a parts guy at an MB dealership to help me figure out the correct part. apparently the 113150028 is a fuel actuator ignition cable. here is where i get confused (and explains why different numbers are coming up when i search). 2035404333 is the main engine harness on the driver's side. 2035405544 is the main engine harness on the passenger's side. the 2035400232 is the old passenger side main engine harness.

so i guess my question would be....is there a way to determine which one is bad? i'd rather not buy 2 to replace both sides (MB retails them at 760 EACH though i'm sure they can be had less for under 500)

thank you so much. i've had it up to here ---> with this car

Hang in there. You know that when this car is good, it is really good.
Here is the info from EPC:
For the US market (Left Hand Drive)
2035400608 (Old) Replaced by 2035404333 (New)

For the UK market (Right Hand Drive)
2035402032 (Old) Replaced by 2035404433 (New).

You only need one main engine harness. In your case 2035404333.
And the 113150028 cable (fuel actuator ignition cable) that goes between the TB and the main harness. I would start with the 113150028. $90 and you can change it yourself in 5 mins.

used some connections and got a free diagnostic over at the stealership in houston....they still don't know what it is ha. they think it might be related to wiring and possible the engine harness. i love the car but the problem is this...

i'm moving to michigan in a couple of months and will need a car/suv for the snow. so now i'm trying to decide if it's worth even fixing at this point since i'm likely going to part with it anyway in the next couple of months. a 90 dollar fix i may consider but if it's an engine harness with lots more labor and higher part cost, i may just sell it as is and let someone else dump more money into it

Congratulations on the Match!

ha. wow. great memory. yah i just matched to U Michigan for IM. it was my #1 choice so i'm stoked. just gonna have to adjust to cold weather since i've never lived in cold weather before. i had debated ranking warmer places higher on my rank list (UCLA, Stanford, etc) which could have made the decision a little different regarding my car as well, but at the end of the day, I wanna end up in GI and UM has a top notch GI program that will help me get to where I want to go

Good stuff! I'm sure we won't see too much of the outside world to care about the cold!
I matched to Rutgers, NJ so I'm pretty happy about that.

congrats! what specialty? IM?

Yep - IM. Pulm / Crit care later. Gonna be a while before I'm driving an AMG again!