Hey, all,

The C230 has been great and trouble-free for more than two weeks, until yesterday. I got the refusal to shift/slamming into gear symptoms again, and as I parked the car, the CEL came on. However, the car started and drove perfectly this morning -- though with the light still on.

It seems I get this problem *only* when, upon starting the car from cold, the idle is immediately too low. By that I mean, instead of first idling at about 1000 rpm then dropping down to 550 within a few moments, the car starts and almost instantly drops to 600, then 550. Almost invariably, if this happens, the car will refuse to shift correctly and will slam into gear (it feels almost as if somebody is rear-ending me!).

From what I've read here, this sounds like an air mass meter going bad. I know I need to get the codes read again. Qs about the CEL situation:

1) Can a standard scanner, such as Autozone's, pull the right code? Or do I have to go to my independent?

2) Can the codes be read with the CEL off? The light comes and goes, and I've been told that if the light is off, there is no stored code to be read. Is that correct?
.

__________________
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-- Paul W. (The Benzadmiral)
('03 Buick Park Avenue, charcoal/cream)
Formerly:
'97 C230, smoke silver/parchment; '86 420SEL, anthracite/light grey; '84 280CE (W123), dark blue/palomino