[musical]

Help! We bought a new 2003 Kompressor C230 for my daughter in November of 02. One morning after we had had it for 3 weeks, she started it and the car began surging and bucking and making a huge noise. Also the exhaust seemed excessive. In shop, they could not get it to repeat this behavior and a computer check revealed no problems. We took car back but a week or two later the same problem occurred once again in the morning. This time they replaced a sensor at the shop. Once again within a couple of days the problem occurred again. The shop still could not get the car to repeat the problem for them. They did replace a number of things such as a fuel injector and some other sensors. On the
morning they were returning the car to us, they started the car and experienced the bucking and surging. A factory rep was called in and after another week, they decided it must be bad fuel so they cleaned out all fuel. They assured us this was the problem. One day after getting it back we had the same problem again. This past Friday they gave us a new Kompressor. Guess what today Sunday, my daughter starts the new car and it does the same thing. Please anyone, help!!!!!!

 

[redduc]

This may sound like a stupid question, but does you daughter drive with both feet? If you have an automatic and drive with one foot on the gas and one on the accelorator, it really screws up the drive-by-wire. Hope it is that simple.

 

[musical]

Follow up to Surging and Bucking in 2 new Kompressors

Thanks for the reply. No my daughter doesn't drive with both feet. But anyway, the surging and bucking occurs as soon as she turns the car on, even before she puts her foot on the gas or puts it into gear. I've heard privately from a couple of people who had this same problem. Is there anyone else out there who has had their Kompressor do this at all and has either ignored it( as the Factory Rep. is now suggesting) or has had it in the shop. Now that she is on her second Kompressor, they say that it is just something about too much fuel getting to the engine too fast or something about the mix of oxygen and fuel and the outside temperature at that particular time. They say she should just go ahead and drive it and the problem will stop. She loves the car so much; she wants to keep it. I'm just worried about a more serious problem developing such as one I read about on here with the car stalling in the middle of driving. Any imput, anyone? Thanks.

 

[redduc]

Is the car an auto or a manual? I'm not sure that makes any differece, but I have a friend who is a master mercedes tech and I want as much information about the car as possible. Also, what air temp(outside), raining, etc. I am not aware of any cronic problem with the C class stalling or poor idle. By the way, I am a finance manager at a mercedes dealer. When my customers have problems I ALWAYS hear about it.

 

[musical]

My daughter's Kompressor is a 2003 automatic. The first one had about 25 mi. on when she got it. This second one had 5 miles.
The surging occurs sporadically but almost always in the morning when first started. It was 3 wks. before it happened the first time.
Most of the days we have had a problem it was a cold morning, but it did not always happen on cold mornings. In fact we had some weather in the teens when it didn't happen. Mercedes tried 3 times to fix it, with it in the shop for 2 wks. the last time. Then they gave us a new one. On Sunday when it happened for the first time with the new Kompressor they gave us on Friday, the temperature was around 45 to 50 degrees and sunny.
It happens in clear weather sometimes, sometimes in rainy weather. Usually when it happens, if she waits a while it will start normally, but not always. In other words, you just never know when it will happen, except the first start of the day is a pretty safe bet. On occasion it has started after the car was moving. We have never let her drive it away if it was surging, bucking. The Mercedes tech is telling us that it is just something that will happen sometimes and for her to go on and drive it and it will stop. She is so in love with the car. We're trying to decide whether to keep it or trade up to a more expensive C Class. But we're concerned we might have the same problem there also.
Thanks for your interest. Any other imput would be so welcome.

 

[redduc]

Thanks for the description. I'll try and have something for you tomorrow morning.

 

[redduc]

My tech looked me square in the eye and said "does she drive with both feet?" No kidding. Sadly, there is nothing obvious or typical about the problem. We have had no reports of similar problems. One thing that did strike me odd is that the problem has occured on both cars and never set off a check engine light. Mercedes are pretty good at telling techs what is wrong with them. I realize that gasoline is well covered territory, but it is probably worth looking into again: as it is the only element other than driving habit that is introduced to the car outside the factory and is consistant with both vehicles. Sorry I couldnt be more helpful. Good luck :?

 

[uclaqt]

Hey Musical,

I just registered on this site today to find out if anyone else out there was having the same problem as you described. I just bought my wife a new 2003 C230 Sport Sedan automatic with only 10 miles on it. Lately, especially in the mornings, it exhibits the exact "jerking" you describe, even when still in "park". We bought the car about a month ago, and first noticed the odd behavior about two weeks into ownership. It now has about 700 miles on it and seems to "jerk" EVERY morning when we start it up. After reading your post, I'm a little distressed because I had planned to take it in to the dealership this upcoming weekend, but it doesn't sound like they'll have any clue how to fix it.

My hope is that as more people begin buying this car, more incidents of this jerking will be reported and documented and MB will be forced to research the issue. Hopefully it will only be attributable to a single part for which they will issue a recall and perform a simple "fix". I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but I already feel a bit better knowing someone else out there is having the exact same problem.

 

[musical]

Bucking, Surging C230

We know how you feel! I wish I could be more encouraging but after 3 trips to service, the first C230 we had continued to do the same thing. Finally through working with a service tech from MB itself we were given a new C230. Guess what? Two days later it did the same thing although not as bad. When we called the MB
service tech, he pretty much said this was something that was just going to happen with some cars of this model sometime. Something about the mix of gas, oxygen and air and how the car's computer was reading it. He did say they would stand behind the warranty and try again to work it out. We haven't taken it in again yet because in the month since then it has done it just twice and will work fine if turned off and then turned back on or if driven a short distance. I do have some info. from someone else that had the same problem, if you want to email me personally.

 

[mctwin2kman]

What kind of gas are you using? This sounds wierd as mine is only 1 and a half months old and does not exhibit any of these problems. I also drove a 2003 sedan that did not. Maybe you have some horrible gas or not the high test. I have not seen this problem on any of the other 3 forums I visit and they all have C230 Coupe and Sedans as forums.

 

[musical]

It's not the gas. We always use premium. We use different gas stations and it has happened with tanks of gas from different stations. In fact, the service dept at our dealership drained out all the gas, cleaned everything thoroughly, put their gas in it and it repeated the surging, bucking for them. The tech from the MB main office had tried to pin it on bad gas, but then he had to admit that had nothing to do with it. I know it sounds weird if you have never had the problem but I have been in contact with 3 others who have had this same problem. I agree it's weird, but it's real.

 

[mctwin2kman]

Just checking. It is not slippery or anything when the vehicle is moving is it? The ESP cuts engine power when it activates. I notice you said many diferent temps so I had to ask. Just sounds horrible that it happened with two cars. Maybe the third one is the lucky one.