Mercedes-benz - E-class :: 2003 - Red Battery / Alternator Stop Vehicle Light Flashing Intermittently
Apr 14, 2013
My 2003 E320 (131K miles) had been intermittingly flashing a red "Battery/Alternator Stop Vehicle" light and annoying alarm sound as well as a "Malfunction Electrical Consumers Turned Off" sign. Then three days ago the "check engine" light came on; went away the next day. Then yesterday the engine completely shut down on me.
The car started the today; took it to mechanic who says it could be alternator or wiring problem. Suggested I take it to MB dealer to get diagnosis before shelling out 800 bucks on an unnecessary car part. My question: should i take it to MB dealer or just replace the part? (I am not original owner; don't know if alternator's ever been replaced).
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1999MB 320 Automatic trans .... Stopped at a light went to start heard a loud bang car became motionless? Trans has 60k and never a shifting issue.
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Mercedes Benz C240 ... Every time I come to a stop, the car seems to be gasping for breath and attempt to want to stall. Occasionally the battery/alternator light comes up. It has not stalled yet and seems to catch its breath and continues once I step on the gas after the shake and after there was an air rush through the vents (I called-Caching its breath). I took it in to the dealer and the electrical was checked and they found nothing.
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OK, so this is a 2012 ML350 Blue-tech with around 31,000 miles on it. Lately when it is warm (either by driving for 30 minutes or more, or by outside temperature of 80 plus), it has been making the strangest front end groaning noise when coming to a stop and when pulling away. It sounds like the front end suspension is "groaning". It doesn't have to be a hard stop, gentle will do just fine. The car comes to a halt, the front end dips slightly - "groooaaan" (perhaps more on the rebound than the initial dip). You start up again, the front end unloads, and "groan".
Very disconcerting on a car as smart as this. Tom and Ray know this car - this is the one with the "smart radio" (switches channels at voice command…) The dealer is stumped. They have the car for the third time now and even though both a mechanic and the shop foreman have been shown the problem (taken for a test drive ), they have been unable to come up with either a diagnosis or a fix. They replaced the front sway bar links once to no avail.
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I have my second 1999 as class Mercedes and both have the same problem. The door assist system stop working on the passenger door in the trunk. The only way to get it working again is to remove the fuse associated with that system and reseat it.
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A few months ago I bought a used 2007 Mercedes C280. Overall, I've been very happy with the car. The first month or so was heavy on longer highway driving, and it seemed to be getting decent gas mileage. The last couple of months have been mostly short range city driving, and the mileage seems significantly less. I wonder about the idle speed, on the assumption that it may be wasting a lot of gas sitting at stop lights and in traffic. The tachometer reading isn't always consistent at idle, but fairly often it's up close to 9,000 rpm. What should I be seeing, and does this need attention?
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Driving on a trip, the check engine light comes on. The oil pressure is normal and the temp gauge is normal, the gas cap is properly sealed, is it ok to continue driving 2 to 3 hundred miles...
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I have a 2003 Mercedes c230 with low mileage 70000. This was its first season not garaged. About 2wks ago when very cold started abruptly to misfire badly at idle with poor gas mileage and modest loss of power. I got codes on OBD II for multiple cylinder misfires p0301-4 (all 4 cylinders). No other codes. Also the MAF and O2 sensors seems to be giving normal readings, and I cleaned the MAF sensor (didn't take off. cleaned through screen connected to air filter housing). 1 or 2 of the spark plugs seemed fouled as had black oily fuel on them and the O2 sensor voltage readings were consistently close to 0.9v (high meaning reading rich air/fuel right?). Changed all 4 plugs and swapped around ignition coils. Seems a little better but still misfire. O2 sensor voltage reads now consistently around 0.7v and the new plugs are dry but already blackened (indicating rich air/fuel I think).
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I have a 1996 Mercedes C220 with 60K miles on it. It runs great, but is giving me fits with inconsistent, intermittent, and (I’m pretty sure) incorrect warning lights, as well as intermittent gas gauge failures.
Soon after I bought the car about six months ago, the oil pressure warning light began to come on intermittently. Each time it came on, I checked the oil level and found it to be full.
