tendons

this has happened twice; once, just pulling off slowly and putting brakes on gently and today starting quickly and hitting the brakes quickly. I've tried to reproduce it , but can't. The car starts up again easily and no alarms go off. Anyone else?

corgiman

Someone else had this problem - I think the dealer was going to replace the car! Try a search on this forum. No cause was ever found.

cte430

That would be me!! Since May my car has stalled (shut off is actaully a better term) 4 times. All under very heavy stop and go traffic. No "check engine" warnings either. Car starts right up. I have done some checking and you are the 3rd person i've heard that has had the same problem. One other E55 and I believe a CL 600. Dealer looked at it 3 times. First time I got the typical "no problem found", since there were no error codes. The 2nd time they increased the idle RPM and it stalled again after that. At that point the GM at my dealer told me she would absoultely replace my car. It's times like these when it pays to have a great dealer and a good relationship with the folks there. The GM is very cool and she has helped me out in the past as well. Customer Service, what a concept! Anyway, I just wanted my car fixed, so I told them to try one more time. They bumped up the idle again, and it has not stalled since. The other person with the E55 was fortunate enough to have it die while the tech was driving. Tech drove the car for 300 miles (with the owners permission). They thought it was a faulty fuel pump and some sending units associated with the fuel pump and they replaced them. I'm still thinking of asking my dealer to change my fuel pump. I have a feeling that the idle increase is not fixing the problem, just masking it. But it hasn't stalled since.

Jay_Bo

Make me 4. My 2003 stalled twice under the same conditions as cte430. Both happened within 3 months. I have not had any stalls in last 11 months. Dealer never had any idea what the cause was.

cte430

I forgot to add in my initial post that the other person I communicated with about this (E55) once had is car "shut off" while doing 70 mph That's when I went to the GM and she was the one who brought up the new car thing. it's one thing to have the car die while sitting in traffic, quite another while driving.

VelocitE55

My '05 stalled when I was pulling into a driveway with traffic flying at me. Almost caused an accident because of this. Another time when I was backing out of my house. Both incidents were in the 300-400 mile area. Hasnt happened since and I am at 1200 miles now. I dont see the point in taking it to the dealer, they will do anything but be helpful in LA it seems. Plus, I cant get it to do it again.

Jay_Bo

D-5

same with my car, it stalled twice last year, never happen since. There was once the car stalled when making a left turn.... had my dealer check it out and obviously they couldn't do anything since there was no "error code" found.

Marcus Frost

I actually remember years ago I was going with my mother somewhere and the same thing happened in her '98 C230.

It can be so many things, really. It happened to her twice.

-m

Vadim @ evosport

The other day, at the dealer, another customer came in with E55 complaining about his stalling. I do not know if they fixed the problem.

Usually if car dies instanteneously, problem is likely related to ignition or engine control. If it is fuel related problem, car will usually stumble for several seconds as fuel that still remains in fuel lines burns up.

My guess would be a crankshaft position sensor.

cte430

By the 3rd and 4th time it stalled, I knew when it was going to happen. Like I said, very heavy stop and go traffic (also really hot, not sure if that has anything to do with it) and when taking foot off gas to go to brake there was a very slight "lunging effect". Best way I can describe it is imagine if you were driving a stick, and barely moving. Take your foot off the gas without engaging the clutch, and that little kind of lunge? That's what it feels like. Regarding the crankshaft sensor. Let's imagine I was about to change the crankshaft pulley should I go ahead, change the sensor, or since it hasn't done it in a while, forget about it?

paulhu

Same thing happened to me with my newly purchased pre-owned 2003 E500. The car stalled three or four times in two days, then it goes to limp mode(2nd gear). ESP light comes on. I turned off the engine, waited 30 seconds, then turned on the engine with no problem. On the 3rd day I took back to dealer, requested the full refund. Since then, I purchased new 2004 E500 from my local MB dealer.

onesixeight

Wierd...after reading this thread earlier today, my car stalled while in traffic. Very wierd. Similar conditions...I was in heavy traffic, ready to take off when the light turned green. As soon as I released the brake, the car died out. It took two tries to get the car going again...

My service advisor told me he's got another w211 e55 in there for the same problem.

