1995 C220 ignition

[Pam]

I have a 1995 c220 with 75,000 miles on it.
The problem came about a couple weeks ago, I started the car and went to bank, 5 minutes later, when I crank the car it will turn over, but fail to start. So I would try again, jiggle the steering wheel, I turned the key a bit harder and it finally started. It doesn't seem to matter if it is 5 minutes or 6 hours. This is happening daily. What is it? What part of the iginiton is failing? Please advise. Thank you.
Pam
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[jberks]

Assuming you've ruled out a dodgy immobiliser / alarm then I have heard of this being caused by a crank position sensor starting to fail.
I don't think you shaking the wheel or pushing harder on the key is going to make any difference.

 

[anyweb]

could be your red/green flashing lights on your mirror

ive noticed (randomly) that my car wont start either, and i've narrowed the problem down to the following:-

when it fails to start i simply pull the key from the ignition, and press the remote button on it so it 'locks' the car again, then i press once more to re-open. now the green/red lights on my rear view mirror usually flash green instead of red/green/red/green

once done, the car starts normally

are you seeing the same thing ?

cheers

anyweb

 

[Pam]

to jberks...Thank you so much for your reply.
I had thought maybe it was the tumbler.
(I am in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.)
The car started each time today....
Pam

Dear anyweb...
I do not have a remote button, so I am stuck waiting for it to turn over.
Could it be anything else ?
Pam

 

[jberks]

Doubt its the tumbler. The only failures they generally have is to collapse inside (mine did it on the day I bought it) but then you can't turn the key at all.

Have a garage check the crank sensor. It tells the fuel and ignition systems when to fire. If it isn't working, you'll get no fuel or spark as the ignition system doesn't know then engine is turning. They tend to play up before they fail entirely so this would be my guess. However, it could be a number of different things from fuel pump relay to ECU.

If it's quite a common though intermittent fault, find a friendly MB specialist and give them your car to use for a few days. Then when it fails on them, they will be in a position to diagnose it. Worked a treat with my E class's intermittent misfire.

 

[PINBALL]

Pam - try this...

I am assuming this is a petrol 94 model, if so ... read on.

When car fails to start, or is proving difficult, take a look at temperature guage & see if needle stops below normal running temp (assuming guage is working properly).

If needle is say 1/2 way (between cold n normal) then auto choke may be cutting in when it should'nt & this can give same symptoms, as I've noticed similar faults on my 11 year old high mileage E class.

Had similar problem on last car being a Volvo with 280,000 on the clock, & Volvo dealer said this was common on all high mileage cars over 120-150,000 mls.

As with the Volvo, when engine has turned over past its normal 6-8 turns of the engine, I floor the gas pedal for another 5-8 turns & stop which allows auto-choke / computer to reset itself, then turn ign & floor gas pedal again untill engine starts to fire (usually starts like an older type diesel when its cold).

Or take to auto-tune shop, or spend a bit extra & have Merc dealer tune / test auto choke before taking up any other somewhat costly measures, if you don't mind being kept waiting for an appointment for over 3 weeks like mine, Merc service departments are still no better than when I bought my 1st one 15 years ago.

Could also be a hairline crack in distributor cap, but that would show itself more prominently when engine was running & usually missfiring or similar now n again..

Hope it helps,
Keith.

 

[Pam]

Thank you once again. I have an appointment tomorrow and we shall see what the final result is.
Pam