[wile_coyote]

Hello all,

New to the board/forum. I've bought a 1999 W208 with around 110k for my daughter. Few little issues to address like a cluster light our, but overall no big deal. Having had it for a little over a week now and driving it before I take it back down south to her, I have noticed an oddity. Every now and then after driving it and after it sits for oh an hour or so, starting sometime has issues.

It is not all the time. What happens is you turn the key and it wants to/starts for a second but shuts down immediately. Restarting it will start back up and idle no problem. Like I said, this does not happen all the time.

It being new (to me/us), I have not bought a code reader for it yet so I thought I would ask a group that has experience with these. It is not my vehicle or intended for me (I have another daily driver and toy for myself). It seems like a good vehicle, the ride on my commute is nice (I am used to my vehicles which are much different). I bought this after talking with my brother who loves MB's (has an E320 and E55).

Any possibilities of what may be causing this? Any info or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[TennisGuy]

Hi Wile Coyote (I'm a Looney Tunes fan too).

From your description, it sounds like it may be your crank position sensor (CPS). Do a search as there are numerous posts on the part/subject and see if your symptoms are the same. It's been a while since I've replaced mine, but I don't think the part cost more than $50 and it takes about 10-15 minutes to replace; you kind of have to replace it blindly because of the position of the part, but it still shouldn't take long to replace. Just so you know, dealers have been know to charge up to $800 for replacing it. Again, read the posts and you'll get a feel for whether this is your issue and what to expect. You'll find the guys here are typically very thorough in explaining problems and solutions so, if this is not the issue, you should be able to find what is.

Good luck.

TennisGuy

 

[wile_coyote]

TennisGuy,

Thank you for the response. I will definitely check into the CPS you mentioned. $50 for the part is not bad, not bad at all. Same part on my 911 is $150+ for the part. I had to replace it and the speed sensor on that car when I pulled the motor/trans to replace the clutch. The connector ends disintegrated (age/heat cycling). There was another $320 on top of the clutch and other "while I am in there..." findings.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply.