96 c220 won't start - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

#1 11-06-2002, 09:27 PM

My wife and I just had a baby and while my mother-in-law was taking our 2 other kids back to the house from coming to see the baby at the hospital and was driving our c220. She said the car started to slow and then it shut down in the middle of the road. Someone pushed it over to a gas station and then it wouldn't start. Try, try and try, no starting. When I turn the key in the ignition it turns like it's going to start, but just turns and turns...it never fires to start. Then after holding the key in start on the ignition the red and green lights on the rearview mirror start flashing alternately back and forth. Then after I take the key out of the ignition I hear a slight buzz for about 10 seconds.

I've read in the owners manual about the start lock feature and wonder if that's tied in, but I've manually locked and unlocked both doors and the trunk to try to reset it. I also disconnected the battery for 1 minute and reconnected, no luck either. I've read all over the forum about faulty OVP relays...could that be it? Any other suggestions? It definitely doesn't seem like a battery problem b/c all of the interior lights and headlights work fine. I had it towed to a nearby dealership but I want to be informed before they feed me a line about needing a $1000 wiring harness. Thanks for the advise, love the forum.

96C220 · #2 11-06-2002, 10:18 PM

It's not that bad a job - really about 15 min swap on a C220. You say it bogged then quit running, and then refused to start.

Well there are two things that will (generally) cause a car not to start.

#1 lack of fuel

#2 Lack of spark

Granted there are a few other things, but most everything else leads to some sort of intermittent no start, or rough running condtion, not an absolute refusal to start.

What I would look at first, and what comes to mind is as follows:

#1 check the fuel pressure - is the car getting gas to the injectors? Im thinking a fuel pump failure may be your problem.

#2 Does the car have a decent spark? The other thing that comes to mind here is a bad coil or coil pack, causing the car to not produce a spark.

The fuel delivery failure seems more likely by the way you describe the slowing down and then stalling out.

A wiring harness wouldnt randomly "go" on you without exibiting symptoms beforehand. The C220 isnt generally plagued by the wiring harness problems that the C280's have been known to exibit.

It could be something as simple as a fuel pump relay.

I would definitely look at these issues before I spent any money on a wiring harness.

Hope this helps,
George

Benz84 · #3 11-07-2002, 09:22 AM

Okay, if you are turning the key in the ignition, and the red and green lights on your rear view mirror are flashing, that means that your security system has been turned on. Do you have a keyless remote with this car? If you do, what you need to to is use that to lock, then unlock the car. When the car is unlocked with the remote and not the key...the security system is turned off. BUT if you lock the car with the remote, but use your regular key to unlock it, it won't start. That's because your regular key doesn't send any signals to disarm the ignition imobolizer like the remote does when it's pressed. So therefore this should work for you.

96C220 · #4 11-07-2002, 04:15 PM

On my c220, the alarm diables the starter completely. You turn the key and nothing. If it is in start block mode, it should not crank and try to come to life, it would just sit there, and the starter wouldnt crank at all.

I believe the immobilizer in these cars is starter interrupt, NOT fuel pump interrupt.

Why would they design a system, where the there is the potential for the engine to start (with the fuel already in the lines) and then stall out because its run dry of gas?

I dont think your problem has to do with the security system. It either has to do with the ignition or fuel delivery systems in the car.

Hope this helps

George