mohdmh

It seems that that this is a common problem with MB new cars. I live in Saudi Arabia and have GLK300 MY2011 (KM 35000) and E300 MY2012 (KM 25000).
Both have the same annoying issue. When I start the engine for the first time a day while it’s cold, the engine starts shaking, choking, and then check engine light is on. Then, turned engine off, restart again and the problem disappeared.

When taking cars to MB dealer, they check them with their computer and reported that a misfire issue was there. They used fuel cleaner fluid but it didn't solve the problem. it still happens once every 10 days at least

Anyone here has\had the same problem??? Please share your experience.

Raymond Lee

Never had problem like it!

Tjdehya

Never had that problem and since I have been on this forum you are the first person I have seen post this...
So its far from a "common problem"

Stop putting cheap gas in you Mercedes... Maybe?

Critter

Try changing the place you get your gas, run the tank low then refill with other major competitors gas. If you get gas at a discount place possible for them to either buy cheap fuel or they have underground tank issues.

mohdmh

thanks for replying and hope you never have this problem in future

mohdmh

Thanks for replying.

many posts are there:
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...3-misfire.html

google "MB misfire" and you'll find further too

BTW, i am using the best fuel type in my country i.e. 95 octane

mohdmh

Thanks for advice

Already tried that. However, GLK is used by my dad and he fills fuel in different fuel station than I do!!

rovermark

I have a 2011 E350 - Canadian build. At around 25,000 km, the engine misfired. I use Shell or Esso premium grade only. The car was sitting for a week in my garage.

Critter

Only use Esso premium, Shell for some reason NO, never had luck the one time I was desperate for gas many years ago, car ran like crap, not the benz. Now Esso premium or Pioneer premium works good too. But any station could have a moisture problem, especially with older underground tanks. Try some injector cleaner that has elements to eliminate moisture.

mohdmh

Same case. Problem occurs more often when the car is not used for a while

mohdmh

Once, I've used a fuel cleaner and problem appeared again after two weeks

mohdmh

Would like to add that problem never happened in hot weather days i.e. summer

Critter

Condensation or moisture can occur in the gas tank if the outside temp is low and the car is stored in a heated garage or if the outside is warm and the car is in a cool garage. More common if the fuel tank level is low, small addition of injector cleaner or one meant to reduce moisture in fuel systems will reduce this issue. Good Luck and safe driving

Arrie

How is the gasoline in Saudi Arabia, i.e. do they add alcohol in it? I would guess not so they use the other chemistry for octane boosting perhaps even still led?


Anyway, as so many people do not like alcohol in their fuel it does one thing that really helps. All gasoline has water mixed in it. It mostly comes as condensate. I don't think any gas station or maker purposely mixes water in the gasoline but the fact is there always is some water in it.


Water does not mix in gasoline so if the car sits for days water can collect at the bottom of the gas tank in a bigger "puddle" and when this water enters in the fuel pump and is sprayed in the engine cylinder a likely misfire happens.


Water does mix in alcohol, which means that water, if not in overly high concentration, will burn as alcohol mixture when sprayed in the engine cylinder. Burning may not be as good as gasoline but it does burn.


Also, alcohol is what keeps fuel lines and pump from freezing in winter time. Old days when there was no alcohol in the gas a separate winter fuel additive had to be poured in the gas tank just to make sure the water in the tank does not freeze and cause problem. This additive was almost 100% alcohol (treated to taste so bad you could not even think about drinking it).


So, a simple solution could be to pour some very strong alcohol in the gas tank next time before you fill it up. Here in the U.S. almost all gas stations display at the gas pumps that the gas contains up to 10% alcohol. For a 80 liter tank in the car this would mean up to 8 liters of pure alcohol. I don't think you need this much to clean the system, just 2 - 3 liters should do it.


Using alcohol could be a problem in Saudi Arabia though as alcohol is banned unless there is some "automotive alcohol" available?

rovermark

Looking at the link posted by the OP, this was my old post. So it is far from a common problem, more like isolated incidents. Mine misfired once only, and not since. It currently has 65,000 km on it.

