On Saturday, I purchased a 2005 C230 with 27550 miles that had never been wrecked. I drove it over the weekend and for a few days thereafter with no problems. On Thursday morning,I drove it 4 miles to work and parked it until noon at which point in time,I drove it about 6 miles to get some lunch.

On my way back to work after lunch, it started acting VERY strange while stopped (in gear) at a stop light. The whole car started shaking for a few seconds and then it would stop shaking for a little while. Then it would shake again for a few seconds, then stop. It did this about six times while I was stopped. I remember that the car was shaking so bad that she shift **** was vibrating. It looked like the RPM's were going up a little bit each time the car started shaking, too.

Any clue what this would be? I did a little research on the vehicle before purchasing and know that some of these engines have valve trouble which is remedies by replacing the compressor head. What are the indicators of such a problem?

The good news is that it is still under factory warranty. It is at the shop now, but the tech hasn't been able to replicate the issue. Not sure what set it off or what could be wrong with it. If you have an idea on what the cause could be or what made it happen, please let me know.

Many thanks,
Anita

 

Anita..[/align][/align]Tell the service rep to let the vehicle sit for several hours. Once the vehicle has cooled completely that's when the tech should take it out for a drive or run the test. There is or was a service bulletin for vaccum lines that needed [/align]to be replaced. With my car they had to replace the cylinder head (low compression #1 cylinder)and control module. I still get the a tiny bit of shaking but I found that letting the car warm up to optimal engine temp before setting off help'd. I also stick to one type of gas or station rather then going to any kind mixxing tank fills. IF they do replace the cylinder which is covered under warranty make sure they replace the control module then reconfigure it to your VIN# (also covered under warranty) Good luck keep us posted. [/align]

 

Thank you so much, Mello!

 

I have a little update. I found out that the vent hose issue (TSB 2008020002) had already been addressed on my car. Before purchasing the vehicle, I did read something about an issue with valves that was remedied by replacing the entire cylinder head. I was wondering what the "signs and symptoms" were of this problem.

 

Well as for signs it's possible that the car will not be as "zippy" meaning feel a bit sluggish on the throttle but the best way to determine this is to have the service guys run a compression check on the car. If the remedie is to replace the cylinder head then let them do it if you have warranty then have them check your control module. What's strange is they said I had error codes but I never seen any codes or warnings.

 

I bought a used 2004 and after a week it had done the exact same thing when I went to lunch one day. It ended up costing me 1800.00 to get fixed. They said it was the a/c comp, not it. Then it was the intake , not it. It turned out to be a small vacuum hose under the intake frtont of the motor it runs vertically down near the oil pan and passes through a check valve built into the block.