Hello

There is some thing badly goes wrong with my wife car, today while traveling on the road, she feel the engine is shaking, then the car refuse to go fast after step-up the gas pedel.

The check engine light lighted up now, any suggestion where to start to look for ?

car has 90k miles and I have not do tune up yet, could it be spark plug or tranmission ?

car fire OK everytime I tried to start

Thanks

 

Hi,
The engine has gone into limp home mode due to something jeopardising emmissions.
The Check Engine Light CEL is also telling you that something is wrong.
This no acceleration mode is intentional.
You need to access the Diagnostic Trouble Codes DTC in the engine computer.
You need a scanner for this or maybe just get your local garage to do it for you.
Without the codes and other stored information (ask also for the Short and Long Term Fuel Trims) anything could be wrong.
First suspect is the Mass Air Flow meter but these are quite expensive and not the sort of thing you change randomly.
On the other hand it could be the Crank Sensor or possibly just bad fuel, plugs, plug lead etc. etc. etc.
Give us the vehicle mileage etc plus the codes and we will advise likely cause (hopefully).
Stuart.

 

The car has 90K miles, I recently just change oil and oil/air filter. the MAF was changed last year due to CEL light up.

I will load a scanner from autozone and post back the code

BTW, how can you check the auto tranmission oil level on the 1999 E320, I did not see the dip stick at all

Thanks

 

Hello tc_Sj,

did You blow the airbox with compressed air?
Very often this can damage the MAF. Some little grains of sand or other particles will suffice.
The MAF is very sensitive to it.

Otherwise, as Stuart already wrote, the error codes would be very helpfully.

ATF-Level:
Either You ask the "Friendly" to check it for You or You would have to buy the MB-Tool
with the part# 140 589 15 21 00 oil dipstick, as Your car doesnĀ“t have the dipstick
The latch cover You have to remove to insert the dipstick You can find at the back of the engine (near the middle)

Greetings
Peter

 

The local tech guy has a sanner for Benz car, he charge $80 and repair is $40 hr/ labor

I will have him check it out and see if he can repair the car, he have been working on Euro car for 25 years.
Hope he can fix it

I will report back what the finding

 

ok tc_Sj

and observe, that thereĀ“s not always an error code for a defective MAF stored!
But nevertheless it can be damaged...
Quickest way then to find it out is to try a new one ...

Greeings
Peter

 

I wish I have a friend own a E320, so I can borrow the MAF to check out, I do not want to spend $300 and find out it's not MAF failure

Can the MAF failed less than a year, the original AMF failed when the car has 70K miles and the new replacement just only 20K mile, car now just turn pass 90K mile ????

 

you ned to have them pull the codes thats why its called diagnosis. diagnosis really helps with the repair of these cars instead on guessing.

 

Hi Peter.
Tell us more.
MAF faulty without a code?
Its not always the fuel trim at fault since other codes also signal a MAF problem.

 

Hello snanceki,
of course Youe are right.
We mean the same...
And i meant before the possibility, that there is not always a directly error code for a defective MAF. It happens sometimes...

@tc_Sj
if even necessary:
You can friendly ask the "Friendly" to try with a new MAF. Normally MB-workshops have it in stock.
It takes a few minutes...

Greetings
Peter