So okey, i have for the first time encountered a problem with my MB C230 Kompressor, 2003 (32,000 miles). I was driving and out of nowhere the check engine light lit up on the dash board, i kept driving, nothing seemed to be wrong with the car. Next day, i decided to take my car for a spin, the car was barely picking up speed, it took it quite a while (and me to press gas pedal almost to the floor) in order to get the car moving from 57mph to 65 mph. So than i arrived to my destination, and changed summer transmission button to winter and than back to summer, the check engine light turned itself off, and when i went back on a highway the car drove like there was nothing wrong with it, picking up speed in seconds...What is going on with it,,, is it something serious??

 

When the CEL (check engine light) comes on, it's an idicator that something that has gone out of it's parameters and needs attention. There's no way of knowing what the problem is until you scan the OBDII and get the code from the scanner. This code will tell you one or more things that need attention and the urgency of each one. Any auto parts store will usually scan your car for codes, just go in and tell them you would like them to come out to your car and scan it for any codes. They will turn the ignition key fully to the right without starting the car and then plug in their scanner under your dash where the OBDII port it. It takes about 30 sec. to do all that. And it's usually free. Free is good. Then, in a minute or so, the scanner will read whatever codes your car has stored and they will tell you what the codes mean. Then you can get an idea of what's going on and either have the dealer fix it for you or have an independent garage or a trusted mechanic fix it. They will probably want to scan it again themselves just to be sure the auto parts store's scanner is working properly or......the dealer may want to put it on their own diagnostic machine, which may or may not be a better indicator of the problem/s. There you have it. Diagnose first, THEN fix.

 

thank you very much for the reply MrCoyote but i did some research and it looks like it might be a clogged fuel filter thats causing a problem because while driving in town the car runs perfectly fine and when going on a highway car accelerates slowly. But yeah, i think i will get it to the shop and see what the computer will say (although i no longer have the service engine lit up)

 

Remember Rule No. 1, which is, cars do not USUALLY fix themselves. If your CEL was on, and now it's not, it's unlikely your car fixed itself. Yes, it's possible that there was a glitch somewhere and now it's not there, but I would still scan the OBDII (for free) to see if there are any scanned codes and not just ignore it because the light went out for now. It's not feasible to start replacing parts, like the fuel filter, since you have no idea what is going on yet. This is always the most expensive way to fix cars these days. Up to you. I had over 65,000 miles on my car before I replaced my first fuel filter and it ran fine. It was preventive maintenance in my case. My second filter went on at 150,000 miles.