Mercedes Benz C280 stalling problems

Filed Nov 25, 2019 · Electrical, Engine · 170,000 miles · OR

I just bought this w202 94' c280 with 150k in the spring time which surprisingly ran fine with no issues, considering some of the loom on the electrical wires going to the connectors and sensors is entirely disintegrated and insulation is breaking apart leaving bare copper wires near each other or near metal brackets. Now entering the winter time with increased moisture and rain it seems to be affecting the vehicle more such as causing unwanted operation of components at freeway speeds like the egr which is one of the affected components on the degrading loom, just as the sai and the alternator power wires. The sai no longer works to warm up my car quicker and therefore there is an increase of emissions at startup. Sometimes the car charging system functions very poorly to where the battery is nearly discharged and everything barely works, other days works fine. Most important of all the ignition coil and wire cables are just now being affected as well to which at idle I have intermittent misfires such as at a stoplight sometimes to where the car seems it wants to stall. I'm concerned at highway speeds or freeway merging speeds my car will entirely fail. There should be a recall before someone is seriously hurt.

Filed May 14, 2017 · NY

Vehicle stall while driving on highway . It took ten minutes to start. Not a pleasant experience. Very dangerous.

Filed May 14, 2017 · NY

Car stalled on highway at about 50 miles per hour. Not a good experience. It too about ten minutes to start.

Filed Dec 19, 2016 · Electrical · 259,000 miles · NC

Tl* the contact owns a 1996 mercedes-benz c280. While driving 70 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact was unable to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the wiring harness was defective. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 259,000.

Filed Apr 29, 2016 · Engine · 60,000 miles · MD

Vehicle check engine light keeps coming on with a p0015 code which indicates a camshaft problem. Numerous complaints found online regarding same year, make and model for this vehicle. It could cause the car to stall, not shift gears and other issues suddenly.

Filed Mar 26, 2015 · Electrical, Engine · 62,928 miles · PA · fire

Engine began to make a "buzzsaw" grinding sound that was not initially noticed while driving along on an 85 mile interstate highway trip. While traveling at 60 MPH on a 6 lane highway, all the dashboard lighting began to dim and malfunction, the electrical system then completely failed and shut down causing the engine to stall out, steering and brake function became significantly degraded due to engine failure (including complete stoppage of the windshield wipers during a heavy rain downpour) safely exited roadway by maneuvering around traffic and coasting to road side shoulder at which point smoke started pouring out from under hood and filling the passenger compartment. Car was subsequently towed to a mercedes dealership where they identified the cause of the failure and fire as a severely degraded engine wiring harness. The harness wiring insulation was found to be brittle, cracking and falling apart, leaving individual bare copper wires to make contact with each other. This condition caused an electrical short circuit which started the wires burning, forced the engine starter to be continually engaged which in turn, after 80+ miles of driving, caused the battery to completely drain ultimately resulting in failure of engine and all electrical systems.

Filed Apr 28, 2014 · Engine · 94,000 miles · VA

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 mercedes benz c-280.the contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where the right intake cam shaft magnet and the thermostat was replaced. On a separate occasion while the contact was driving 50 MPH, the engine stalled without warning. The contact was able to restart the vehicle which was towed to a local dealer. The dealer diagnosed the problem to be the balance shaft. The approximate failure mileage was 94,000. The manufacturer was informed of the failure.

Filed Aug 3, 2013 · Electrical · 125,000 miles · GA

Car stalled while driving on highway. After having a mechanic check it, he said it needed a new engine wiring harness because the insulation in the original harness was crumbling and flaking causing electrical problems. He said it was not safe to drive the car as it could stall again.

Filed Jul 16, 2013 · Fuel system · 59,000 miles · MI

Noticed strong fuel smell. Fuel tank behind driver side had crack-had it replaced. 4th of july weekend noticed I could not fill up tank beyond 1/2 tank took it back into service defect was located in passenger side tank. On 7/15 car stalled on freeway---showed 1/2 tank of gas-assumed it was the battery. Took it into service again and it was the float in the tank that needed to be checked---problem solved-----so far. Was told by dealer my year/model did not qualify for recall. Recalls are determined by factory where it was built and excessive complaints for said problem from that factory. If the same fuel pump was found to be defective for other model years why wait for consumer to complain and pay out of pocket for repair.. Mercedes should recall pumps gratis ----sounds like good customer service to me.

Filed Dec 5, 2012 · Electrical, Transmission · 96,957 miles · MA

Car started stalling and transmission refused to upshift. When car slowed it would not accelerate again. Turns out the engine wiring harness failed due to a biodegradable type of insulation used and is shorting out in multiple places. Car started to smoke at one point. This caused dangerous engine malfunction--and a fire-could have been started inside my engine compartment.