Hi, ive got a 1999 E320 CDI, today on the way home i noticed that its acceleration was very very sluggish. I parked up and tried reving the engine in neutral just to see if it was revving fine but i found that it'll rev to 3k and then just stops as if an electronic limiter is kicking in. In drive itll shift gears at 2k revs even with my foot fully pressed i.e. it doesnt seem to be revving. it seems more of an electronic problem rather than a mechanical one as it is as if its being limited. it shows no malfuctions. Does anyone know what could be wrong? The only thing that is different today than any other is that its been very very foggy.

Any help appreciated.

 

Ooooh...sounds like another throttle body issue. What are the codes? Read the codes and perhaps we may be able to offer suggestions on this forum, if we just knew the codes!

 

HI, i dont have a fault reader so can't really get the codes for you yet. A seler is selling one on ebay for £24.99 - is it something like that i should be going for? i would prefer not to take it down to the garage as they'll want £90 just to look at it. the way you said 'another throttle body issue' i assume its a common problem?

 

Hi,
You state your dealer wants £90 to read the codes. This is higher than the norm for this job. £25 is nearer the mark. If you bought the car from the dealer then they should even offer a bit of good will = £0 irrespective of mileage.
reading codes is simple and takes about 15/30 mins to hook up to do a complete "Quick Check" so a charge is not unreasonable. This includes no further diagnostic work however.
A £25 code reader will no doubt give you the codes but that is all it will do, other than possibly reset the code light CEL which you state is not on. More expensive £150/200 ones offer much greater (useful) functionality.
Since you must be in the UK where are you?
Codes are the best starting point for this type of problem since they get recorded even before the problem causes the CEL to illuminate.
However without your CEL ON I'm not sure that this is "another throttle body"/MAF problem.
A few more details would be helpful.
Age, mileage, service history, owner history, last fill up, does the problem clear on a non foggy day, everything else working fine? etc.
Stuart

 

Hi, yes im in the UK, the dealer said that the minimum they would charge is an hours rate. The cars a 99 model so is getting on a bit. It has done 80k miles and was serviced 1k ago (and i spent £600 on top of the actual service). Im the second owner from new and bought the car back in 2001. The car has been serviced solely by a Mercedes garage very year or so. I just had the brake lamp switch replaced becuase of ABS/ESP warnings and now this. Ill see how it is today. One question though, if i drive around with it in this sate - could i damage it any further?