There also have been failures of the fuel pressure regulator. On the ML, the fuel pressure regulator is actually part of the fuel filter.

Gilly

Your ML no start situation is almost certainly the fuel pump assembly. They were notrious for defective fuel pumps from the ML introduction, thousands have been replaced. Insist on warranty help from Mercedes, even though it is out of warranty. They are not cheap. Good Luck!

Guys, you will not believe this........

So I put the truck on a flatbed last Wedenesday, brand new fuel pump assembly in the trunk, and off we go to my preferred garage (high-performance Mercedes and Porsche mechanics).

Thursday afternoon, my mechanic is ready to attack the ML hammer and tong when, you guessed it...... it starts.

IT STARTS!!!!

You may think me an ingrate but, this is not fair!!! This truck put me through hell, via lost work time, anxiety, literal sweat, not to mentioned unending grief from my wife asking constantly when it will be fixed, and the damn thing starts!!!! As if nothing had happened!!!

Now I will never know (until the next incident) what went wrong...

Now I've heard stories of guys, fearing doctors or dentists, saying their ailments or aches suddenly have disappeared at the mere mention of M.D or D.D.S., but ML's frightened to the point of fixing themselves mysteriously at the site of a technician heading towards them?

What an anti-climactic event. I almost feel gypped.

Give me a break..... anyway, Gilly, moonflight,... thanks a bunch for your advice.


Jim

Keep the new pump assembly and the tow truck number....you will be needing it...................good luck.

I'd ask the shop to check for trouble codes, often there will be codes stored in a situation like this, especially if it was a DAS related problem.
If nothing there I'd get the pump replaced and the fuel filter replaced with the updated one. I'd say problem was either DAS related or a fuel delivery problem due to either the pump (especially if it was the original pump) or a bad fuel filter (problem with the pressure regulator)

Gilly

Someone had this happen - turned out it was faulty crankshaft position sensor which can lead to intermittent stalling...is this true?

If "is this true" means "is this possible" I'd say yes it's possible. Not a real common occurance, never replaced one on a 112 or 113 myself.

Gilly

Well, it didn't take long for the car to stop starting again.

This time I got lucky and managed to get it to mysteriously start again and headed straight for the shop.

Will let you know what the culprit is.

Jim

Please see previous reply about keeping that new fuel pump assembly and tow truck number................good luck!!

The truck runs fine now

Turns out the existing key was causing intermittent starting problems. Sometimes it would "communicate" w/ the ignition, many times it wouldn't. So they activated and programmed my second key and told me not to use the original key any more to start the vehicle but that I still could use it just to lock and unlock the doors.

The second finding was indeed the fuel pump.

Gilly, maybe you can set me straight here, but the truck had to go back a second time. The first time, they fixed the key situation and installed the factory pump that I brought with me.

They probably did not do a thorough road test because when I came to pick it up, it fired up but was stalling terribly.

They took it back in for another day and replaced the fuel filter this time. That fixed it for good.

I thought the fuel filter was an integral part of the pump assembly. Is there a second filter?

Anyways, I'm lovin my ML again.... warts and all!

Turns out all your diagnoses of the problem was right... they just hit me all at the same time!

Thanks, guys!

So it was the key....

Did they tell you why the first key could not be repaired? Sounds like more than a key battery problem, I wonder how long the average key battery lasts? Hopefully these keys have more than "one-life"!

__________________
Ed "Don't Benz's just feel better..."

Current wives...
2000 ML430 Skyview "The Mel"
2000 CLK430 Cab "The Cab"
85 300D Turbo "The Diesel"

Past wives...
92 300E
85 190E

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to
avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond
this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to
interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."
Bertrand Russell

The ONLY reason for the battery in the key is for the remote unlocking feature. You can take the battery out of the key completely and the truck will start fine, assuming the transponders are good. They require no power. If you are familiar with these tollway units that sit on top of your dash, which allow you to go through a tollgate without paying (charged to your account instead of paying cash at every stop) or these small units you "wave" at the pump to charge your gas, these keys have the same type of thing in them, 2 small transponders which like the tollbooth thing or the gas pump thing, requires no batteries.
The transponders can go bad though, and that's when the engine will no longer start. It will "attempt" a start (crank the engine) but if a transponder is bad, it won't "authorize" a start, ie no fuel injection.

Gilly

Thanks again, Gilly. As usual, you were right on the mark with this problem.

The fact that the "overengineering" that Mercedes is famous for has backfired on them and caused MB to slide down a few notches in the reliability ratings ladder (JD Power, for one) is emblematic of what has happened to my truck (transponders?? geez...) and who knows how many countless others on this forum who come for solutions scratching their heads because they can't pinpoint problems in their newer MB's anymore, not like the good old days.

Another piece of engineering w/c comes to mind that I think Mercedes could have avoided is the A/C pushbutton switching system on their 126's and 124's. I have them both and they're both broken! They're either blowing fuses or not engaging the A/C. On the other hand the "dial" control switches in my ML is an example of simplicity and effectiveness.

I heard on the news the other day that Mercedes Benz has recently recognized that they have gone maybe a bit too far in infusing sophisticated technologies into their automobiles and because of this, too many things can break down, and they do.

Glad to know that they admit this and looking forward to simpler, tried and proven technologies in future models.

Dear Gilly i have the same situation. my question is if the DAS don't recognize the key code it will stop giving instruction to the fuel pump to pump ???or the fuel pump in any case it shall pump fuel

another question Gilly is there a fuel filter in the ML 32 model 98 or it comes within the fuel pump?