c220 randomly won't start
 

At least it sounds random to me. She's a 95 C220, she can run fine but won't start from time to time. Regardless whether the car is hot or cold. Left alone for few minutes to half an hour, you can start again as though nothing had happened. Any idea or suggestion? please help

C class issue
 

I am not an M-B expert, but figured that my girlfriend's recent issues with her 96 C280 might be of help to you. It led me to post here yesterday, and the support/info I received helped to prepare me to deal with the dealer on a "Goodwill Warranty" repair. Here's what I know -

(1) Her C280 had the same issue as you - random no-starts. This seemed to fixed by taking off the gas cap (a fix I learned from my old 190E - some kind of vapor lock). Or so I thought...

(2) After tailgating with the C280's radio blaring, the battery died. Thus it was concluded the (1) may have been due to the battery more than the vapor...

(3) Finally, the car in for a 75K service was diagnosed with a badly deteriorated wiring harness - priced at $1000 including parts & labor. After some struggle, the repair was covered under a program discussed on message boards here.

I hope this helps you.

This reply has been worn out, but the Over voltage protection relay is the MOST common cause for this problem. IF the old relay has part number 000-540-52-45 Then try the replacement # 000-540-67-45.

I have a question about random non starts. I have a 96 C220 with 93000 miles. We just bought it a few months ago, it ran GREAT and we love it!! Then it started randomly not starting, so we looked on the boards and saw a lot of replies saying to replace the OVP relay. So that's what we did, it ran great for about a week, started every time. Then it stalled on me, then randomly wouldn't start again. Now we are checking the battery, but I was told by a Mercedes mechanic that I should have the fuel sensor unit replaced, or even have the wiring harness replaced. Does any one know if this could be the problem or are we looking at the wrong things?? I would love to get any feed back. This is our first Mercedes, which we both love driving.

C Class Non-Starts
 

I am not an expert on M-B service, but my fiancee's C280 has had this issue. At first, she thought it was the battery. This may have been a factor, but the bottomline was she needed a new wiring harness. You see, this harness is like the central nevrous system of your electronically-controlled car. It is a very pricy repair, but you can push on dealer to fix at no cost to you under a "factory goodwill" program.

My gut tells me a lot of folks are dropping C class models on the used car market (she bought hers less than a year ago) because of the wiring harness and hassles with getting the free repair. Though this tarnishes M-B in my eyes to some degree, at least they are standing behind their design's apparent reliability weakness.