GLK-Class (X204) Produced 2008-2014

Rough idle

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Old Oct 25, 2011 | 12:39 PM
  #1  
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Eventual GLK?
Rough idle

Last weekend I hopped in the GLK and I could immediately feel a rough idle. A light in the instrument cluster turned on which I later determined was the 'check engine light'. (is it just me or are the warning lights extra cryptic in this vehicle?) I turned off the car and made a service appointment with MB.

I've only got about 5000 miles on my 2011 GLK in about 9 months so this will be the first service (except for a fluky seatbelt thing).

I expressed some concern about not wanting to cause a bigger problem by driving it and the MB guy on the phone suggested possibly getting it towed. The dealership is about 2 miles away or maybe a 10 minute drive in traffic.

I don't see any leaks under the car. I'm not too worried about driving it for 10 minutes but I've never owned a Benz before. What do you guys think? I'd rather not deal with the hassle of getting it towed in, even if it's free.
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Old Oct 25, 2011 | 12:51 PM
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2004 Volvo XC70; 2012 GLK 350 4matic
I totally agree about not towing. Surely a couple miles & 10 minutes won't cause additional damage vs. the possiblity of the towing causing body damage.

Wayne
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Old Oct 25, 2011 | 01:08 PM
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2004 Volvo XC70; 2012 GLK 350 4matic
ps: I used to worry about the check engine light in another vehicle. My service advisor repeadtedly assured me that the check engine light indicated non-fatal conditions.
Hopefully the GLK is similar.
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Old Oct 25, 2011 | 02:36 PM
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Nissan GT-R BE / '12 Ducati-1199 Panigale S / '12 C300-4M Loaded/GLK350-4M Loaded
Crappy gas.... too high an ethanol blend no doubt mixed with either extreme cold or warmth.
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Old Oct 25, 2011 | 03:01 PM
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I had a similar issue last winter. Rough idle, except all the lights were flashing on the dashboard. And the check engine light came on of course. Service advisor told me over the phone I may have flooded it by starting it and turning it off within 30 seconds and then starting it again about 5 min later. Not sure if that was the case to be honest. It did coincide with a refill of gas the night before. So I tend to think it was a higher than usual ethanol content gas.
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Old Oct 25, 2011 | 04:09 PM
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glk
I think it is a bad feul injector. I had mine replaced couple months ago.
Same thing.
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Old Oct 25, 2011 | 04:10 PM
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glk
sorru i mean fuel injector..
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Old Oct 25, 2011 | 04:11 PM
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glk
sorry I mean fuel injector.
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Old Oct 27, 2011 | 04:09 PM
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Eventual GLK?
I last drove the GLK a couple weeks ago on a trip back from picking up a new pup. I put about 150-200 miles on that tank of gas and everything was fine until this past weekend.

The service guy just called and said they replaced the ignition coil for the #3 cylinder. I was worried they wouldn't find anything because (of course) when I drove it into the dealership the car was acting fine.

I had a good experience with the service center. Actually, they were a little over the top but I'd rather have that than the alternative. They called me 3 times today to keep me "updated." The first call was basically "the service guy is test driving your car." The second call was "the service guy is back, looking at diagnostics." The third call he reported the problem and said I could pick it up at 3:30.

Wonder if I'll see my mileage get any better? I doubt it. Stupid city driving.
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Old Oct 27, 2011 | 04:28 PM
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There it is. The final answer.
Crappy gas with too much ethanol flooded the injectors and caused a coil to die.

Grinning.
Glad it worked out well. Maybe these computers do know a thing or three, hey?
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Old Oct 27, 2011 | 05:53 PM
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Originally Posted by venchka
ps: I used to worry about the check engine light in another vehicle. My service advisor repeadtedly assured me that the check engine light indicated non-fatal conditions.
Actually, a faulted ignition coil could have been serious. The fact that they started working fine again helped.

Originally Posted by mbthom
The service guy just called and said they replaced the ignition coil for the #3 cylinder. I was worried they wouldn't find anything because (of course) when I drove it into the dealership the car was acting fine.
Glad that the code led directly to the coil. Very odd though that this was the issue because these rarely fail on GLK's. Now VW's and Audi's have had coil failure issue that still prevail after 4 or 5 years. Let us know how it goes...

Last edited by MBRedux; Oct 27, 2011 at 06:08 PM.
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