My son bought a 190e 2.3? 1987. Seemed pretty good, and got it for a fair price.

He just drove it up to Chicago from Tampa, about 1100 mi. And it steadily would not go above 70 mph, and in the mountains about 60 mph. Blows lots of black smoke under acceleration. Will not idle below 1,000 rpm (stalls out, but restarts). Needs to be run at 1,500 rpm and dropped into gear. Pulled and cleaned carbon fouled sparkplugs. some carbon tracing in the distributor. Can't find any obvious vacum hose leaks. Can't find a obvious test location to gauge fuel pressure. Any ideas for a student low on cash?

The vin is: WDBDA28D0HF300596 Anything we should know?[sm=feedback.gif]

 

My experience with my 190 is that the fuel injection is the weakest point on the entire car.
Besides an altenator at 210k miles, the fuel injection has been the only source of problems.

Ironically, FI is the trickiest thing to trouble shoot for me, because typically the obvious solution is never the actual problem. And it is extremely expensive to simply replace parts based on a hunch. Unless you are familiar with FI, even better Mercedes FI this may take some time, even at a dealer.

If you like to DIY, I hope you have a good set of tools. There is a book called "E-class owners bible" 1986-1995, which shows cut-away views of all the fuel components, to give you an idea of how they work. It also tells you how to test each component, so worse case process of elimination. If you have a computer or air flow sensor problem, you might not be able to fix that yourself.

Student low on cash? Not a good situation. I can't quote these prices, but I can ballpark them in the SE.
I wonder if the seller may have sold the car to avoid an FI repair? But I still think you got a fair deal. When repaired properly its a great car. Personally, I prefer authentic MB parts because they are always EXACTLY like the original parts. Some discount parts don't look the same , won't fit, or have extra fittings that nobody knows where they are supposed to go. And this can only complicates an already frustrating situation.

Here's an idea:
Fuel injectors $36-$70 ea.
Fuel pump $500-$700
Air meter $800-1500
EGR valve $500
Fuel filter $40
Fuel lines $36-75 ea.

Fuel pressure: you will need a brass "T" fitting, some fuel hose, and some small hose clamps. You will have to "t" out form the fuel hose to get a pressure reading; there is no test fitting.

I'll try to help if I can.

Charles

 

Thanx for the info. From the MecedesShop forum, we found a 6 page thread that fit our problem. Seems like the first item will be the fuel pressure regulator, and we may continue into the fuel distributor.

Since the car is a Florida car, and we got it for $1200, I don't mind putting a few bucks into it along with some elbow grease and wrist lifts.

 

the fuel distributor got problem or rich mixture.

it's according to the lower chamber or control pressure.

read THIS thread.

 

So would it be better to get a used fuel distributor for $100 to $200, or to make adjustments or flush the existing one?

 

first, it needs basic check on other components such as idle speed control valve, linkage, adjustments, etc.

it is wise to bring it to the expert mechanic for a good quick check.

we know that you got air/fuel problem, so all he got to do was to pinpoint the source.

 

I think alot of my problems were the result of Florida gas.
My wife and I were in S Florida, ran low on fuel, and were forced to buy gas at this junk-yard of a gas station, and less than five miles down the road our car started running like crap. The next tankfull didn't even clear the problem. Later I had to flush the entire fuel system out, because everything was clotted with what looked like mayonaise. Of course I'm, sure it wasn't mayonaise, but probably some mix of fuel and saltwater.

Charles

 

My son took it over to a Mercedes/Porsche/Volvo shop. They confirmed the fuel distributor as the problem. We got a rebuilt one from Autohaus (best price we found) and put it in tonite. Seems to be running way too rich, plugs are wet. Probably need to replace the vacum lines going to the fuel regulator and such......... ? Any other thoughts?

Thanx for any input.