At first it would come on, sometimes for just an instant, sometimes for several miles, but then go off and stay off for days or weeks. … Then it got weird … Each day as I was driving to work, the oil pressure light would go on - always within about 100 yards of the exact same place - about 10 miles and 15 minutes from home. It would stay on for 1/4 to 1/2 mile, then go off and stay off until the next day, when it would do the same thing again. I was still checking the oil level every day and finding it to be full; I have never added oil except when I changed it.
About two months ago I changed the oil and the filter. I put in Mobil 1 0W-40. Immediately after I did that, the oil light came on and has stayed on almost permanently. I say “almost” permanently because if I get to highway speed and then accelerate quickly, getting the RPM’s up to about 4500, the light will go off, sometimes for just a few seconds, sometimes for a minute or two, but will always come back on after I slow down.
Weirder still, immediately after I changed the oil, the coolant level warning light came on and has stayed on permanently. I have checked the coolant level every day since then; it has been full every time, has never gone down, and has never needed coolant added.
Here’s another issue that may be related. The gas gauge intermittently drops to empty, even when I know for sure the tank is not empty. Sometimes it shows the correct fuel level, sometimes it shows empty. Sometimes it will bounce back and forth between the two several times within my 1/2 hour drive to and from work. It does this with no pattern I can discern. It has been doing this as long as I have owned the car.
I have hooked up my Actron OBDII code reader to the car several times. It never shows any outstanding codes, any pending codes, or any other problems.
Although these issues worry me a bit, I have been willing to live with them, assuming there’s really nothing wrong with the car. But now I’d like to sell it - for reasons completely unrelated to the warning lights - and I’m pretty sure no sensible person would buy it if they test drove it and saw the warning lights. (And I think most people would notice if I covered them up with electrical tape!)
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I have a 2001 Mercedes E class, 4Matic. Over the last 7 years the ABS (Anti-lock Braking System)/EPS (Electronic Stability Program)/BAS (Braking Assist Program) warning light comes on and when I stop the car and start again, the light goes away. When this light comes on, only thing I noticed is the cruise control does not work, otherwise, no other problem. I took it to the service station one time, but that light did not come on and they did not do anything.The car has 105,000 miles. Now, when the light comes on it stays on longer and sometimes, I have turn the car on and off several times before light will go away.I am afraid to take it to the Mercedes dealer, as they might find a problem when no problem is there. Whether this is just glitch in the software or there is a real problem.
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I have a 1989 Mercedes 300F, automatic transmission, with 175,000 miles (give or take). It runs great, starts well, we have no problem driving it 30 miles back and forth on back roads up to 60 mph. The problem seems to be when driving 40 miles at 75 mph. At that point, it will start to run rough, and then will not go over 40 mph without whining. The first time this happened, I had a leak in the transmission fixed and fluid put in. The second time, I had the fluid and filter changed, a new alternator, and a complete tune up. For a month after that we drove it for miles but not on the highway, with no problem. I thought I would chance it on a longer trip, got 40 miles down the highway at 75 mph when suddenly it started acting up and had to call a tow truck. When the tow truck arrived, we did not see any fluid under the car. It's been sitting in the driveway and now there are fluid leaks (appears to be oil). So, does it sound like something in the transmission, or maybe a bad alternator?
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While on way to parts store car started acting like it was running out of gas. A half block from gas station it quit . I walked to station got gas put in the tank the engine would crank but would not start. I got towed home and still will not start. It will crank but that's it. 3.0 L inline 6 300 E ...
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The check engine light is on. Yesterday twice I had the situation where when I turned the key to start. The starter motor was crankin and it was not firing. I pumped the throttle a few times to let air/gas into engine. I also opened the gasoline tank cover (where you insert the nozzle to pump gas) for a few mins and then shut it and started the car. It started. After running for 20 mins it happened again. The starter motor has to crank for some 10 seconds before it fires. Then no issues. What do you think it is??? Battery is fine, starter motor is fine since its cranking away. I am suspecting fuel pump ?
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I have a 91 Mercedes with 153,000 miles thats terrific but the mystery leak in the hydraulic running the rear suspension is driving me nuts. Especially when the hydraulics call for factory spec fluid.
