W210: Engine stall when engine cold
Hello,
When engine is cold, my E320 stalls when putting the vehicle into gear. I am forced to let the engine run for at least 5 minutes before I am able to put the car into gear w/o stalling. The car has just been serviced (spent a small fortune) & I have replaced the MAFS with a new OEM part.
Any ideas what this might be? I've got the car into my mechanic to look at it.
Thank you for any suggestions.

Inquiring minds want to know...
JR
ohlord
Please find a good shop and be happy with the make,like I said great cars when done right and sorted out properly.
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seen it to many times.......
get away from them
ohlord
I wonder if this has all been a symptom of the battery going bad. I suppose the next thing to look at might be the alternator, but I would expect this to show up on the diagnostics.
I'm tempted to throw another battery in there just for grins.
I recently bought a 2002 E320 4Matic wagon and have on two occasions noticed the same behavior - the car stalls when put in gear. I can't yet say if it's correlated to the colder temperatures or to the fact that the car had been not run for days (I was on travel for a week). The car starts fine and idles okay in park or in neutral. I've observed start idle ~1000RPM and can exceed that if I step on the gas - basically saying there appears to be no hard ceiling. In my most recent case I had to wait almost 8 minutes before successfully moving (at engine temp indicator around 60DegC). When I use the car daily I don't see this problem.
A call to my mechanic warned of potential for a stuck throttle actuator - a pricey part I'm told. As I'm <60 days from purchase, I'll be taking it back to the dealer to get their opinion. Will keep you posted.
Last edited by ri_bedrock; Nov 29, 2007 at 08:24 PM.
Thank you for the feedback. I'm looking forward to what your mechanic has to say. I replaced the Coolant Temp Sensor this afternoon. I'm anxious to try it out in the morning.
Update:
New Coolant Temp Sensor DID NOT solve the problem. Arrrrrg!!!
-Lime
Last edited by LIME; Dec 1, 2007 at 10:34 AM.
Symptoms: After a 40 minute drive I attempted to start the car and it click-click-clicked but wouldn't turn over. After a 15 minute wait it did but with a (new) yellow 'check engine' light. My local mechanic diagnosed the code as faulty crank sensor and replaced the part. Thankfully, the out of state dealer whom I had bought the car from 3 weeks earlier okayed the service and is re-imbursing me the $200 for parts/installation. The car is working fine now...albeit only 6 hours post-repair.
I found similar behavior/remedy on another thread: http://cardealerforums.com/alt-auto-...nk-sensor.html
The mechanic mentioned this *might* address my cold stall problem as well. Time will tell. Fingers crossed.
70 bucks or so ,car stalls or when stopped hot does not start and will start after cooled for 20 minutes.easy diy
the cold stall may be related but most times it is the cam sensor that is bad or the coolant temp sensor.
Both of you keep us posted,odd set of symptoms
Going to contact the dealer tomorrow.
Lime . . . any luck on your vehicle?
Those no code problems can be tough to track down.
BTW... I have already replaced the Coolant Temp Sensor. It's an east DIY, just be careful not to drop the retaining pin... took me 10 min to find it
Local independent service tech tried a new MAS, didn't help. No error codes. He thought it might be the throttle actuator, but that is a very expensive part - $1K or so for a rebuilt. And it's not something you can "try" and take off if it doesn't fix. He recommended I take it to the dealer and have them run diagnostics with their system, which apparently can gather more info than he can. I suppose this means they can tell if it's the TA or not. He thought a diagnostic charge at the dealer would run around $100.
Any counsel?


