96 C280 hard to start

[steve dale]

I own a 1996 C280 with 196,000 miles. I love the car! I have had very few issues with it, just the routine things. Recently I have had a hard time starting. I turn the key and the engine will turn over and over and over before igniting. I have changed the MAF two years ago. This took care of a missing problem. New plugs went in last summer, non platinum, along with new wires and connectors. This took care of acceleration and some missing also.
Not sure where to look with regards to this problem. It seems simple, but needs to be resolved quickly to keep the engine wear and tear to a minimum.
Please advise.
Thanks
Steve Dale
1996 C280
2001 E430

[mpolli]

Did you try doing a search?

[Ethan]

1) how old is your battery? how old is your oxygen sensor?

2)how oild is your fuel filter?

3)how old is your air filter?


Then you go down the line of what next for each category of fuel, air and ignition.

You need to visually inspect for torn rubber or loose electrical connections, then you need to use the search functon here as posted earlier.

I ask about the O2 sensor, because it would probably throw a code if bad, but I installed a new O2 sensor on my C230 and it starts so much better then before ( I have 108k miles )

[mpolli]

I don't see how those first 3 would cause his symptom (except the battery). The O2 shouldn't affect starting since it is cold and not doing anything at startup. The fuel filter would cause power problems not starting problems. Same for the air filter. Sorry I don't have a good idea of what it is though. I assume this car has no distributor. Assuming multi coils I would guess they all wouldn't fail at the same time. Have you scanned for codes? Is there any difference cold start vs. warm start? Weak battery would be a problem but I would guess he would be reporting slow cranking. Scan for codes.

[Arthur Dalton]

First suspect with you condition on that chassis is OVP relay...second is Crank Position sensor.

Next time condition exist, tap the OVP and retry to start.
Don't ask where it is cuz I don't know anymore , but the Archieves does....
Once you get to the Archieves , you will see that relay has been updated to a new part# and design to eliminate the originals faults.

[crashone]

I have better cold starts now after changing the fuel filter and sparkplugs. If all the other suggestions check out, try these.

[Ethan]

www.club202.com has some good threads on OVP and Crank Angle Sensors.


mpoli - it's the craziest thing, I put in a new O2 sensor I my car starts quicker then I can remember. I used to think my Crank Angle Sensor was going south but since the new O2 the starting is amazing. Cold or Hot the starting is better. Of course I have no data or way to prove - or it could be coincidence

[Arthur Dalton]

Here is an old OVP testing post in the Archives ..it is a Highly Technical and Specific Procedure, but it has worked for many....

M104 Code 11 on pin 14 re-start problem