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I have a '05 Mercedes CLK320 convertible that I purchased 3 years ago with about 29,000 miles on it. Two years ago the hydraulic lines in the top blew and I spent about $3,000 to have it repaired. Today, the lines blew again. What I'm trying to find out is: - Is this common in this car? Or in any convertible?- Did I just get a lemon?- If this isn't a common problem, should the dealer that repaired the hydraulics 2 years ago fix them again for free?
It only has 70,000 miles on it now and I was under the impression that I could drive a Mercedes for a couple hundred thousand miles without a too much mechanical problem. But if this is going to be an ongoing issue, I'm going to get rid of the car, even though I absolutely love it. It's ruby red, of course!
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My brakes squeak from time to time, particularly backing up, but also braking forward. My mechanic said I have plenty of brake pad and nothing is being damaged. He said he has often seen the "squeaky brakes" problem in Mercedes and it is often difficult to pinpoint which wheel (or wheels) would be the cause of the squeaking (sound like metal on metal). Why this is happening?
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My 1994 mercedes C220 stalls at idle. the local mercedes dealer told me that it is caused by the alternator overcharging. can this be true??
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Car starts intermittently, have heard this is common on Mercedes Benz cars, whats the fix? I do my own maintenance on my cars have tools ect.
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I own a used 2004 Mercedes C320 4Matic. I bought it with 57k miles. I drive it about 150 miles per week. The reseller told me i needed engine mount replacements at 67k. The car did have a vibration, which I was sort of ignoring, so I had the work done. Now, the vibration persists.
It is most noticable in the morning upon start-up, at an idle. But it is also noticable when the car is warm and I am stopped at a light. It can also be noticed as a subtle vibration in the steering wheel at highway speed.
I am very sure it is not wheel balance or rotors (hey, I can feel it at a stop). I brought it back to the dealer, who said after 5 hours of diagnosis, they could findind nothing wrong.
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Last week I noticed that my engine (2006 ML350 33,000 miles )was not sounding as it normally does. I called my foreign car repair shop that normally maintains my car but could not get an appointment for several days.
My husband thought that it was possibly a bad bearing in one of the belt pulleys near power steering pump. The noise was getting louder so my shop looked at it sooner and determined I needed a power steering pump, reservoir, gasket, fluid,accessory belt tensioner and belt.
I had no choice but to get the repair.When I picked up my car it still didn't sound right. I was told it would take a little time to break in. Well all week my car was making a lot of different sounds until it got so loud I wouldn't drive it. I took it in today and got the call that it needed what I think was called a/c tensioner pulley. I just want to know if this seems possible. (Car drove fine and no problems with steering before first repair).
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I have a 1996 Mercedes C280. The outside ambient air sensor has gone bad and now reads about 30 degrees F high. There are two types of sensors for this model and year. One is a plug-in sensor that looks like a small pointy cone. The other is a long cable with a metal cylinder at the end that looks like an old-style stereo headphones jack (the thick kind). I have this second type.
I would like to know whether, instead of replacing the whole wire and sensor combination, which involves taking out the instrument cluster and rerunning the wire, I can simply cut off the wire at the sensor end and solder in a new sensor (cut off from a new part).
I am wondering whether it would be possible to just cut the existing cable near the sensor end and then solder in one of the pointy cones. There is a youtube video that shows replacement of a similar type of pointy cone sensor on a BMW, and it looks like the assembly that accepts the sensor is the same, so if I couldn't find a Mercedes plug-in receiver assembly for my old car, I could maybe use the BMW one and then plug in the Mercedes sensor. That would let me do another plug-in later without resoldering.
Since this sensor has gone bad once before, I have to think that a replacement won't last more than five years or so.
I am not sure whether the outside temperature has an effect on other aspects of the car, such as injection mix. I presume it has to go through the on-board computer, because it must be the signal for the little snowflake that appears on the dash when the outside temperature drops to freezing at the road level. Whether leaving the sensor alone and just living with a high reading will cause problems? Right now when the outside temp is around 70 degrees F the sensor reads about 105 degrees F.
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