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wilbo
Guest
Hi All,
We have a B150 Petrol/Manual which has recently developed an intermittent starting fault. When turning the key round to the point of ignition you would sometimes here a "grinding" noise coming from the engine (Sounded to me like the starter was spinning but not shooting forward). If you stopped, then tried again it would normally start fine. The grinding could happen 3 or 4 times before starting (10 is the record!) or sometimes not at all.
After calling the local Merc Dealer and explaining the issues they were sure it was the starter and gave me a price to replace it. When I recovered from the dealer price I called up the guys at Prestige Car Service and booked it in there to have the starter changed. On the morning of getting the work done the car did its "grinding thing" to one of the guys at the garage and he thought it was the starter too.
All was fine for a week, then the problem started to creep back again. Very intermittently and becoming more apparent now. I've had the starter replaced (went for the more expensive replacement too), had the battery checked under load and to make sure the alternator is ok, and changed the batteries in the ignition keys - just out of desperation more than anything! When the grinding happens the dash lights up as normal, no obvious signs of any problem and no faults reported. Once the car has started all is fine.
Not sure where to go now. The guys at Prestige have offered to take it back to check the Earthing but I can't see how that could cause such an intermittent problem. And the problem is intermittent so the idea of taking it to my local merc dealer for them to try and find it brings me out in a rash!
Any advice much appreciated - Thanks!
Cheers
Wilbo
We have a B150 Petrol/Manual which has recently developed an intermittent starting fault. When turning the key round to the point of ignition you would sometimes here a "grinding" noise coming from the engine (Sounded to me like the starter was spinning but not shooting forward). If you stopped, then tried again it would normally start fine. The grinding could happen 3 or 4 times before starting (10 is the record!) or sometimes not at all.
After calling the local Merc Dealer and explaining the issues they were sure it was the starter and gave me a price to replace it. When I recovered from the dealer price I called up the guys at Prestige Car Service and booked it in there to have the starter changed. On the morning of getting the work done the car did its "grinding thing" to one of the guys at the garage and he thought it was the starter too.
All was fine for a week, then the problem started to creep back again. Very intermittently and becoming more apparent now. I've had the starter replaced (went for the more expensive replacement too), had the battery checked under load and to make sure the alternator is ok, and changed the batteries in the ignition keys - just out of desperation more than anything! When the grinding happens the dash lights up as normal, no obvious signs of any problem and no faults reported. Once the car has started all is fine.
Not sure where to go now. The guys at Prestige have offered to take it back to check the Earthing but I can't see how that could cause such an intermittent problem. And the problem is intermittent so the idea of taking it to my local merc dealer for them to try and find it brings me out in a rash!
Any advice much appreciated - Thanks!
Cheers
Wilbo
