W210 E320 V6 Petrol 1997 - Electrical Trouble?

[bigalxyz]

Hello forum.

So...I own a W210 E320 V6 saloon - R Reg (1997) Auto.

Last night, totally out of the blue, the engine wouldn't start. Starter motor turned, but not fast enough or for long enough to get the engine to fire up. No obvious reason for battery to be flat - not the middle of winter, lights not left on, doors not left unlocked, nothing left running, etc.

Charged battery for a few hours, and this morning the engine fired up straight away. However when I drove off, the engine sounded as rough as a bag of spanners & seemed to be misfiring - sputtering & stuttering badly when I pushed the throttle, and wouldn't rev past 3,000RPM.

After 5 or 10 minutes though, that seemed to clear itself & when I got back home the engine seemed to be running nicely.

All very odd. Never happened before. I've had the car for a year and it has started first time every time - rock solid electrics until now.

Can anyone suggest what the problem might be? Car is due a service anyway so I'll ask them to check over the electrics/electronics while they're at it. I suspect the battery is quite old, so they might suggest replacing, which is fine, but this misfire/3000RPM business seems very odd to me...

Car's not worth much, so anything major & it's probably scrap metal

Thanks.
Alan.

 

[television]

One never knows with batteries,, always charge as you have done.

The engine fault could be the MAF sensor

 

[bigalxyz]

Thanks. Spoke to Alex Crow in Stowmarket this morning (recommended by a number of people on here) - he said probably MAF sensor straight away, approx £150 to fix.

Budgeting £100 for a new battery.

Alex gonna service too - basic price £219. A few other niggles to fix as well - rattly exhaust, loose gear selector, etc.

On a car worth maybe £500...with its MoT due soon as well...getting close to being uneconomic. And yet I'll probably go ahead & get it done. In a lot of ways it's a really nice car so I think it deserves one more roll of the dice. Better the devil you know & all that.

Alex must be popular - earliest date in his diary as of this morning is 27th, 15 days hence!

 

[Naraic]

The car may not be worth much in money terms, but spending say £400 on the MAF and the service has got to be cheaper than replacing the car.

If it runs for a year with no other costs then you can put that down as merely the cost of a year's motoring...the value of the car is immaterial.

 

[bigalxyz]

Yes, that's probably right.

 

[television]

I would just get the new MAF, ask ECP if a Bosch or use a Bosch service center

The Battery I would forget for now, with a new MAF it should start easier

 

[bigalxyz]

Replacement MAFs seem to be around on eBay for not very much money (£25-£30 ish). I'm tempted to have a bash at fitting it myself - risky?

 

[bigalxyz]

@Television Apologies, I didn't read your reply properly.

ECP = Euro Car Parts? They stock the relevant MAF but at much higher prices than the ones on eBay. Genuine Bosch @ £183 and a non-branded version at £108.

The price difference is enormous - should I be wary of the cheap ones on eBay?

Thanks.

 

[AMGeed]

@Television Apologies, I didn't read your reply properly.

ECP = Euro Car Parts? They stock the relevant MAF but at much higher prices than the ones on eBay. Genuine Bosch @ £183 and a non-branded version at £108.

The price difference is enormous - should I be wary of the cheap ones on eBay?

Thanks.

Do NOT buy the cheapo eBay MAF's. Probably won't work and if it does will not last long. Go with a genuine Bosch replacement.

 

[toby1]

Symptoms sound like the battery's on its last legs

 

[bigalxyz]

Do NOT buy the cheapo eBay MAF's. Probably won't work and if it does will not last long. Go with a genuine Bosch replacement.

Noted, thanks. There's some secondhand Bosch MAFs on eBay as well, for pocket money, but presumably the advice would be to avoid those since they're quite likely to have the same fault?