Anybody care to guess the problem ?

[Rayny]

W203 C240, 2001 build, approx 73,000 miles.

Driving home last evening, no warning signs of any problems, the engine just suddenly cut out.
I tried to restart it and the engine turned over but would not start.

Very good service from RAC -they came out last night but could not get it going again so have come back today to take it to the local Mercedes dealer (it would have been a bit unfair to ask them to take it to Ollie at PCS with the current flood warnings).

 

[DJC013]

Hello, could well be the Crankshaft Position Sensor, regards Damian.

 

[Will]

Sounds like classic CPS (crank position sensor) symptoms?

Must be worth plugging into a STAR for a diagnosis - could be something else of course.

Sometimes the CPS faults temporarily clear when the car has cooled IIRC?

Will

 

[BlackC55]

Crankshaft sensor. +3

 

[EDZ649]

+4 cps. Shame this didn't happen in a couple of weeks time, I will have STAR by then, could have plugged it in for you Ray!

 

[Rayny]

Thanks gentlemen, that was real quick.
Damian and Will - If you agree with Ollie then you are probably correct.
I hope they can fix it quickly tomorrow - I really do not like having to get the train to work.

 

[Stratman]

Thanks gentlemen, that was real quick.
Damian and Will - If you agree with Ollie then you are probably correct.
I hope they can fix it quickly tomorrow - I really do not like having to get the train to work.

You are Sir Nicholas Winterton and I claim my five pounds.

 

[momomo]

Sounds like classic CPS (crank position sensor) symptoms?

Must be worth plugging into a STAR for a diagnosis - could be something else of course.

Sometimes the CPS faults temporarily clear when the car has cooled IIRC?

Will

Will i dont think the CPS ever stores a fault code. Does it? Stand to be corrected though. Olly?

 

[Will]

Will STAR not show any live data for diagnosis though - as in no crank signal whilst turning the engine over?

Will

 

[Rayny]

Update

I spoke to the dealer workshop this morning.
1) They say CPS and battery need replacing.

2)They also say that the Instrument cluster is totally dead and the remote door locking is not working - They say that they have checked all the fuses.

They will be doing 1) today so at least the car will be mobile.

 

[EDZ649]

That sounds very odd, why would the cluster suddenly go dead??

 

[Rayny]

Stratman

I had to look Sir Nicholas Winterton up on google - He's old enough to be my father !
And I cannot give you five pounds as I need it for the train fare.

 

[Rayny]

That sounds very odd, why would the cluster suddenly go dead??

Thats what I thought,
They had another look at it and also found indicators and wipers amongst other things to be inopperative - Replace a SAM unit and now say that all is well.
I hope to get her back tomorrow morning on the way to work.
Hastings to Bexhill, via Eastbourne during the rush hour

 

[BlackC55]

Will STAR not show any live data for diagnosis though - as in no crank signal whilst turning the engine over?

Will

Only when the fault is present. As in the car won't start.

Fault codes for CPS faults only come up generally on 2003 cars and newer

 

[Rayny]

Problem resolved - update

New CPS, New Battery and new SAM (fusebox?).
V6 now back on the road and running smoothly, the only trouble is that the odometer has shown an overnight increase of about 30,000 miles - the dealer will be checking this out for me next week.

Car is now ready for 31/03/10 Sussex meet and a trip to Wales for the 1st annual meeting in June.

Maybe I did have prior warnings -
Drivers window did not work for the last month.
Occassionally the CD player would not recognise that a CD had been inserted.
Occassionally over the last 3 weeks or so I got a dashboard warning of 'Check Brake lamp (R)', though all lights worked normally.

 

[Easty]

Re: Sussex Meet - is this at Cooden Beach Hotel at 5:30pm 31 March 2010 ? I would like to come along if thats ok?

 

[Rayny]

Re: Sussex Meet - is this at Cooden Beach Hotel at 5:30pm 31 March 2010 ? I would like to come along if thats ok?

That's the plaace, that's about the time , that's the date - hope to see you there.

 

[duncanh]

the only trouble is that the odometer has shown an overnight increase of about 30,000 miles

It is worth checking if your odometer has somehow reset to Kilometres.

73K miles is 117K kms

 

[Rayny]

It is worth checking if your odometer has somehow reset to Kilometres.

73K miles is 117K kms

Thanks, but I'd already thought about that - it just seems to have added the 30k miles - dealer had a look at it on Saturday, and will try to sort it out when the person who did the job is in during this week.
I hope that the car runs this well when it does reach the 100k mile mark.