W202 Common Problems and Their Solutions

[timbuctoo]

Originally Posted by boockpj

Hi

(W202 - C180 - Year 2000 model)

When driving for a while at ± 120 km/h, the oil light comes on. When pressing clutch and revs drop to under 1000, oil light goes off again. After a while, it will do it again.
Checked oil level. It is 100%.
What can the problem be?????

Thanks
Peter

Try checking oil level. When driving at 160Kph the oil light came on so i dropped down to 120 (german autobahns) and light went off. got home checked oil level - slightly low - put knew oil and filter in. can now drive at 160 again

[Eben Terblanche]

Hi there,

First time poster so please bear with me.

Model: 1998 W202 C200 Elegance Manual (Facelift Model)

I have a few issues after I serviced the car at an independent service station.

1. Temperature goes up to the 90’s when driving in peak hour traffic. (Never did this before)
2. In peak hour traffic the car will start to “idle seek”. Best way to describe this is that it will drop to 500rpm and then rise to 1500rpm continuously and will then start stalling. I suspect that this has to do with the L-Shaped connector that comes from next to the radiator and plugs into the air intake hole on the bottom left hand side which mysteriously disappeared. (Will try to upload a pick and part number.) Or either it’s the Air Mass Sensor?
3. Fuel gauge will drop to 0 even if the car is full. (usually corrects itself after a few minutes)
4. Outside temperature display is extremely dim although the rest displays ok.
5. Doing a hard right hand turn at low speed causes a harsh clanking noise especially on a slight decline.
6. On long drives the Temperature Gauge will suddenly drop to zero, although I think the fan might be stuck.

Any theories will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Eben

[liquidusculade]

temperatrue in the 90's isnt uncommon, maybe you just never notice it before... as long as it doesnt go above 100 you are fine. The outside temperature display being dim is most likely because the bulb is burn out behind it and needs to be replaced. as for the gauages going to zero, it sounds like some sort of electrical fault. if you do replace the light bulb yourself, when you remove the instrument cluster you can check for any bad connections on those meters and make sure the physical integrity of the wires are good. until the electrical fault is no longer intermittent, it will be hard to trouble shoot it. as for the idle seek, im not sure what part you say you might be missing. pictures would help. And for the harsh clanking, where exactly is it comming from? i would recomment checking to make sure nothing in the suspension is broken. hope this reply helped.

[weaksauce]

I have some problems of my own and kind of confused.

1. My a/c blows air normally and also the heater works fine, but when i try to make the air cooler, it doesnt go cold. When all the way low it just feels like its blowing outside air.

Does anyone know an estimated price for best buy, or some place to install a radio that is already bought.

[00_230_K]

search some forums radio install might be easier than u think

[gobabyblue]

Originally Posted by weaksauce

I have some problems of my own and kind of confused.

1. My a/c blows air normally and also the heater works fine, but when i try to make the air cooler, it doesnt go cold. When all the way low it just feels like its blowing outside air.

Does anyone know an estimated price for best buy, or some place to install a radio that is already bought.

I encountered the same thing this weekend while driving from LA to San Francisco... the A/C suddenly stopped blowing cold air. This was strange because normally, the A/C turns my car into an igloo (appropriate color, too) even on the lowest setting.

I took it to an independent mechanic in San Jose and he said the problem could be freons, but I'll be finding out the problem tomorrow.

[danielhernandezz]

Problem Description: No A/C.
Problem Cause:NOT SURE
Solution (or link to thread with one):N/A

SO I HAVE A 1996 C280 WITH ABOUT 165K MILES.MY A/C DOESNT WORK.IT JUST STOPPED WORKING ONE DAY.THE BUTTON EC IS LIT AND I CANT TURN IT OFF FOR THE A/C TO BLOW COLD AIR WHENEVER I PRESS THE EC BUTTON.ONLY THE AIR FROM OUTSIDE BLOWS AND I BELIEVE THE HEATER STILL WORKS TOO.I RECHARGED IT TO SEE IF THAT WAS THE PROBLEM AND ALSO IT NEED TO BE BUT IT STILL DOESNT WORK.

WHAT CAN THE PROBLEM BE?
THE COMPRESSOR?
SOMETHING ELSE?

[liquidusculade]

by your description it sounds like your economy mode is stuck on, and thats why you arent getting any cold air. you a/c may or may not be working. you said it wont go off when you hit the ec button, so try hitting auto, and setting the a/c to low. hitting the auto should turn off ec light. if it doesnt, it sounds like that is your problem.

[danielhernandezz]

i click the auto button and it still doesnt work.its just stuck on the ec button.i also put the temperature the lowest it can go and its still the same.any other ideas?

[liquidusculade]

if the climate control wont turn off the economy mode, then that sounds like a problem, and thats why it wont get cold. if you are good with electronics and have schematics you could try removing the unit and troubleshooting it.