orn

Hi all,

Was on the phone with my wife when she was driving our GL450 PE. While taking a slow left turn on an intersection the steering wheel suddenly got very heavy and she just managed to finish the turn by going partly onto the sidewalk. Stopped the car fully and put the hazard on. She was rather startled and turned the key and the car started again and everything was back to normal.

She isn't sure if she turned it off before she turned it on after she was stopped, but everything seems to indicate it was dead since the power steering was gone.

Sent an e-mail to my MB dealer asking for a full investigation and they said they will look hard to find what happened.

Thinking back I had it go dead on me also once back when I was parking it in a difficult spot. Didn't pay any attention to it then. Maybe those incidents are related ?

Has anyone experienced something similar with their GL ?

Thanks, Orn

Chicky Monkey

Yes, this happened to us.

Once.

We were in the boonies, slowing down for a stop sign and the truck just died. I think it was back in December...yes, that's right, because we were loaded with Christmas presents. So that would have been around 2 months of ownership and 2,500 miles.

DH put it in park, and started it back up.

It hasn't happened since, and I never told the dealer about it nor had it investigated.

It was disconcerting to say the least!

If you get any info on it, I would appreciate your posting what you find out!

ubrs

This did happen to my wife as well. The truck only had 500 miles at the time, but I has not happened since. We now have 4500 miles on it.

lkchris

This is the symptom for which they've recalled the crankshaft position sensor on the diesels.

orn

Got it back from the dealer yesterday, they replaced two leaking shocks and the alternator to try to fix the whine which comes and goes between 2000-3000 rpm sometimes. It seems to be less frequent now - but not entirely gone...

While they were at it they checked the onboard computer and found no trace of the middle-of-the-road death. They also looked it up in some database and found nothing. I had it happen once more in a parking lot the other day. I'm not sure what they will do next time if it dies on me again...

I pointed out to them the crankshaft sensor recall on the GL320 - but nothing.



Orn

ubrs

Has anybody found out what this problem can be attributed to?

It has happened to my wife more than once now, about 5 times since we bought the truck. While driving, the truck suddenly shuts off with no warning, scary

ivrier

It has happened to me once at 4000 miles. I was driving my daughter to school, slowed down at 20 mph at the school zone, then the car suddenly died on me. I was sure it was off despite the "quiteness" of the engine. The steering was stiff as a rod but I was fortunately able to steer the GL at least 50 degress to the entrance of the school. I turned the key and it did not start. Took the key off and reengaged it and it started all of a sudden. It has not happened since.

I'm glad that the brakes were as reliable even with the engine off.

ubrs

It is very dissapointing for a $70K truck. Some things you expect from a newer model; Noises, yes, automatic trunk door malfunctioning yes, airmatic suspension malfunctioning yes, engine shutting off while driving.....unacceptable.

fivestarman3308

I'm a newbie to this board but I saw this thread and had to comment. I had the same thing happen, my 2007 GL 450 has 56k miles and it stopped (just fell dead) 4 times in one day. 3 times I put it in neutral and started while it was still rolling, the 4th time I was in an intersection and it didn't start immediately, after a few frantic moments it started and I parked it and had it flatbedded to MB dealer. I'm supposed to get it back tomorrow. Will let you know what they said....

alx

the stalling has happened to me but i caught myself that i was managing to knee the starter button while driving (usually when turning)

so.. user error in my case. your mileage obviously will vary

alex

BlownV8

Exactly! It can also happen if you have too many keys on the keyring. Excess weight can cause the key to tilt and seperate from the ignition from a bump or a turn. Once it seperates, the ignition senses the key has been removed and shuts off the engine.

simatuan

it usually die when the vehicle warn up... cause by camshaft possition sensor..... sometime it will start back on sometime you have to wait till it cool down... MB most common problem

BlownV8

Yes, but that is not the case on most of the GL's. The cars are stalling and they can be started again immediately. When one stalls and can't be started immediately, it is often the CPS.

