NHTSA Complaint #10564816 — 2003 MERCEDES BENZ E320

CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR - THE ENGINE SHUTS DOWN WITHOUT ANY WARNING, SOMETIMES WHILE DRIVING AT SPEED. I TRIED TO RESTART IT SEVERAL TIMES, BUT TO NOT AVAIL. IT MAY RESTART AFTER THE ENGINE HAS COOLED OFF (AFTER 20-30 MINUTES) BUT THE PROBLEM REPEATS ITSELF WHEN THE ENGINE HAS BEEN RUNNING AND WARM AGAIN. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND A MALFUNCTION MESSAGE: BATTERY PROTECTION - CONVENTIONAL FUNCTIONS TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE DISPLAYS. ONCE AT THE REPAIR SHOP, THE MECHANIC KNEW WHAT THE PROBLEM MAY POSSIBLY BE EVEN BEFORE TESTING FOR THE CHECK ENGINE CODE. HE SAID HE'S SEEN THIS PROBLEM FOR QUITE SOME TIME. THE PROBLEM CODE DID COME UP WITH A BAD CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR AS HE PREDICTED. I RESEARCHED THIS PROBLEM ON SEVERAL MERCEDES BENZ OWNERS? FORUM WEB SITES AND DISCOVERED NUMEROUS ENTRIES FROM OWNERS WITH THIS EXACT SAME PROBLEM, AFFECTING SEVERAL MERCEDES MODEL YEARS. I CALLED MERCEDES BENZ AND ASKED WHY A RECALL WAS NOT ISSUED FOR THIS PROBLEM AND WHAT THEY WERE DOING TO COMPENSATE OWNERS FOR THE REPAIR COST OR AT LEAST A NOTIFICATION OF THIS PROBLEM. I DID NOT RECEIVE A FAVORABLE OUTCOME BUT WAS TOLD BY THE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE THAT SHE WOULD ESCALATE THE ISSUE INTERNALLY SO THAT THEY WOULD BE AWARE OF THE ISSUE. I BELIEVE THAT MERCEDES BENZ HAS KNOWN ABOUT THIS PROBLEM FOR YEARS AND IT CONTINUES TO AFFECT MANY OWNERS. HAVING THE ENGINE SHUT DOWN WITH NO WARNING IS VERY DANGEROUS ESPECIALLY IF THE CAR IS BEING DRIVEN AT SPEED ON THE HIGHWAY. *TR