I've had my 1996 C220 for 3 years now. I love this car. It has just over 90,000 miles on it and has been a great performer. A while ago, we got the ol' dreaded "engine light." Not wanting to venture toward the stealership and being consumate DIYers, we bought a code reader. Yay! It coded the modulator, so my husband came to this forum to read how to replace it. You guys came through with flying colors. Thank you! What a great resource this site has been. Now we have another problem. My baby one day decided to quit on me while I was waiting at a light in an intersection. Yeah, very disturbing. But... you guys came through again. Based on the symptoms, and everything else, we've been able to determine that it is, in fact, the Crank Position Sensor that is the culprit. Halleluia. Here is the problem.... Replacing the dang thing. It's in an extremely blind spot. Our first attempt at removal showed us that the Cruise Control Actuator is smack dab in the way of the part coming out. In another thread, Sleepwalker smartly says that we must remove both the starter and the Cruise Control Actuator to get to this part, but we're finding we can't get to either of these parts without many bruises to our arms. I'm a girl and my smaller arms can't get the tools down to these bolts. Can someone tell us the actual real way to do this repair? I will forever be in your debt!!!!!

 

I just want to add that I realize that other people have been able to affect this repair. That's why I think we must be doing something wrong, AND why I am asking for assistance.
Thanks!

 

its not a nice plce although merc book time to replace is 20 minutes,it took me good 45 minutes,its locketed right side of the engine its very near to the gear box bell housing it has a 2 pin connector...........

 

OK, he actually was able to finally move the starter and replace the Crank Position Sensor. Guess what? That wasn't the problem after all. Now the Fuel Pump turns on for no longer than 1 second and will not run while the engine is cranking. Yes, there is plenty of fuel in the car (3/4 tank). So we're now going to replace the Fuel Pump. Hopefully, that will fix the problem and I'll have my car back.

 

ok before replacin fuel pump check fuel pump relay,its inside trunk next to the spare wheel its like a black or green block,pull relay bridge terminals 30 to 87 hear the pump if its workin all the time, leave bridge on it and start car should run...........................

 

Wow, NAZ, you are right. That test shows that the fuel pump works fine. Do you have any other suggestions as to why the car will crank, yet not start? We've had one suggestion that it may be an ignition coil. We're also told there are 3 on this car. On the really oddest chance, is it possible we got a bad CPS? It would at least start with the old one. Now it won't start at all. Is this possible? What are the odds that we got the wrong part? Everywhere we checked, the one we purchased was the only one available for this year and model of MB.
Yeah, we're starting to second guess ourselves. My husband just went to purchase some starting fluid to find out if we're getting any spark, but if it turns out we just have a bad CPS. After the pain (literally) we went through to exchange it, we hate the thought of trouble-shooting it by putting the old one back in (just to check). It took 3 hours and some very modified tools (and the help of a really, really nice friend/neighbor). Of course, the car is worth it. And you have been an extremely nice internet friend to help as well. It's amazing to find someone in cyberworld willing to help out a stranger like this. I am forever in your karmic debt.

 

Ok, the starting fluid had no effect. So that means no spark. Hmmmm.... What now?????

 

1:45 on Sunday afternoon. We are apparantly fighting an intermittant problem. Could be fuel, could be electrical. I tried starting fluid to no avail. Then went in and took a close look at the wires in the area our arms had SPENT SO MUCH TIME in trying to get the CPS out and back in. I found the wires of one of the sensors on the air intake tube stripped to point where they shorted together. It looked like someone had stripped them years ago for a test and had poorly taped them back together. Once I opened those two wires and checked the spark plug wires were tight she fired right up and purred.We test drove it andit ran better than ever! Then test drove it again and it crapped out in about one block! The car then proceeded to act like it was limited on fuel as I drove it up and down the street. It would do about 1800 RPM and 15 MPH and then act like it was starving for fuel and die back. Pumping the accelerator seemed to help a little and was the only way to keep it going but this would only help a while. It acted like an old carborated car barley making it off the accelerator pump till it ran dry. The more I drove it the better it ran so we drove it home (3 miles) and it only died once and almost died twice more. It made road speeds as high as 45 MPH. I should add that I changed the fuel filter a few months ago at around 100k miles. It seems to run the best when cold and worse after warming up then a bit better after getting to full temp. I'm speculating on a fuel pump that is not running full pressure always or an intermittant coil losing half of the engine. I would sure appreciate any info. on similar experiences.

Dang it! We were so excited when it first fired up and ran so beautifully! Thank you so much in advance for any help you can give us. Here's a picture of those wires. Wierd, huh?


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It's now Wednesday and we replaced the Cam Position Sensor on a Lark to make sure it wasn't that part before we took it to a shop to have them figure it out for us. She's at the repair shop now where they will hang the big computer on her and hopefully tell us what is the real problem. We found a good, reputable shop here locally, so hopefully, we'll have good news to report. Keep your fingers crossed. Wish us [sm=signs003.gif]

Friday: After hanging her on the big computer, the shop says the problem is....drum roll...the Mass Air Flow Sensor. Ta Da! The nice man quoted us $750 for the part, which we know is ridiculous. He was gracious enough to allow us to purchase the part ourselves from Mercedes Parts Direct (The same exactBosch part - NO OEM) and deliver it to him. We paid $289 for it. He did say that they couldn't warranty the part if we did it this way, but we are willing to take the chance for $400. The part itself is easy to replace, but if the shop changes it, then they can clear all the codes with the big computer and we can be done.

This should be it. Thanks to everyone who offered advice. We really appreciate your help.