Hesitant Start When Cold! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

1stBenzo · #1 02-15-2007, 12:37 AM

Hey Folks,

I have searched the forum and found stuff about hesitant starting but nothing that corrects my problem. I am in Alberta, Canada and it has been about -30 celsius which is approximately 2 fahreneheit. Cold I know. Anyways, when my car has been driven for a bit and then I park for a few hours, it still fires up easily when I try it later. I have my car parked in a garage but it isn't heated. I don't plug the car in either. When it has sat for approximately 8 hours or more it barely starts. I hold on the ignition and wait for it to turn over. Sometimes I have to give it a bit of gas and other times it starts but takes about 10 seconds to idle correctly. Sometimes I have to give it more gas to make it idle properly. I have tried turning the key to on so the electrical starts, the display on the car says "wait" and when that goes off I turn the key to start the car. It doesn't seem to help.

Hopefully this makes sense and sounds like something that someone else has experienced. I guess you would have to live in a cold area to understand this. I am nervous about contacting the dealer about anything but if I do have a problem and they look at it, will warranty cover even just looking at my car? If it isn't starting properly, regardless of the weather I think that something is faulty. My 05 Altima fires up immediately. My old 86 Tbird that I had fired up immediately. My $50,000 Benz doesn't. I have read a lot of problems that different owners have had on this site so you always here the bad stuff and rarely hear the good. Hopefully this car doesn't turn out to have problems. Any input would be greatly appreciated! If this is covered somewhere and I missed it, please point it out and delete this thread. I have under 3,000 km's on the car so it is still new. I had it parked for about 4 weeks until I got my winter tires and wheels on it.

1stBenzo!

Ferdman · #2 02-15-2007, 02:18 AM

Call the dealer where you purchased the car, describe the problem to the Service Department personnel and see if they recommend a solution. If not, take your 2007 C230 to them and have them resolve the problem ... maybe you've got a 'lemon', but I doubt it. No new MB automobile should struggle starting, regardless of the ambient temperature.

xvvvz · #3 02-15-2007, 09:50 AM

Take it in to the dealer and let it sit overnight so that they can start it up "cold" in the morning. The situation you describe isn't normal, so warranty should cover the diagnosis and repair.

1stBenzo · #4 02-15-2007, 12:04 PM

Thanks for the info. I called the service department and they suggested I bring it in so they can hook it up to the computer to diagnose the problem. If there is a problem that they find, it is covered under warranty. If not, then I will have to pay about $60 and still be stuck with a car that has a problem that is undetectable. I guess it is my fault for worrying so much, but reading all of the Benz forums, I hear about the quality of these cars going down and the stealerships and how much they rip you off.

Some other info is that I had my car parked for about 4 weeks in a garage. Full tank of gas. Block heater not plugged in and not hooked up to a trickle charger. When I got back from my holiday I fired it up for awhile but didn't drive it as I didn't have winter tires on it. When I started it to get get the winter tires put on, it fired up no problem and it was pretty cold then too. This is frustrating. I can afford a Mercedes and paying to fix it but when the car has less than 3000 km's on it, it pissses me off that I should even have to be typing this on here. Thanks for the suggestions and if the new info I provided sounds like something different, then please advise. Thanks!

1stBenzo!

1stBenzo · #5 02-15-2007, 05:25 PM

Another piece of advice sought:

I called my sales guy and he said I should do 2 things:

1) Buy gas from somewhere else. I put Premium Unleaded 91 Octane like I am supposed to but I get it from Superstore which might not have the best gas.

2) Also, he said put some gas line anti-freeze in the tank because I fill up and it will get rid of any water that accumulated in there.

Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the weather is warmer here now, much warmer so it is starting fine. It was about 2 degrees fahrenheit yesterday and now it is about 36. -30 celsius with windchill and today +4 celsius. Thanks!

1stBenzo!

barry123400 · #6 02-15-2007, 09:43 PM

I might start to look for another dealer. At three k miles the ideal of you being surcharged because they cannot find the issue is crazy. They have to or replace the car under common law in Canada I believe. You might want to talk to a mercedes zone rep or somebody.
Next time it really cools down take the car in the night before and leave it so it is cold in the morning. Taking it in warm for immediate code reading might reveal nothing. I know it is difficult out there but you do have a problem of some sort. Something like the cold start enrichment system is lean for really cold tempertures is possible.
Do make sure it is not a fuel issue as if they use that line on you they can probably bill warranty on the actual cause and then bill you for fuel problems. Or it could actually be fuel problems. The only issue here is yes you are responsible for fuel quality. Be careful and cover your posterior. Absolutly eliminate it as a possibility before taking it in.
I also would get this problem resolved this winter and do not leave it for next. Even mercedes does have to fix a car with 3 k miles. If I lived near you I could help you. One really good dose of me seems to light a fire under people if required. People have to act really unreasonable to force the issue for to occur. One dose of it though and they want no more. Basically if you have a dealer that tries to slide by at 3k you do not have a dealer. These kinds of attitudes are what kills off future sales. They are just stupid to start with. Your necessity to post on your feelings indicates this. There will be no second mercedes from them if this does not smooth out pretty quick.

junqueyardjim · #7 02-16-2007, 12:58 PM

Right in front of the service door. Hey, come on. Get in their face with it. If you have a frozen gas line it will never start. At 0 degree F, gasoline either flows or it doesn't. Look, you spent big money on that beauty. Maybe quality is down a little from a couple decades ago. That is more a thing for the used car buyer to worry about. You bought a brand new car! And you want to be treated like a new car buyer. You want that car to start without a wimper all the way to at least 25 degree below F. So just set it in front of the service door with a note or call about the problem and let it sit there until the problem is solved. Hey, no fooling around! And if they can't do it all without any cost to you, call the Factory Rep. now. (When you pickup the car)

MattBelliveau · #8 02-16-2007, 01:29 PM

Dude, if the car has that low milage on it, and is THAT new, tka eit back, and start making demands. Your paying the extra dollar to have a MB. f they have a problem with that, cause a scene, shout lawsuit, and demand a NEW car to make up for the DEFECTIVE one they sold you. YOU are the victim, not the dealer.

