2003 C230 Check engine nightmare

Hi,

I have had my 2003 C230 forever. I put about 110,000 miles on it. Recently the check engine light has been coming on and off. I took it in to have it diagnosed and it seems to always come back as “inconclusive”. I hate to do this because each time is $300 for nothing and it has been like this a couple of years. I remember that once a while back the gas cap twisted and while they fixed it, it never looked the same. Could it be as simple as that? But also, if that were to be the case, would it not fail the emissions test (it never failed)?

If I am not observing any other symptoms like a loss of power while accelerating, could it still be something like the plugs for the cylinder or something else?

I would looove to hear any input that you could give me and yes, I wish that I had a more entertaining question.

Thank you.

Maria

Can you please post the trouble code that’s coming up when the check engine light comes on? You can get the codes read for free from Autozone and many other parts stores if you don’t have the information. Does the car run OK? When does the light come on?

Without knowing what the light is trying to tell you and more information, it’s like telling someone you’re named Maria and live in New York and expecting them to be able to find your house.

hello,

my 2011 c250 check engine light just came on. I connected an OBD2 scanner and I got two error codes; both being P0496.
from what I remember, I run out of the gas on the highway, and went into the reserve tank mode with yellow gas pump light on dashboard.

QUESTIONS:

  1. is it safe to drive with this? I live in rural area (720km to nearest service center).
  2. instead of driving to service center, shall I call a tow instead?
  3. is it possible to erase code with my OBD2 scanner? (I already selected ‘delete’ a couple times, but no change.

any answers please?
thanks in advance

You should really create a new thread for your question, rather than tagging onto somebody else’s six year old (incomplete) thread, but in the interest of giving you some help, I will respond.

Yes, it should be safe to drive. That code indicates a high flow rate through the evaporative emissions system’s purge line, and this is usually the result of a broken or disconnected rubber purge hose. Any good mechanic should be able to find the problem and fix it for you.

thank you.
I would create a new thread, but can’t seem to find how.

Main page-upper right corner-new topic block-click on that

The person who opened this old thread has made a thread of their own. Adding posts to this will serve no purpose. Thank you.