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Mercedes-Benz C-Class Maintenance and Repair

886 messages,  Last post on Apr 04, 2011 at 3:02 PM

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What is this discussion about? Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Hatchback, Sedan, Wagon

Messages Page 7 of 89

#61 of 886 Shocks for 1998 C280 by design786

Feb 03, 2004 (7:32 am)

I need to replace the shocks on my Mercedes C280. The car only has 67000 miles but the dealer believes that the shocks are worn out. There are many aftermarket brands like Bilstein, Koni, etc. They are definitely cheaper. I am a little hesitant in installing a different brand of shocks (I might mess up the suspension characteristics). Does anybody have any suggestions? I am interested in Koni shocks. Has anybody ever used konis on a C280 before?

#62 of 886 CLIMATE CONTROL LIGHT OUT! by gmoney

Feb 22, 2004 (11:33 pm)

I HAVE A 99 C280, AND THE LIGHT IN THE CLIMATE CONTROL IS OUT, DOES ANY ONE NO HOW TO REPLACE?

#63 of 886 Service Manual & Parts Web Sites by ticos

Mar 01, 2004 (8:31 pm)

Hello, I want to know if any of you know where where I can purchase the service manual for a 1995 C280. In addition does anyone know of good web sites that specialze in Mercedes parts? Thanks in advance.

#64 of 886 C230 is Dead by paul_p

Mar 02, 2004 (7:46 pm)

My Y2K C230 is dead as a doornail. No lights, key won't work in the ignition, trunk won't open, no power whatsoever. Just had the battery replaced at 3.5 years and approx. 11,500 miles. Will bring it in again for diagnosis and service & let you know what happens.
 
This is a non-winter vehicle that is not driven in snow or salt, so perhaps the 2-week run intervals had something to do with the battery's totally dead state.
 
  - P.

#65 of 886 Dead? by huntzinger

Mar 03, 2004 (10:34 am)

Particularly for a non-daily-driver, a 3.5 year old battery is IMO the most likely culpret.
 
And with the complexity in electronics today, something as simple as bad/dirty power often causes diagnostics to be a mess...I've had a bad battery come back as "Needs new Ignition Switch" diagnosis on an Audi.
 
Consequently, I no longer trust or bother with "Battery Load Tests" - - I just replace batteries on a 3-4 year schedule regardless of if I'm having problems or not.
 
What I'd do in your circumstance is to first throw my $20 Sears battery charger on the car.
 
If it is a dead battery, you'll get power back for interior dome lights within 15 minutes. This is the sign to keep the charger running longer.
 
Check back periodically. After ~4 hours, take the charger off and see if the car will turn over.
 
If it won't start, have it towed to the Pro's.
 
If it does turn over, let it run for 15-20 minutes then shut it down. Look under the hood to find the battery to see how easy/messy of a job it is to do yourself and decide accordingly if you're going to pay the shop to replace it, or DIY.
 
-hh

#66 of 886 Dead C230 Battery by paul_p

Mar 06, 2004 (11:33 pm)

Thanks hh,
 
The car's still under original warranty until August, so I'm going to have MB come on site tomorrow and check it out. Can't wait to drive it, the snow and ice are finally melted here in southern New Hampshire.
 
I appreciate your mention about the electronics, it's amazing how much depends on battery power these days.
 
  - P.

#67 of 886 C230 Dead Battery by paul_p

Mar 08, 2004 (6:01 pm)

Well, it looks like it was just a bad replacement battery.
 
Rob from MB roadside assistance came out on Sunday and jumped the car with his power pack. We let the car run for 10 minutes, then shut it off. Then he tried to start it and it was dead. So he replaced the battery with a new one he brought - it held the charge, so I was "on the road again."
 
The car runs just as good as ever. I forgot how powerful the Kompressor engine was after not driving it for the last 3 months. The effect is arguably equal to that of a stock muscle car of the late 1960s and early 1970s. I've read reviews of 0 to 60 as low as 7.5 seconds. Better than the MB advertised 8.1 seconds, as perhaps they did not want the C230 to overshadow the then $5,000. more expensive C280. I haven't measured this myself though, as I do not want to put excess wear on the car which I worked such a long time to pay for.
 
For folks who don't drive one of these: if you can pick up a pre-owned C230 Kompressor, and all is working properly, you should find yourself the owner of a road rocket.

#68 of 886 Glad your Benz is back... by billp8

Mar 09, 2004 (10:41 am)

...and you're right, it is a little rocket! I think that MB is usually conservative in its 0-60 runs. I remember reading somewhere on this site about 4 years ago that the C230 was quicker than any of the V6 MB's up until about 80 MPH. Don't know if that's true, but my 2000 230 does seem to "come alive in the 60-90 MPH range. Happy motoring!

