W124 230TE engine number?

[mccrackenj]

Hi all

Another hopefully simple Q from me.

I need the engine no. for the car in order to order a dizzy cap and rotor arm from Eurocarparts, but the ECP website lists 5 different rotor arms for a 1992 230, 3 of which are Bosch. The description quotes engine nos for 2 of them.

But, the eng no. quoted on the website is a six digit number and my engine no. is: 102982 22 231428 - so which 6 digits of this no are the 6 that the ECP website is referring to?

Thanks

John


ETA: another question - the car is registered Feb '92 - will it have a cat or not? It's refusing to start at the minute and is parked on the street so getting underneath for a look is not an option.

Edited by mccrackenj on Sunday 23 December 14:20

[r129sl]

John: first six, I expect. Merc engine numbers work like the chassis numbers: the first three digits identify the general type then the next three digits identify the specific type. The last six digits represent the issue number. I don't know for sure but I expect the middle pair identify the manufacturing plant. The engine type number probably identifies whether you have a cat or not. On a 1992, I'd think it more likely than not.

[mccrackenj]

Thanks Jonathan

The website lists rotor arms for nos up to something like 127197 and another for 127198 onwards, whereas my eng no starts 102982 which presumably signifies a particular variant of the 102 engine, hence I assume it must be the last 6 that the website is referring to? |

In the end it doesn't matter, as GSF's website only lists 2 caps and 2 arms, depending on whether it has a cat or not.

Is there any other data on the build card that would tell me for sure whether it has a cat or not?

[r129sl]

If you look at the EPC or the Russian site version, it will show you whether your car has a cat or not. Look in the exhaust section. If you don't know how to do this, send me your chassis no.

[mccrackenj]

I'm afraid I don't know how to do that, so I'll pm you my chassis no. if you don't mind.

Absolutely no hurry obviously, I'm sure you've plenty of other things to do at this time of year and the car isn't going anywhere for a while in any case.

Really appreciate it, thanks.

[mccrackenj]

I'm afraid I don't know how to do that, so I'll pm you my chassis no. if you don't mind.

Absolutely no hurry obviously, I'm sure you've plenty of other things to do at this time of year and the car isn't going anywhere for a while in any case.

Really appreciate it, thanks.

[will_uk]

I'm pretty certain that be presence or lack of a cat has nothing to do with the type of distributor cap used. There are two types - screw mounted (99% you will have this) or spring clips (unlikely - found in only some of the earlier cars IIRC)

Best option is to buy a BERU cap and rotor, better quality than Bosch for M102 engines in my experience (I've had a few! ). BERU are a top-quality German supplier and make original MB ignition parts as fitted from the factory.

BERU cap and rotor are a little over £20 from GSF, should be able to get a 10% discount easily enough (ECP bloat their prices and offer larger discounts..!)

If it's not firing at all, worth checking a few other things first though. Is it getting fuel? The fuel pump relays can cause trouble as well as a few other common issues - any background info and I'll try my best to help

Will

[mccrackenj]

will_uk said:

I'm pretty certain that be presence or lack of a cat has nothing to do with the type of distributor cap used. There are two types - screw mounted (99% you will have this) or spring clips (unlikely - found in only some of the earlier cars IIRC)

Best option is to buy a BERU cap and rotor, better quality than Bosch for M102 engines in my experience (I've had a few! ). BERU are a top-quality German supplier and make original MB ignition parts as fitted from the factory.

BERU cap and rotor are a little over £20 from GSF, should be able to get a 10% discount easily enough (ECP bloat their prices and offer larger discounts..!)

If it's not firing at all, worth checking a few other things first though. Is it getting fuel? The fuel pump relays can cause trouble as well as a few other common issues - any background info and I'll try my best to help

Will

Thanks for the info on BERU - I'll buy those.

From looking at GSF, ECP and other sites they all list different caps & arms for cat or non-cat, so presumably there must be some difference, even if it's hard to see what difference it would make?

Not sure what the problem is to be honest, diagnostics is not my strong point.

The problem started when I had to take it to work about 2 weeks ago when it ran very roughly at low revs on and wouldn't accelerate at all until it got above about 1500 revs, when it was fine, but when the revs dropped, e.g. a junctions etc it really struggled to pick up again. After work it started fine and drove home normally.

The car then sat for nearly 2 weeks (it's not used every day) and when I next got in it it just refused to start, eventually running down the battery. So I charged the battery fully and had another go last Saturday. Eventually after a lot of attempts and a lot or cranking & pressing accelerator to the floor it finally 'caught' and then it would rev perfectly well and sit at anything over 2000 revs quite happily - but when I let the revs drop much below 2000 it just died. Got it started again, with difficulty, but it just wouldn't idle or run at all below about 2k. Haven't tried anything else since.

Any ideas welcome.

Cheers