Bonzai888

This is SCARY!! It happened TONIGHT while I was driving my wife and baby. Suddenly the car shut off all the lights on dash lite up. I was sliding, I put on neutral but still cant start the car. After a minute later the car started.

What should I do next? is it really the Key position? I have 08 GL450.

This is BAD!!

Comments please

Thanks

Max Blast

Ensure you have no other keys on your keychain, or if you have keyless don't bump the start button. If none if these were a factor inquire whether your CPS is affected by the recall and whether it has been replaced.

pteam

Its ovbiously not just the diesel though as several people on this thread had it happen to them with their gas engined GLs

Bonzai888

Three times in one night!! This is BAD! Yes, I have the GL450 not the diesel. Does the GL450 have the CPS recall?

Thanks

manuelnlily

My wife has had the same thing happen to our 07 gl450. Has anyone heard anything about what it could be? Our car has over 100k wasn't sure if it was because maybe because we use 87 octane instead of premium. Could this be a gas problem? 60k for scar andwe shouldn't have this problem. Anyone have any suggestions?

orn

The CPS was replaced 6 months ago at my request and it has not shut off since. Since this was 1-2 times per year thing I really can´t tell if this has fixed the issue.

Orn

BlownV8

You can duplicate the stalling by tilting the key down or up while the engine is running. Once the key loses contact, the engine will stall and unfortunately a heavy key chain or a knee can cause it to stall. It happend to me one time when I bumped the key with my knee.

CathalGildea

Hi, sorry to bump this thread but did anyone find out the solution to this problem? Ive had car to the dealers but they cant find anything, it is cutting out on me at least 1-2times per day, usually when slowing down, but happens at speed too.

Its very dangerous, I had to turn into an estate when it shut down to get off them main road but my steering was gone so i nearly mounted the kerb.

Please help,
Charlie

Edit: Car is 2008 S320 CDI (diesel)

alx

In order of likelyhood:

bad/ low Main battery

Replace fuel filter.

Have rail fuel pressure sensor read for implausibility.

Have low and high pressure fuel pump tested

CathalGildea

Hi, thanks for reply,

-by bad low main battery do you mean rear battery which is responsible for electrics or front battery which used for starting car? I have replaced the rear one 6 months ago but i'll check voltage on both.

-Fuel filter has been replaced 2 months ago

-I dont have star but i have an OBD reader which can read the fuel pressures so i'll look and see can i find anything, I dont think its a fuel pressure or rail problem because when I put the foot down there is no stalling or any hesitation, ( i could be wrong but).

-From searching the forums I have seem problem related to this caused by, bad MAF,

-Faulty CPS ( i dont think this is the case since my car starts up straight away once it shuts off)

-Faulty Camshaft sensor? (no codes on dash)

-Carbon build up on throtle body/plate. Restricting airflow or sumthing like that, therefore the engine thinking its running at a higher speed, letting more air into engine hence stalling??

I'm going to check all the above, clean the MAF, then firgure out how to clean the throttle body and hopefully that solves it. I've messed around with the key when its in the ignition and it doesn't cause any problems if i move it around.

When im driving and car shuts off, message is displayed on dash, ESP inoperative, run flat indicator inoperative. Message disappears when I restart the car

If anyone else has any other ideas please share, basically i'm on my own with this problem, brought it to the dealers and they said its fine and charged me doing nothing so im now going back to them.

Thanks
C

CathalGildea

I've cleaned the MAF, and the car is still stalling while driving, the situation is getting much worse, during a 25min drive into town and back the car will stall 3 or 4 times, usual symthoms, stalls @ slow speeds, low revs, while coming to a stop.
i've mastered how to restart the car while driving as it is very dangerous with no power steering.

Next step is to order a crank position sensor from dealers and replace that tomorrow. I hope this solves it, only thing that makes me think its not the CPS is that once it shut-off it starts up straight away.

If this doesn't work i'll look at the throttle body next.

lna

Have your CPS change fixed the issue? I'm having the similar issue now and thinking about ordering a CPS.