I need some help to fix my 92 model Mercedes 180E.
I recently bought it from a friend for a really good price because the cylinder head gasket had blown. My friend had a mr. fixit acquaintance who looked at it and told him it was knackered and should be sent to the wreckers. When this guy found out that I had bought it, he sabotaged it...BIG TIME! He obviously thought he was going to get it free - or at least very cheap. After several weeks of fixing up endless problems, I managed to get it back on the road.
One final problem I am having is that the car is extremely sluggish from a standing start. It's an automatic and when I'm at traffic lights, I put my foot to the floor and it creeps forward very slowly (I can't get it to rev up) and then it starts picking up speed rapidly - It seems to be very quick once it's going. One thing the guy did, was to fill the fuel tank with water and run the engine until it died. I stripped the K-Tronic system and cleaned it as best I could (I was told it would cost about $1,500 to have it stripped down and recalibrated...$500 more than I paid for the car!) I took it to a motor mechanic friend of mine and he flushed the injector system with a moisture dispersant but I just can't seem to get any power in low gear. I'm told that this model is a bit sluggish on take-off but by the time I've got through the traffic lights, I'm the only car to get through! This is the nicest car I've ever owned - in showroom condition, and, since 1992, every service was through Mercedes! I really would like to get it running properly. I was a motor mechanic back in the eighties but this one's got me stumped. I would appreciate any help you can give me.

Paul.

 

Compression is excellent on all 4 cylinders...(117,000 kilometers from new). I sent the cylinder head to be skimmed, valves re-seated and valve stem oil seals have been replaced. The engine runs beautiful at cruising speed but getting it there is the problem. One thing I have noticed... when it's cold and the choke kicks in, it picks up pretty good. I'm inclined to think that it's a fuel starvation problem but I don't know enough about the K-Tronic system to alter it (if that's possible anyway). I've tried to find a car manual to research the problem but Australian libraries don't have it and I can't find a write up anywhere.
If all else fails, I'll have to take the car in to Mercedes and pay the extortionate fees to have it checked over.

The problem regarding mr. fixit... my friend, who is Vietnamese, has asked me not to pursue him because he's afraid of repercussions (he has a 5 year old daughter and he lives in a Vietnamese community). Nice guy that he is - he offered to give me the money back that I paid for the car rather than go after the other idiot!!

This is the list of sabotage (created over 1 weekend, Friday night I test drove it and Monday afternoon I picked the car up on a transporter):

Water in the fuel tank and through the fuel system
Hammered a screwdriver into the alternator armature
Hammered a screwdriver in the side of the radiator
Stole the brand new ($600) Mercedes battery and replaced it with a knackered one
Burnt out the fuel pump
Snapped off the fuel pipe from the tank filter
Put a screw in the sidewall of the rear tyre
Hammered the camshaft through the rocker cover (hairline crack)
Cut several wires behind the fuse box
These are just some of the things that I can remember - I can't believe how vindictive this guy was. I don't think he'll be going to heaven!