Hi guys,

I bought a 99 C230 Sport Kthree days ago (135,000 miles on it). When I bought it, everything worked fine. The dealer just told me that ECL came on shortly and came off immediatelyin the morning ofthe day I bought it.

I brought it to my mechanicfor general check up (I didn't know its repair history) that did tell me everything seemed to work fine. I drove home and parked it in my garage. Next morning, I tried to start the engine to go to an auto part shop, but it did not start.

I put the key in andturned it. Power was on, headlight was on, and everything looked good. When Iturned the key to the end to start the engine, it didn't start though. The engine DIDN'T EVEN CRANK. I didn't hear any sound while I was doing that. I jumped just to see if it was battery problem, but it was not.

I got the car towed to the mechanic. It obviously did not work when I tried (I did a lot of times), but when the tow truck driver put it down and started engine, it did work! One of the mechanics drove it to the back of the facility and stopped it there, and tried to re-started, which did not work. They jacked it up and checked here and there. They put it down and repeated starting and stopping the engine. It did work.

One more symptom I found... When I stopped at signal, it sometimes sputtered as if it was going to die soon.

I put the car in the garage so that they can try again on Monday.

I read a thread about the similar issue, the solution of which was replacing CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR. Seems that this problem is typical. However, this person's engine at least cranked when he started it. Mine does not. I also had an indicator (looking like a lamp (the one in Aladdin) with a few water(oil?) drops next to it)that cameon shortlya few times and came off immediately.

My questions:
1. What kind of problem is this?
2. Is the starter involved in it? I think it's not 'cause if that's the case, the car shouldn't restart, right?
3. Does this whole thing have something to do with ECL and/or the indicator?
4. Any comments/opinions/experiences?

Thank you so much for your help in advance.

 

Update.

I got my car back. It has been working good. No problem at all. The engine sputtered at a signal though.
I still need to find what the reason was.