The Rebirth of a C36 AMG

[taz069]

Check the crank position sensor ohm reading!!!! My old bosch had a ohm reading of 1.028, new reading 1.046 ohms. That was my culprit after doing everything you did. No maf i bought one, no cam position sensor bought one. It was the crank sensor. Pull that puppie and use a volt-ohm meter on it. Also make sure your crank position sensor wire is not pinched against the block. I did this upon my head install. I melted the casing exposing the wire inside in a area about a 1/4 inch long. I just didn't realize the wire was their. Hope this helps.

[anf6789]

Taz? what should the ohms be at? you had similar symptoms?

[taz069]

1.046+ohm. Just had another thought. You might be one tooth off on the intake cam. Did you rotate the automatic adjuster completly clockwise during reinstallation?? I made this mistake and had to talk with a mercedes tech to find out my mistake. Yeah I lined it all back up like every manual says to but they left out to rotate that adjuster fully clockwise. And mine would only really begin to run above 1200-1300 rpm. Below that it would bog and spit and sputter in any gear. Will post more in a little bit heading out the door. Got my droid on me will post agian in a few hours. Also my new crank postion sensor was being scuffed by the crank. I used a palm sander and removed the scuffs' +/- a very few thousandth's . And reinstalled runs great now.

[taz069]

The only thing I could figure out as to why my new crank position sensor was being scuffed by the crank is their was it was a little bit longer than the old one. With this said, the new one had a slightly raised area around the center metal post. Bad casting die?? 16 years of using different manufactures and different processes? God knows its not my crank bearing!!!! Let us know.

[anf6789]

Taz this problem was here before headgasket job so not worried about the 1 tooth off.. The crank sensor has a shim you may of been missing from the motor

[anf6789]

well MB dealership trip on tuesday... my wallets already empty.. can steal too much

[anf6789]

Go to start car this morning.. to bring to dealer so they can look at it....

Keep blowing fuel pump fuses, even when I bypass the relay the wire starts to spark. WTF! I guess ill rewire the Walbro 255.. this is ridiculous.

This car does not want to live.

Should've kept the Green C280

[Sulaco]

Bypassing fuel pump relay by connecting wire between 2 ports on the fuel pump relay slot is normal. My c280 did it when I fried my fuel pump relay. I drove it to work like that for a week while waited for new relay. Forgot to remove wire one night and fuel pump ran until battery died. Woops.

Sorry it's taken me so long to chime in here.

97 doesn't have OVP right? Just checking.

Here's a BIG, BIG test:
It ALWAYS shows misfire on 3/4? You've swapped coils, plugs, injectors and gone through how many wiring harnesses? Assuming that's true, work your way backwards. You swapped injectors, same, so you know they're good. You swapped plugs so you know they're good. You swapped coils and got the same so you know they're good. You swapped wiring harness so you know it's good.

What comes next in the chain? The ECU. You know for a fact all the parts that control that particular coil and those 2 cylinders are good, but it keeps getting a specific error there. My conclusion is the problem is the thing that reads the error in the first place: ECU.

ECU also sends power to fuel pump.

I'm sure you've thought of all this, but I haven't seen anywhere you tried the ECU. I DO NOT KNOW if a C280 ECU would work, but if it's anything like the other ECU's it will adapt. M104 C280 ECU can be had for a song in a junk yard. I bought a whole car for $450 and yanked ECU, ABS unit, and $2k in other various parts to fix up my C280.

You've bought the car and put so, so much into it. I know how frustrating it can be. I spent months chasing down electrical demons after my alternator overcharged and blew all kinds of shit in my C280. It had a quarter tank of gas in it but would not start no matter what I did. I had some lawnmower gas that was old and about to go bad so I just dumped it in the tank and fired it right up. Car ran perfectly, problem solved. To this day I can't explain it.

[anf6789]

dont you have to get the newer ecus coded to the key ect?

[anf6789]

almost positive the problem is the ECU if i could just drop a used c280 ecu in there id do it, but ive heard problems with coding ect

[Scary-Larry]

dont you have to get the newer ecus coded to the key ect?

I though MB only started using the electric key since 1998? Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that you can just get any 1997 C36 AMG ECU and get it working. If you have a keyless entry remote, then there might be a problem.

-I'm only repeating something that somebody told me in the past.

[anf6789]

id be lucky to find a C36 ECU only 199 made in 1997

[anf6789]

Off to Cherry Hill Mercedes-Benz for its last chance

[Dearlove]

hope it goes well :S

[John Jones Jr.]

