2003 C230 Kompressor Check Engine light
 

I have a 2003 C230 Kompressor with 68,000 miles. For the past month the check engine light occasionally came on and off, and when the light was on, the engine felt like it had a miss. I took it to a shop that specialized in foreign car service. after doing some tests, they determined the light was coming on because of low compression in one cylinder, and was cylinder head related. the cylinder head had to come off to determine exactly where the problem was coming from. the machine shop determined the lower compression was caused by worn valve guides. with 68,000 miles?!? is this a common thing with this model, or has anyone had similar problems?!? the car was properly serviced and maintained through mercedes up to 50,000 miles, and scheduled oil changes were done at oil change centers on schedule after that. the car has not been hot rodded or abused. the machine shop fixing the valve guides said they sourced a set of brass valve guides that are supposed to be more durable than stock. i don't know what to do, and i don't know whether its worth filing a complaint since the MB dealer is not doing the work. any advice on this matter before everything is put back together would be appreciated.

Pat.
pfunkadelik@yahoo.com

RE: 2003 C230 Kompressor Check Engine light
 

You have 2 plugs/ cylindar, sounds like one is weak or dead. Just have the plugs replaced and you will be good to go!

RE: 2003 C230 Kompressor Check Engine light
 

OBDII reading probably said low compression.

Morons at the shop wanted to make money...so they added "cylinder head related". I will never go back to that shop.

I agree with benz boy. Most likey it was a bad plug or coil or the wire that runs between them. It would have been a cheap repair. Why didn't the shop do just that?

Now that they removed the head and all that.....you are done for!

I am sorry.

RE: 2003 C230 Kompressor Check Engine light
 

i got the same problem with my 05 c230 with only 20k miles. I get loss of HP and ruff idle. Trun the car off then restart everything is fine but engine light still on. It is at mb dealer ship and they told me cylinder #2 and exhaust #3 leaking and they have to yank the head.

RE: 2003 C230 Kompressor Check Engine light
 

yes this is a common problem with your motor they werent lieing to you the valve seat are mushroomed the repair for this problem is replacment of the head i have personally replaced 30 or so of them. they werent lieing to you

RE: 2003 C230 Kompressor Check Engine light
 

vytamenc was right, MB changed the head. They also told me that it was a design problem and that MB redesigned it to correct the problem. only time will tell, thanks for the heads up vytamenc.

RE: 2003 C230 Kompressor Check Engine light
 

i started to have shaky starts at 13000 miles. Can it be a sign of the same problem?

RE: 2003 C230 Kompressor Check Engine light
 

UPDATE:
the head WAS leaking compression through the valve guides. the head was redone with the new guides, and reinstalled to the tune of almost 2700 dollars. our warranty was out at 50,000 miles, so when we called MB U.S.A. Headquarters to complain, we were pretty much told we were out of luck and they wouldn't help us at all. i don't blame them for not wanting to cover the cost because we WERE out of warranty, but i am extremely disappointed with the fact that we serviced this car properly religiously from day one, and had this problem. VYTAMENC, thanks for your input, people do need to be aware. however, they didn't say anything about valve seat issues, they said the compression loss was through the worn valve guides. is this possible? i also did not replace the head with another new stock piece, we had the existing head redone with more durable valve guides installed and the head freshened up. the car has been running very well since, except occasionally, when the engine is cold, and we start the car and put it in gear without warming the engine, occasionally the engine will surge in RPM when put in gear. what would cause this? any help appreciated. you can email me direct if you want
pfunkadelik@yahoo.com

RE: 2003 C230 Kompressor Check Engine light
 

Project, what design changes did they make to the head?

RE: 2003 C230 Kompressor Check Engine light
 

This is a very common problem on the 2003 C230, poorly designed heads. I'm very suprised you made it to 68k miles. The solution is to replace the heads with the newer designed head. It runs about $1,500 online. Also see if you have a Valeo radiator, another 2003 problem that can wipe out your tranny. Lastly, check the cam sensor, when they leak they wipe out the O2 sensor and contaminate the harness with oil, another $2k out the window.