Hi all,
I am considering buying a '98 GLE auto from a good friend but it has a seemingly small problem with it which he told me about and I felt for myself. I want to be sure this is not going to be a major expense (engine/tranny problem) to me in the future.

Whenever the car is started after being off for a while and has had a chance to cool down it encounters this problem:
First, when the car is started in P it idles fine until I shift it into R, then it stalls. Then I start the car again, put it into R and everything is fine.
Second, Now I have backed out of my spot and shift into D and begin to accelerate. Upon accelerating I feel a one to two sec temor or shutter on the gas pedal (i.e. only at low rpm's). Braking to a slow speed and then accelerating again I get the same brief shutter. However, when I drive for a few minutes and the engine has a chance to warm up this shutter disappears. Also if the car is turned off once it is warm then turned on after a few minutes everything seems to be fine. So this only happens when the engine has been cooled down for a while.

Any suggestions? thoughts? things to try?
Thanks, Phil

 

Probably MAF sensor, I had the same kind of problem for a week. Mine threw a CEL and a buddy pulled the code. I took mine apart, and one of the solder connections had broken. I fixed it, and it has been fine ever since.

 

Thanks, TAPOUT! You were right about that ... nice call.

Too bad that my friend already had the car to a dealer to be fixed. They fixed it but now he is down $250. Is that a rip off or what? It seems simple enough if it was only the solder ... how could that be worth $249.50 of labor? Is there some way to challege the cost?

Otherwise, we are just happy that it is fixed and I can buy the car.