#70 of 886 1997 C230 misfire problems and check engine soon codes by mecheguy

Mar 18, 2004 (2:14 pm)

ok, this is a discussion from another board where my problem is posted as well, I apologize for this, I just did not want to type it all again...
 
---Somebody wrote:
 
I have a 1997 C230 with 74k miles. It is misfiring on various cylinders according to "car chip" computer reader. This has been going on for about nine months. At first it was once every 3 months, now every week. At first it was only one cylinder, now I am getting random readings. Anyone have any answers, could it be the engine wiring harness(independent service person mentioned this).
 
--- I replied:
 
ok, I have the same problem with my c230, and I really hope we can work out this together, according to the information i was able to get at alldata, the cause of this could be an injector, that does not close properly or due to engine wear. I would try getting a new set of injectors my self, but honestly, i do not have the means at the moment, so if You or somebody comes forward with some help, i t will be greatly appreciated
 
I went back and read what I had written, did not make much sense, so here I go again trying to be more specific.
 
I have a c230 1997, and have the engine light come on a few times.
 
 According to the scan tool, the computer decided there was a misfire in cylinder one, so I went and did the cheapest fixed, which was to replace cables and sparkplugs. Since the light was still on, I went and unplug the battery for 5 minutes and put it back on.
 
The problem got fixed for a while, I even went all the way to mexico in it without seeing the light come on again. that is like 1400 miles from where I live. Any way, while down there the light went on and I had the car scanned there, the car had a low gas sensor problem, another problem not related to the misfire, but it did not have the misfire along with it, and that is what counts. I drove another 1400 miles back to the US, and a day later from being at home...Yeap you guessed the light came on, and it was the missfire deal again, I have reset the codes by unpluggin the battery and keeps coming back with the same error.
 
According to alldata, who provides technical info on all vehicles, this meant that my engine was worn out (from that long trip maybe?.. I do not think so) or I had a bad injector. I have driven my car for a nother 4 months with the light on and I have reset it a few times more with no luck, it comes on a little bit later.
 
I know is not the engine, because it does not burn oil and works fine. So my next step will be to take the injectors and clean them my self!
 
Again, if anybody out there had this experience...please advise.
 
--- Somebody wrote:
 
I have a 95 C280 which I bought with the engine light on. Hoping it was something simple like a bad oxygen sensor or something, I drove it home from Texas and it was misfiring and it would revv up to about 4000 RPM before shifting. I took it home and changed the plugs and fuel filter and nothing, I took it to my benz mechanic and they hooked it up and got a reading that the fuel mixture was too lean, but they said I needed a new wiring harness, so $1300.00 later the car is doing great, no misfiring,hesitation, rough idle. All cured and for such a modest price too. I paid way too little for this car and I now know why but overall I'm very pleased. This is my third Mercedes and I won't drive anything else.
 
--- I replied:
 
Yesterday after work I finally decided to clean the injectors, ( I did not mention before that before going to Mexico I had put some injector cleaning thing in my fuel tank, so that could have helped...), I took 2 screws out , took all 4 injectors out, (this would cause some fuel spill, and of course do this with the battery unplugged, for safety). I noticed there was a little bit of dust built around the bottom o rings, so took them off clean them, and decided to flip it over, since the bottom was kind of burned from contact with the engine. then I connected a small hose to the injector, (thats all i had on site), and filled it up with a mixture of thinner and gasoline, (yeah, yeah, thinner is too strong but i took my chances), after this i applied 12 volts on and off to it while blowing into the hose , after a while you could see a nice stream coming out of the injector, put them back together and then put a little more of this mixture inside the fuel rail before putting the last injector back on . I attached the rail back to the engine, and then try to start it, I knew it would be hard, specially with the rail half empty and the mixture i put in, so i had to crank the engine 6 or 7 times before it kept idle by itself, then once it did, I went back and turn the engine off and unplugged the battery to have the engine light go off. After 5 minutes i plugged it back on and went for a test drive, the car performed great, I mean real smooth, and the engine light that would normally go on within 10 minutes did not, I drove it to work this morning and after a smooth ride the light has not come back on, let's hope that fixes it, but I will keep you guys informed.....
 
 
---I posted:
 
ok, I'm back this time the light took 2 days to come back on!!! good , we are getting there... however the code in the computer shows po170, which is a problem detected on one of the fuel banks, from reading here and there I discovered I could swap ingnition coils and see if the problems changes to another bank, that way all i would have to do would be to buy a new coil, let's hope it works.
 
---I beg: Please advise!!!...pretty please...

Messages Page 7 of 89

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