Vadim @ evosport

Hmm, the fact that problem seem to occur in heavy traffic when underhood temperature is likely to be higher than normal, may point to electronics.

If am not mistaken MB had some problems with crankshaft sensors awhile back. I wonder if they got a batch of bad sensors.

CTE430:I would ask dealer to replace crankshaft sensor under warranty. It is fairly easy to get to and should not cost the dealer a lot of money.

D-5

I don't think the dealer will do anything unless they see the car stall in person or find any error code, at least not my dealer. I've tried to have my dealer fix a couple of little problems on my E55 and I don't find them very helpful. They first tried to persuade me that the problems are "normal" (which I'm sure its not!!) so I downloaded and showed them the TSB# of every problems that I have. I think they are not happy about it (don't know why!?) and told me the TSB# that I show them is useless, "it may apply to US cars, Canadian cars are different" ..... obvisiously they were trying to blow me.

cte430

I guess all I can say is find a new dealer? Like I said earlier, the GM brought up replacing the car not me. I guarantee you that if I go back 6 months from now and tell her the car stalled again, she will replace the car if I tell her that's what I need her to do.

VelocitE55

Might be worth a trip to Long Island!

E55_POWER

This just happened to me as well this past Friday. We left the track and after about 35 miles of driving, I approached my office. Came to a stop sign and car just died but car started right up.

Then yesterday, as I was slowly pulling into a parking lot, the car felt like it was going to die again and I hit the gas slowly to prevent it. I noticed that both times it happened while in C mode. Could it be that because it is in 2nd gear at very low speed?

I'm no driving in S mode and hopefully it won't happen.

Srgtfury

My '05 E55 stalled in C mode, which I kept it in for the 1st 1K miles. It has stalled one more time since 1K, in S mode. It has also had difficulty starting twicw since 1K (currently 1,720K) with no effect on pushinf the ignition button. All my stallings have been in keyless go (2 different keys).

Now the dealer had the car twice for extensive "testing" and was unable to find any problem. They suggested that maybe the key(s) or the sensor unit were not functioning properly. I dutifully listened to all the explanations and theories, the result being that they offered to order a couple of new keys. My retort was that perhaps there was an impediment between the key and the sensor and, since I keep my key in my left front trouser pocket whilst motoring, my D*ck must be too large (Oh, that's another thread)...I wonder if that would really be an "error" message?....

Well, they did tell me that there are several sensors for the Keyless Go system, including, at least sensors: to locate the key on the inside of the cabin (so keyless Ho will work), to locate the key in the trunk and outside the vehicle, to allow ingress. Now, one interesting factoid (untested by myself) is the claim that, if, for example, the car is in motion at a fairly high speed, in Keyless Go mode, and the key is thrown out the window the car will shut off, when it reaches a slow, safe speed. I wonder if there is a sensor problem, accounting for these stalling issues.

Perhaps a poll to list stalling in Keyless Go vs. Non Keyless Go ,odes would be useful. If survey says Keyless Go, then either the transponder, or sensor or "member" would seem the problem.


Fury

Jay_Bo

twice in Keyless Go... exactly like cte430 describes.

cte430

I do not have keyless go, so if the same thing is happening that i've described it's not the keyless go. Mine died again the other day. First time in a couple months. It is going in next week. I spoke to a member here who is also a MB tech and there are 3 things we agreed that the dealer should replace: 1) Crank sensor 2)tranny control module and 3) EGR valve.

This is a "last shot" attempt for me as the car will be replaced if this doesn't fix it. They've already offered, but I wanted to try to fix it.

Srgtfury

FWIW, my dealer's 1st guess was the tranny control module, but after a week of "testing," it was declared functioning properly...

Fury

cte430

What kind of testing did they do? I would think that this problem is virtually impossible to "test". It is just way to intermittent.

AMGe55

I have also heard this. There is an old post on here about a guy whose wife was driving and had the key for keyless go in her purse. They switched places and he dropped her off somewhere and then drove away leaving her and the key. As soon as he slowed down the car died and could not be restarted on a busy street. So beware- Don't let someone leave with the keyless go key while the car is running.

Srgtfury

I share your consternation ...and disappointment.

BTW, Today had difficulty with starting the car-seemed to groan on attempted turnover-Keyless Go. Finally started and then OK

Fury