Car, 2001 SLK 320.

It started a month ago. once in a while my oil level light would come on for a few seconds then go out. Oil level was fine. Might go a few weeks with out comming on at all.

Then about 3 weeks ago while driving home the car cut out for less then half a second on the freeway. It never died just cut and kept going. Then over the next few days it started happening more often. Mostly in the heat of the day. I swaped out the fuel pump and filter thinking that might be the problem. but the problem has slowly gotten worse.

2 weeks ago I finaly get a check engine light. P0100. MAF.. I buy a new one and no change at all. Over the next two days it becomes undriveable because it is now stalling out all the time. Borrowed a Crank position sensor just to try but no change. Took it into the shop.

Found out my brand new MAF was defective.. Car runs good for a day. Back to the random cutting out but now the oil level light stays on most of the time. took it back to the shop and pull codes. P0102, MAF. P2040 and P2076 Both oil level control sensor.

Shop thinks that the Oil Sensor is causing the MAF code and motor cutting out. Showed me on the Alldata website that on the MAF page it shows all the tests you can do on the MAF. After those tests are done and the MAF tests good it says to check these other systems. One of those is the Oil sensor.

We looked at the oil sensor with the SDS and captured these values.
Oil Temp. 215
Oil level 80.3MM
Oil Quality 6.0 ? Changed a few months ago.

Does any one know if that oil sensor is capable of causing all these problems. No one has been able to tell me for sure as I get a lot of blank looks when I ask

Yes, the oil level sensor can "swipe" power from the air mass sensor & cause that condition.

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Thank you very much. I have been fighting this problem for over a month and truly hope replacing this oil level sensor solves the problem. thank you again. I will reply back after it gets swapped out and let you know the outcome.

Changed out oil sensor but the numbers are all the same. Car still runs bad.

Ok My Indi that has been working on this hit a roadblock.

After changing the oil sensor the light came back on. He traced out the wires and all tested good. Then went into the computer again and got the exact same values for oil condition, temp and level. The oil sensor code P2040 and P2076 cant be cleared from the CPU.

He is recomending now that I take it to the dealer and have the CPU reflased or replaced.

It has been confirmed that the wrong voltages were comming out of the main computer.

Sadly it has been tested and confirmed that the main computer is bad. The voltages comming out are not correct and it has to be replaced.

Shop called the dealer and was told there are none in the USA and that he can send it out and have it rebuilt and back in by mid week..

I didnt ask the cost yet.

Rebuild place cant do it.. Not sure why but my shop found a used one that has to be sent in and unlocked so he can flash it for my car. Looking at $1600.

Don't stop informing on this problem, I'm interested in knowing how it gets fixed.

You know $1600 is steep for sure, but not all that outrageous - very nice car the SLK so it's worth it IMO.

I will and I will also try to find out how he tested it to confirm that it was bad.

hi chris, it will prob all go down hill from here on in , it will be one piece of cheap electronic gadgetry after another mate that fails , thats my guess anyway, if it were me, dump the car , get something reliable like a toyota camry .
i am soooo over these piles of junk its not funny, thing is , its not worth selling mine , it isnt worth anything , so im kinda stuck with it, thinkin of a way to graft bits from other makes systems to bypass all this absolute crap that this company has conned us with . !
good luck anyways.

LOL @ dave.. I feel that big time.. I also run a 12 million dollar printing press made in germany.. The electronics on this thing would stun you. we have 5 computers a shipping container full of wires and very little support.

But as my boss says.. we bought it and own it so we will make it work..

Two weeks in the shop now. Going on a 3rd. Couldnt get a new computer so repair guy opted for a used one. had to send it out to be unlocked. Reflased to my car. Instal went great car runs like a new car but check engine light comes on saying O2 sensor fault. Hooked up to SDS and O2 sensors are reading fine. Checked a few things and found out that this computer was bad also.

On to second computer now. waiting for it to come back unlocked so it can be reflashed.

Need some help.

My car has been in the shop for over a month now. The last communication I had was that the main CPU had been replaced. He drove the car around several times but after parking it over night he went to drive it and his words were it took a dump?

He says that this car is frustrating him. This is no slouch indy shop. They are a top tier shop and the guy working on it has been working on MB's for over 40 years. He has the SDS and all that stuff but after replacing the CPU it runs much better but occasionally dumps and the SDS wont give him the info he needs.

He states that the place that rebuilds the CPU unit said that a sensor fried the CPU. Finding that sensor is a must. At this point i am thinking I should tell him he has failed. pick up my car and not pay him for anything other than the diagnoses fee and take it to a dealer?

Any thoughts on this as I am running out of options on this thing and time. I dont want to be a ass but this is getting old...

Just a WAG but this cluster #*&$ sounds like a wiring harness problem.

Ok Got the call today. We had both noticed that the car seemed to act up more on right turns. He has swapped out or replaced almost every sensor in the car. His last hope was the fuel tank pressure switch as he had seen some weird numbers from it.

He changed it out and still the same problem. After pulling apart half my car. he found that when they built my car there were 3 wires that go to the pressure switch. They were to be routed around one of the plates next to and supporting the body panel. But instead they were routed between the plate and the body panel. Over time this caused the wires to become pinched and short out. This caused my main CPU to overheat and crap out.

I pick up the car Monday as he has been driving it for two days and wants to drive it some more but he feel confedent that he has solved the problem.

At one point I asked if he had shipped it back to Germany and suggested that a 5 gallon can of gas would solve both our problems. I have no idea how much this is going to cost me. he stated to bring half a million when I come to pick it up. I dont think it will be much more then the originaly quoted $1600 though as he stated that he was losing a bunch of money on this car and that it had turned into a case of pride now.

He is a stubbern old man. Even though it took him much longer then I had thought he should take he stuck with it through the end. I just want my car back. I swear since it has been gone my T level has dropped quite a bit.