Shell V Power Premium in Canada does not contain any ethanol. However, my previous, new at the time Volkswagen did this twice when at 800 km and around 1000 km, and back then it used regular gasoline with 10% ethanol, therefore I question if it is a water issue.

It seems that the OP' car has some malfunction as it is is a recurrent and ongoing problem, probably unrelated to the fuel. Mercedes are sold all over the world, and I doubt that the gasoline in Saudi Arabia does not meet Mercedes' quality guidelines, or requires special treatment.

To the OP: if this happens every ten days or so, and therefore recurrent, what has your Mercedes dealer told you?

mohdmh

Thanks a lot Arrie for the extended explanation.

Your point of view is valid

As you mentioned, Alcohol is banned in Saudi Arabia.

mohdmh

I agree with you that it may be away of common problem. However, it's not rare in MB.

It could be that our fuel is not meeting MB Quality guidelines since i have a 2004 Lexus with KM 300,000 plus and never had this issue.

MB dealer accused the fuel

a friend of mine which own a 2011 E300 also had the issue and MB dealer cleaned spark-plugs and problem solved. BTW, this what MB done for our GLK and problem didn't happen until now (since month).

In my opinion, it's very early to has issue with spark-plugs for the first KM 25,000

Arrie

Spark plug getting shorted by burnt impurities in the gasoline could be an issue. I don't know if MB use some special type of spark plug, i.e. the end of it collects dirt easier but there is another thing to look at.


Here in the U.S. MB recommends using 0W-40 synthetic oil, which pretty much covers all temperature conditions. This means that the oil may be a little bit thinner than what it needs to be for your climate area as I'm quite sure you don't see many days with below zero Celsius temperature.


Does your car burn any oil, i.e. does your engine oil level go down at all between oil changes? If it does, which is not uncommon for a German built car, it is obvious that some oil is passed either thru the piston rings of the valve stem seals. Oil from both of these leaks ends up in the cylinders and the burned oil deposits can cause spark plug short meaning misfire.


You could do a very simple trial with different viscosity oil. By MB manual you can select the oil viscosity by the lowest expected outside temperature.


By the chart (in your car manual) if your lowest outside temperature is -15C you can use oil 15W-40 or 15W-50. This low outside temperature you probably don't see at your location so you could try oil 20W-40 or 20W-50, which are for -5C lowest outside temperature. You could probably use these oil viscosities year round. (All oil I am talking about here is to be full synthetic). For your climate the 15W-50 oil might be the best and it is made as Mobil1 full synthetic too. I say this as I assume your summer daytime temperatures are very high.


These oils are a little bit thicker than the 0W-40 and could help reduce the oil consumption if your car engine burns any oil. The viscosity rating 0W-40 suggests that the oil is as thick as 20W-40 at high temperatures but this is not quite so. To really make oil thicker for higher temperatures the low temperature viscosity needs to move up a little bit and this you can safely do as you should not see real winter cold temperatures at the area you live at.


Unless you already have thicker oil in your cars...?

mohdmh

Hi Arrie

your detailed explanation is highly appreciated.

It's not oil issue.
However, Oil is replaced in MB dealer workshop every KM 15,000 as recommended in user's manual. They use synthetic oil. Mobil I guess.

Most probably; a moisture on the spark-plugs or it's wires

GabrielNov

Mine has def. started shaking before. (my BMW use to do it all the time you would think an earthquake was happening). Only happened in the summer twice and never again.

Just worried me it was stalling but nope, other than that not one issue.

mohdmh

Great. Hope you to not face any other issue

ImInPA

In the US, I would add a can of Sea Foam to the tank. It will get rid of any water/moisture problems in the fuel system. A great product. There must be something similar in Saudi Arabia.

mohdmh

Many Thanks for the advice. I may consider it if the problem repeated. it stopped happening since writing this thread