Fingers crossed.

[Scary-Larry]

They ought to figure it out, I'm really glad you gave it another shot

[vixen_w202]

don't worry anf....if anyone can figure it out, it's the company and the dealership that services our cars.

I've always found it an odd and strange sensation to watch a towtruck drive off with my car when it was undriveable and it had to go to a mechanic.....without me in it

Not trying to rub it in, but if they can resurrect your car....celebrate with some much needed low

[taz069]

Bro I got my fingers crossed for ya!!!! Maybe all ya will need is a good mercedes scan tool check and a reset!!!!!!! Let us know.

[anf6789]

it definitely needs more low for sure, if all works out thats on the list.

The last time I drove it around the block, I forgot how damn heavy the steering was and what it was like to sit low behind the AMG wheel... Goddamn I need this car back.

Towtruck driver was drooling and asked me all sorts of questions. Wouldnt be the first and most likely not the last time I have a W202 on a flatbed, Its their favorite place!

[Sulaco]

I pray you get this car in working order. Such a rare and beautiful classic.

My c280 only had two trips on a tow truck in the 13 years I drove it.

But my c43 has had only 1... smashed and saddened

[Sulaco]

Updates! What's going on?

[anf6789]

HAHAHA

Sorry this will be long.. and disappointing. Though not the end of the story.. for now

well there was a large fuck up at the dealer. 2 weeks after I brought it there the service writer I was dealing with calls and says "We got it started after 8 hours of work"! I'm cutting you a break so it will only be 5 hours of labor $600. I was like WTF!! I never authorized any work besides diagnosing the 2 problems (car wouldn't start all of the sudden and of course the misfire) He goes ahead and tells me he's going to take care of me and btw did I know the car had a misfire? do I want to look into that not sure how far you want to go with this car, etc?" I just hung up the phone. This is after he called my dad and said he had to put a battery in it and some "wires, relays, and Bullshit" My dad said I don't want anything fixed please let me know before you do anything. that was last week. I went into the dealer yesterday with my father (he's been in the car business for 25 years) and this service writer was so shady. Asked me who did all the work... umm duh ME! couldnt tell me exactly what he did that would take 8 hours to get the car started other than, the techs had to "start from the bottom" because of the work I did. I can smell BS from a mile a way. He than tells me it will be another 1-1.5 for the shop foreman to look into the problem of the misfire, which magically he said seems to be ignition related!! BS!!! We replaced a coil and a lead and it still misfires so we have to dig deeper!" I left.

I called the Service Manager today and had a nice conversation with him. He was actually very helpful and he said he was trying to figure out what the this Writer was doing to my car no one he talked to knew the car was there or had any Idea about the work that was done to it!! He said he was looking into it and will make sure to call me after this weekends holiday and get everything straightened out. I told him I was not happy with these bogus unauthorized charges and thats not how it works. I said I'm not the usual MB driver (my tire lights on..just fix it..my car makes a funny noise.. just fix it, you know the type! that I understand cars and have seen the damn AMG pistons with my own eyes by my own hand!)

He was a genuine guy, whereas the Writer would respond to all my questions with "i'm just trying to help you out, you have to understand how long this stuff takes, bs bs bs bs!!!" He better, otherwise Ill just grab my car out of the parking lot and say see you later.

So much for the dealer being the last resort. The "cost" of this at the moment is $700 and they haven't even got to the actual misfire! More than the whole Head Gasket and basically everything I have done to the car has cost. I WILL NOT PAY THAT. I haven't signed anything and I know the laws in NJ.

So thats where I'm at right now. Tow the car to the dealer for a simple diagnosis and end up with even more problems. Hopefully I will hear some good news this week, otherwise there will be a news story...

This is why I hate paying people to do work for me!!

Sincerely,

Super Duper Happy Camper

[taz069]

I truely hope the service manager will get to the bottom of the issues with his tech!!! The tech is probably looking into stealing this car from ya at what he would consider a cheap price for the shear rarity of your car. If not him probably the tow truck driver. Sorry for all the bad luck.

[anf6789]

slight update, MB tried out a new Crank Position Sensor, as thats seems to be what caused this whole mess in the first place, just as a hunch. Didn't fix the problem but was worth a shot. Head tech is still looking into it and trying to figure out the problem...

Its looking bleak to me. Hopefully I'm wrong.

[John Jones Jr.]

Fingers crossed!