Spartan Mercedes 190 (w201)
Discussion
The old Spartan let the boss down last night, conking out in the middle of the Blue House Roundabout, one of Newcastle's busiest junctions. Did anyone stop to help her? Did they hell. Fortunately, I was only five minutes away in the 210. I pushed it into a lay-by (did anyone help...) and the boss took off in my car. I cleaned out the distributor cap and got it going and was off. Unfortunately, it stumbled and died about four miles from home.
It will not start and run when hot. It will start and run badly when cold.
So far as I can tell, it is getting spark. I took a spark plug out, grounded it on the block, had my boy turn the ignition over, and saw it sparking. I don't know the difference between strong and weak spark, though.
It reeks of fuel, too. I had it running for about five minutes tonight, misfiring as it got warmer, so I am guessing it is getting fuel.
My guess is the distributor cap and rotor are worn. The rotor is 19 years old. I have no idea about the cap. I have ordered new Bosch parts and a new Bosch coil, too. It needs front pads, so I have ordered them as well. Let's see... In the meantime, any ideas are welcome.
It will not start and run when hot. It will start and run badly when cold.
So far as I can tell, it is getting spark. I took a spark plug out, grounded it on the block, had my boy turn the ignition over, and saw it sparking. I don't know the difference between strong and weak spark, though.
It reeks of fuel, too. I had it running for about five minutes tonight, misfiring as it got warmer, so I am guessing it is getting fuel.
My guess is the distributor cap and rotor are worn. The rotor is 19 years old. I have no idea about the cap. I have ordered new Bosch parts and a new Bosch coil, too. It needs front pads, so I have ordered them as well. Let's see... In the meantime, any ideas are welcome.
The 124 conked on me a couple of times and also twice refused to start from cold.
It turned out to be the fuel pump relay. Which also controls the automatic gearbox.
I think your 190 is carb and as such, I’m unsure if it will have an electric fuel pump.
My M102 ran much smoother with a new cap, arm and HT leads so I think that’s money well spent, regArdless.
It turned out to be the fuel pump relay. Which also controls the automatic gearbox.
I think your 190 is carb and as such, I’m unsure if it will have an electric fuel pump.
My M102 ran much smoother with a new cap, arm and HT leads so I think that’s money well spent, regArdless.
I'll check the OVP relay. It has a fuel pump relay but not an electronic fuel pump, being a carb model. I am pretty sure it is the ignition system. It started on the button this morning but after a minute or so started missing and then died. That strikes me as weak spark. I have added new leads and a coil, all Bosch, to my order. The leads won't arrive until Wednesday unfortunately.
I bought a brand new A 201 540 37 45 OVP relay from Teesside MB last week for about £60+VAT last week for the 300CE - if that's the right part number for you as well (and there are several supercessions on the EPC) then you're welcome to borrow it for fault-finding purposes. Say the word and it's in the post.
Edited by Zonergem on Monday 22 October 16:08
Zonergem said:
I bought a brand new A 201 540 37 45 OVP relay from Teesside MB last week for about £60+VAT last week for the 300CE - if that's the right part number for you as well (and there are several supercessions on the EPC) then you're welcome to borrow it for fault-finding purposes. Say the word and it's in the post.
Teesside? What do you drive, possible local person? Edited by Zonergem on Monday 22 October 16:08
Zonergem said:
I bought a brand new A 201 540 37 45 OVP relay from Teesside MB last week for about £60+VAT last week for the 300CE - if that's the right part number for you as well (and there are several supercessions on the EPC) then you're welcome to borrow it for fault-finding purposes. Say the word and it's in the post.
That is a very kind offer. Yours is the correct part number for me. Let's see how I get on with the new ignition components. They all arrive tomorrow after all, should have them fitted on Wednesday. If I suspect the OVP, I'll give you a shout, Alex.I'm off to the Fatherland for Sunday lunch at the weekend in the E430. Happily that car seems to be running like a champ. I'm busy planning a slightly indirect route which takes in quiet autobahns.
ShampooEfficient said:
Zonergem said:
I bought a brand new A 201 540 37 45 OVP relay from Teesside MB last week for about £60+VAT last week for the 300CE - if that's the right part number for you as well (and there are several supercessions on the EPC) then you're welcome to borrow it for fault-finding purposes. Say the word and it's in the post.
Teesside? What do you drive, possible local person? Edited by Zonergem on Monday 22 October 16:08
Yes, the bloody thing conked out. It cut out when hot and wouldn’t restart. It seems to have a fuel leak but I’m getting the ignition components renewed and the carb tuned. A bit of a bore.
Meanwhile it appears Merc Newcastle acceded to my request to lift the speed limiter on the E430. Running it 400 miles across Germany today saw it comfortably exceed 155mph several times. Childish, I know, but fun!
Meanwhile it appears Merc Newcastle acceded to my request to lift the speed limiter on the E430. Running it 400 miles across Germany today saw it comfortably exceed 155mph several times. Childish, I know, but fun!
^^^ I understand the speed limiter can be removed in the STAR system. Whether they did it or not, I don't know. I saw 159mph in the digital read out with more to come, so maybe they did.
The 190 is back from the dealer after a carburettor rebuild. I found the idle speed a bit low at first but it seems to have settled down. I carefully set up this throttle damper and idle speed regulator (picture below) and it seems to be running well again. I'd quite like to learn how all this stuff works and how to service the carburettor, but life is too short. Unfortunately the MOT runs out next week so I'll need to take it back to the dealer later.
So much petrol has gone through it that the dealer changed the oil but didn't have a filter in stock. I changed the filter this evening (less than a minute) and thought I might as well do the air filter, too, another quick job. It is a very easy car to work on. I have a replacement distributor cap, rotor, leads and coil in the garage, all Bosch parts. I may just keep the existing Merc leads, though, they are very high quality. But when I get the chance I'll change the other bits, it can't do any harm. I have ordered some spark plugs to complete the set.
The 190 is back from the dealer after a carburettor rebuild. I found the idle speed a bit low at first but it seems to have settled down. I carefully set up this throttle damper and idle speed regulator (picture below) and it seems to be running well again. I'd quite like to learn how all this stuff works and how to service the carburettor, but life is too short. Unfortunately the MOT runs out next week so I'll need to take it back to the dealer later.
So much petrol has gone through it that the dealer changed the oil but didn't have a filter in stock. I changed the filter this evening (less than a minute) and thought I might as well do the air filter, too, another quick job. It is a very easy car to work on. I have a replacement distributor cap, rotor, leads and coil in the garage, all Bosch parts. I may just keep the existing Merc leads, though, they are very high quality. But when I get the chance I'll change the other bits, it can't do any harm. I have ordered some spark plugs to complete the set.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff