Ignition problems

[Beau M]

Hey guys. Its been a while since I last posted, mostly because the Benz has been running like a champ. Until yesterday. BTW, its a 98 c230 non kompressor.
Wife came home and said the engine was shaking and the CEL was on. I was able to limp it to autozone using back streets to have the code ran. It was the dreaded p300-p304 misfire codes. The only parts they had in stock were the spark plugs, so I picked the up in a desperate attempt. They made no difference.
After reading on here Im hoping its the coils or wires. I was able get two coils, the coil boots, and wires from autohausaz.com for about $220, not bad.
Mostly I'm worried that its my wire harness that is bad, or worse. If these parts don't fix it, where do I go next? Thanks for any help, and I will post my results when I get my parts. :bored:

[c280nz]

im sure it wont be ur wiring harness, they fixed that problem from 96 onwards im pritty sure,
it was only around 94-96

[Beau M]

Well, thats good news. I'm mostly worried because it was an "all of a sudden" situation. When the coil on my other car was going out it was an intermitant problem, I had some sort of warning before it up and sh$% th bed.

[JRE320]

It must be a bad coil. Try to check on both coils and change you wires.

[Beau M]

Ok. My parts were a few days out, so I took off the air intake, the MAF, the cover to the coils, the coils, and the spark plug wires. I left the new plugs in. I covered the intake with a rag, and left it dissasembled for two days.
The new parts cam, and I slapped them on no problem. Went to start the car... nothing. Dead battery. Which is odd, the battery is brand new as of a month or two ago. So, I jumped it and she runs like a champ now. Turns out it was a coil.
But now I have a new problem. Even after sitting for two hours, the battery is dead. Is there anything that could have been screwed up while replacing the coils? Where do I even begin looking for a draw or a short? Thanks again for your help.

-Beau

[JRE320]

Run your car for a while and let your battery charge up. I mean not for 2hrs but the entire morning or afternoon.

[Beau M]

Thats the thing. If I let it run for 10- 15 min and then shut it off, I can start it right back up no problem. Let it sit for two hours... dead as a doornail. Wont even un -lock the doors. Running I get a steady 14.5 volts at teh battery, and 12.5 with the car off, so that seems good. Guess I will go get the battery checked and work from there.

[jnenad16]

check if your alternator is charging.

nenad

[hvmercy]

Wow! welcome back bro.

You've been gone a while.


Originally posted by jnenad16
check if your alternator is charging.

nenad

[Beau M]

Took the battery down to schucks and they put it on their machine for an hour or so. They said its good, but was very dead. Put it in the Benz, started no problem. So I let it sit for around 15 hours. Still starts up no problem. So, I hope it was just a really dead battery, but I still wonder how it got that way after only 3 days of not running.

[Denlasoul]

Is it possible that you may have tapped a power line that is draining the battery, ie stereo components, lights, or did you leave something on?

[Beau M]

Only thing I can think of is the dome lights. Sometimes they just stay on, whenever the battery is disconnected I have to push the button to turn off the lights when doors open feature off. Also, just thought I would say that if you buy the SRI plug wires from autohausaz they come with the coil plug boots too, no need to order them separate.

[DirectLA]

Did you disconnect the battery from your car at both terminals before jumping so that it had no connection to your car and was directly connected to the charging battery?

A tow truck driver jumped my battery with it still connected in the car and it fried my starter, alternator and the ECU. This wasn't a Benz mind you but I'm told the same theory applies to any modern car with all of their electronics.

[Logic]

the thing that most people dont know as for batteries is that most car batteries are primary batteries meaning they are to start your car and hold a charge. once the battery goes dead it is 50% efficent when you charge it up. they aren't design to be recharged. only to hold a charge. if the car sits alot a yellow top is a great choice since its a deep cycle slash starting battery. these can go dead and be recharged to full capacity.


LA if the tow guy did that much damage he more likely hooked up the cables backwards which would cause that kind of damage

[Beau M]

Well, its been a few weeks since my "incident". Heinrich (what the wife calls the car) is running and starting just fine. He even sits for a few days before starting, no problems so far. I have never hear of having to dis-connect a battery to jump it. Only to hook up the negative lead to a ground other than the negative battery post, but I dont even do that and havent had a problem in 15 or so years of jumping vehicles.
I did however once have to jump a car without cables. We ended up removing the dead battery, flipping it over and physically touching the battery posts of both batteries together. I do not recommend this technique be used ever.

[OzC36]

I suspect an Alternator Voltage Regulator not putting out the correct amount of re-charging voltage to your battery. These voltage regulators are so cheap and so easy to replace, that you should do a replacement on a 4-6 year basis just for the green stamps.

http://www.autohausaz.com/search/product.aspx?sid=twnts3qiqg1jizbto4upyby2&makeid=800016@Mercedes&modelid=1316343@C230&year=1998&cid=18@Electrical%20%26%20Vacuum&gid=4884@Voltage%20Regulator

[c280nz]

Originally posted by Beau M
We ended up removing the dead battery, flipping it over and physically touching the battery posts of both batteries together. I do not recommend this technique be used ever.
haha i love it!

good to here u got it all sorted