95 E320 engine miss

[haasman]

My 95 E320 engine misses at both idle and under load. It just started. I replaced the spark plugs which were quad plats with Bosch copper cores. No change.

The car is still under StarMark warranty .... I rather not pay for exploratory fees ... something I've been charged for in the past.

I searched through the forum and didn't seem to turn up anything except a possible bad throttle body?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Jeff

[Behind the Star]

Check the wiring harness by cutting it open in the bend where it plugs into the coils.See if there is still insulation on the wires.Be careful not to cut the wires.
Also check the resistor tips (long rubber pieces between coil and plug) to see if the ends at the plugs are bad or have a green dust like buildup on them.If they do,replace them.
Brian.

hey benztech..
sounds like u know about this damn wiring harness.
well..i have the same '95 e320 and my engine light turned on so i went 2 my tech to get it checked
and he gave me the great news that the wiring harness had no insulation on the wires going into the engine so he taped a few of them up. About a month later...same problem..my tech said he didn't tape all of them and that i would need a new one. then he gave me more great news...a new one cost like $850-900 for the part alone
so i got to calling a few used parts places to see if maybe i can get this thing used. well i got a hold of a shop in NJ that deals with strictly engines and they told me to ask my mechanic which wires on the harness i need...that i wouldnt have to replace the whole thing. does this sound accurate to u?? thanks in advance for any help!!!

[Bob I]

If the car is still under Starmark warranty and you have the component coverage, not just the power train warranty, your dealer should fix the problem without any exploratory fees charged to you. Their job is to find out what is wrong and fix it. If they have charged you additional fees for Starmark work in the past I think you should ask the dealer to refund all such charges.

[Behind the Star]

Mrruffstuff,
You should bring the car to the dealer and ask for participation in the cost of the repair.
If your car has less than 120 k,they will probably assist in the cost of the repair if not the whoole thing.
Tell them you will deal with them,such as you will do your major service or some other needed repairs that they can make some money on if they will goodwill the harness.
YOU DID'NT HEAR ANY OF THIS FROM ME.
Brian.
PS....A junkyard harness will be the same as yours.

[haasman]

So from all the replies should I properly assume it is most likely the wiring harness? Not a bad coil? Not another component?

Jeff

[Arthur Dalton]

Originally posted by haasman
So from all the replies should I properly assume it is most likely the wiring harness? Not a bad coil? Not another component?

Jeff

As BW said, change the coil tower resistor/boots. They are known problem part and $8 ea.
When you are there , you inspect the harness, It may have already been changed.

No loss on the resistor change as they , one,should be changed anyway , two, do not come w/harness..... and three, may be the problem to begin with.

[jsmith]

it's not the coil that goes bad but the boot under it. they are relatively inexpensive. the harness costs about $500 and should take 3 hrs tops to install. i tried to talk the dealer into doing thr harness work but no go - specially if you are not the original owner. a starmark warranty should give you some leverage though. it may be different in other parts of the country...

[haasman]

Thanks for the replies-

According to what everyone has posted, the missing problem is either:

-bad coil boots

and/or

-the wiring harness that goes to the three coils

Since the car has the three year StarMark warranty, would I correctly assume then these items should be covered? The vehcle was purchased on 11/00.

Thanks again for your replies. This group is great.

Jeff

[Arthur Dalton]

Don't know what they will say about the boots [ might be a maint/wear item like plugs], but if the harness is bad and you need to negotiate anything, don't argue the boots....

well...i called mbusa and asked about the whole fake recall/goodwill repair for my '95 e320 and
she said it's not a full recall and that it is up to the dealer if they want to repair it or not.
well..i went to my local dealership and i fibbed a little bit. i told them that i had called mbusa and they said my local dealer would give me a goodwill repair. hee-hee-heee
they gave me a lil hard time at 1st. The service manager of course played dumb like it wasn't a normal occurence on these cars..yeah right!!!
i think he was impressed with all of the information i was barking at him though
thx to this forum of course!!!
well..he told me he would have to check with his
rep and he'd call me back. well..he did call me
back and said that they would have to check my
car for themselves to determine weather it did
need a new wiring harnass. so i brought it in
and he checked it. of course it was bad and he
said that they'd be willing to cover the cost of
the part ($780.00) but i would have to pay for
the labor. i asked how much...he said the book
reads 6hrs labor time on the repair. yeah right!!
i showed a lil hostility because my mechanic told
me it would take 2hrs...3hrs tops and i told him that. He said it would cost me around $500.00.
Hmmmmmm...not 2 bad...better than payin parts
and labor so i agreed and told him, "I GUESS I
HAVE NO CHOICE!!!
but inside i was doing cartwheels.
he also asked me if i wanted to put the car on the machine ($250) to read all the codes and stuff because they couldn't guarantee the new wiring harness was going to cure my engine light coming on and the hesitation problem. i declined since
my tech had already done that and i knew all the codes already.
so the whole damn thing cost me $486.00.
the funny thing is...after all of that crap the
service manager turned out to be right.
i still have the hesitation problem and the
engine light come on a few days later...SH#@!!!
now i have to go bark at my tech for having me
go thru all of this (even though the car did
need a harness) it wasn't causing the problem.
guess i'll try the coil ends now...keep ur fingers
crossed...i'll keep ya posted.

MrRuffStuff,
I have the same car, 95 E320, and it seems we are all having the same issues right now (80k-7yrs.)

Wire Harness/ EGR tube blockage/ Headgasket Leak/ Rear Diff Leak/Bad Coil Wires/ and window weather striping that lift up at the ends.

Yesterday I cleaned out the EGR tube (search archieves) because the ODBI code read 5 blinks. Hopefully the CE light stays off.

Today I made an appointment at my dealer to have the wireharness replaced next week. I'll let you know how much I end up paying.

BTW, here are the codes for the 95 E320, courtesy of engatwork:
(search archieve on how to check code)
1 No malfunction in system monitored
2 Heated O2 sensor inoperative
3 Lambda control inoperative
4 Air injection inoperative
5 Exhaust gas recirculation inoperative
6 Idle speed control inoperative
7 Ignition system defective
8 Engine coolant temp. sensor, open/short circuit
9 Intake air temp. sensor, open/short circuit
10 Voltage at hot wire mass air flow sensor too high/low
11 TN-signal (rpm) at engine control module (N3/4) defective
12 Heated O2 sensor heater, open/short circuit
15 Wide open throttle information defective
21 Bad Purge Switch-Over Valve

If your CE light is still on, check the codes and post the results. I can almost bet that A.Dalton or Steve will know exactly what you need to do.