My $.02

1stBenzo · #9 02-18-2007, 03:21 PM

Well here I am in Saskatchewan. 900 km's away from Calgary and the dealership where I bought my car. Been having the same problems and today it won't even start period. It is maybe -10 celsius but that shouldn't be an issue in a new car. I called Roadside Assistance and informed them of this. Now the problem is that it is a holiday in Alberta and Saskatchewan so I don't know if the nearest dealership in Regina is open tomorrow. They are planning on towing it tomorrow morning to the dealer, then I have to wait until it's fixed, rent a car and drive to get it. They said the cost of the rental car and food etc. is covered but what about lost wages for missing work for at least a day or two? Is there anyway I could get my money back on this car. It is beautiful and no offense to anyone, but I am not sure I want to own an MB any longer. It's not the battery on the car. Something to do with either fuel getting through or some condensation. If it warms up here I have a feeling it would start and then I could drop it off at the dealer and raise some hell. Not sure what to do but this is very frustrating especially for a "luxury" car.

1stBenzo!

junqueyardjim · #10 02-18-2007, 04:10 PM

No, sorry about that, but typically without going to court they won't cover non repair costs except for a rental car. So it is up to you. Get a good starting top of the line rental ASAP and turn your downtime into something productive. If you must take a long cab ride to get the rental, I "think" they would cover that also. Figure 3 or 4 days for the dealer to find and solve the problem and bug the devil out of them after the first 24 hours (by phone) to make sure that it is fixed correctly. Mandate that the repaired vehicle sit out side for two nights and that it starts instantly both mornings. My goodness, when I was a kid, we moved to Alberta and Dad bought a new 51 Mercury. Had 6 volts and a slobbery carbuetor and a wobbley distributor and an automatic choke and that car would sit out at night all night in Edson, or Barrhead or Rockey Mountain house or Peace River and Dad never gave starting that car a second thought. And that was before "starting fluid" was ever on the market. That was like 56 years ago. If they could make them start then, they certainly should fire up now. Get nasty with them ! Tell Mercedes Benz you want a new car, now!

1stBenzo · #11 02-18-2007, 09:41 PM

I sure hope it doesn't take them 4 or 5 days to fix the problem. The longer they take, the more work I miss and the more pissed off I will be. As long as it starts when they fix it and I can get home with it then it is all good. I can drop it off at my dealer in Calgary and drive my other car. I am pissed about this. The good thing I guess is that at least I get to spend more time with my family since I am in my hometown right now. Thanks for the info folks! I will post my results as they become available!

1stBenzo · #12 02-20-2007, 06:37 PM

Well I managed to get the car started yesterday after calling for roadside assistance. Turns out the tow truck driver is a mechanic. My exhaust was frozen up apparently. He applied heat to it and it started. Not sure what was up with that. Anyways, I took it to my home dealer, they gave me a loaner C280 4matic and then called me and told me it was fixed and all under warranty. Turns out that the problem had to do with air/gas mixture or something. Sounds kind of strange but hopefully they did correct the problem otherwise they will be hearing from me and it won't be pretty!

1stBenzo · #13 02-21-2007, 12:37 PM

Well my car is back in the shop today with the same problem. They thought it was the MAF sensor but obviously not. I am getting pissed at this situation and I am considering selling this damn car and counting my losses. Anyone out there in Canada, is there any possible way to get out of my lease and get my money back? Thanks!

junqueyardjim · #14 02-21-2007, 03:37 PM

Well I would really lean on the Lease Company, the Dealer and the Factory Rep. If after leaning on them a bit, and I didn't see things going my way, I would definetely get my attorney involved. The car is almost new now and this is the time to act. The car most probably will not be any better next winter and by then they will think they can just string you along again. I would say you are close to a point where you are going to have to get legal help to resolve this problem.

1stBenzo · #15 02-25-2007, 01:41 AM

Car is still in the shop. They changed the fuel pump and it started. They then did a software upgrade. Then they changed back to my old fuel pump and it started with that. They let it sit for a night and it started in the morning. They let it sit another night and it started in the morning. They wanted to keep it for the weekend and let it sit outside although it isn't going to be as cold as once thought. They will see if it starts on Monday morning and if so, I will pick it up. I can't see how this could all be occuring due to a software upgrade but I have actually read about this elsewhere as well.

I would have to admit that I have jumped the gun a bit. I am not going to get rid of this car after only having it for such a short time and taking a few years to be able to buy a car of this callibre. It is frustrating as hell though. The dealer has been good about it all though and I just hope this problem gets fixed. Stupid computers and cars. Why can't they just get a mechanic who knows how to actually fix something without having a computer supposedly tell him what is wrong first. Have you ever heard of a software issue creating such a problem? Thanks!

1stBenzo!