Since the beginning of last year my 89' 190e has been giving me a few problems. last time it was really driven was january of last year. drove it to walmart. worked just fine. shopped then when i tried to leave the car would not restart. Got some walmart tle guys trying to get it running and no luck. so they give up and run off but finally after a few hours it starts back up and makes it home, barely as it was dying the whole way back. Since then i've tried cleaning the fuel filter, no luck. then replaced filter, no luck. then yesterday i replaced the ignition coil, no luck. and today i bought a new battery, started up just fine. let it sit for a minute then drove a mile up a gravel road and back next to my house. parked it in the driveway and kept it running. then went back down to check on the car and it was still running. then i was going to drive it again and put it in reverse and the car instantly shut off.

Basically, everytime i jump the car itll start fine and sound fine, then after a short while itll start dying until the car completely shuts off, and after this happens, the car will not start again for another few hours.

any ideas on what could be wrong?

 

You say the car did not drive during the winter time ? The way you describe your problem sounds to me like a fuel problem.

Did you have the fuel tank full ? If not, it is possible you have condensation in your fuel tank and this water will then go in your system.

Another possibility is a failing fuel pump. If you have the carburetor version you have a mechanical fuel pump and when you don't use the car for such a long time the pump simply dries up and 'gets stuck'. Best thing to do then is clean the whole thing (inside the pump there is a push rod and this is what gets stuck) or get a replacement pump.

If you have the injection system you can either have a single or a twin fuel pump (probably only a single pump). Removal of the pump is quite easy and again, check the working of the pump before you buy a new one.
If you have this injection system you will also have an accumulator and make sure that one is not clogged up either.

To check your fuel supply simply disconnect the fuel line at the fuel filter side and turn the ignition on (make sure the engine is cold and no sparks are present). You should do this test with 2 persons, one inside the car and the other holding the fuel hose. If fuel comes out your pump is doing fine, if it is only dripping out you obviously have a problem, so move to the back of your car and look at the fuel pump..

If the fuel pump does not work don't throw the thing away immediately. It is possible it is just a corroded connection and the easiest way to check that is to hot wire the pump to a battery. If it works you know you have an electrical problem, but the pump is good.
Hot wiring the mechanical pump will also tell you if the piston inside the pump is stuck or not.
________
HotYoana

 

I agree with Mambo that this is probably a fuel delivery problem.
However, I would like to suggest that your alternator could be at fault. It wouldn't hurt to get it tested.
Over the years, I have replaced two alternators (89 260E, 02 C230) after the same symptoms you describe. I could start the car with a boost and it would run about 15 minutes until the alternator sucked the power out of the battery and the cars shut down due to lack of electrical power. The 89 260E started and ran at highway speed for 15 minutes then the gauges died and the dashboard systems started to light up and as I pulled into the open garage bay the car obligingly shut itself off. After the alternators were replaced both cars were fine afterward.
In both cases bad diodes in the alternators eventually pulled all the power out of the battery and the cars failed due to lack of power.
However, check your fuel systems first; alternators second.

 

Both of the previous are excellent suggestions, but I'd like to add fuel relay to the list. I had a relay that would work whenever it wanted to. Took forever to figure it out because usually when a relay fails, thats it. This one was intermitent. Replaced a year ago and never had another problem getting stuck somewhere and having to let the car sit for a couple hours before starting again.

 

thanks for your suggestions i will look into them. but i did take the alternator off, checked out good 5x in a row just to make sure

and yes it sat during winter 08/09 for a month and a half at most, but tank WAS full

also had the fuel relay checked out, check was good

replaced ignition coil, didnt help

replaced battery, didnt help

fuel filter replacement didnt help either

but after i got it running monday i realized it didnt start to die until the car was about up to normal running temperrature, then would not start again until it cooled down.

i've bought so many damn parts i dont know what to do with myself. if anyone has anyother suggestions keep em rolling i'll just keep buying more parts until this is resolved.

 

Before I threw another penny at parts, I'd check a few things.

1. Get a fuel pressure guage on that thing and see if you are indeed losing fuel pressure.
2. Attach a light to the fuel pump and see if you lose power before you start losing fuel pressure.

This will determine if you are losing power to the pump first or fuel pump pressure (if fuel related).

Next
Get an ignition noid (or whatever it's called) and lay it over the spark plug coil secondary wire and see if you lose spark when the car dies.
Put a light on the coil supply lines and see if you lose power to the coil before you lose spark.

Get a VOM and let us know what the charging voltage at the battery is.
At idle it should at least be 13 volts, raise the idle slightly and it should read at least 13.5.
Have the battery tested and confirm it's in proper working order.
You really need to determine if it's fuel, ignition or electrical related.

This information will allow us to point you in a better direction.

Good Luck.

 

i'll check it out thanks.

 

I understand you checked out the fuel pump and that the engine is difficult to start when the engine is hot.
Did you check the tank ventilation ? Just take off the fuel filler cap and run the engine like that, see if it makes a difference.

If you want to make sure fuel gets to your engine while running at high rpm buy another fuel filter and a piece of transparent hose. Connect the transparent hose to the original location of the normal hose to the carburettor and connect the normal hose to the other end of the fuel filter.
Run the engine and check if fuel remains in the fuel line. When it does you can rule out the 'no fuel option' and then you can remove the temporary fuel filter and transparent hose again.
If there is no fuel you know at least that it is a fuel problem and not ignition or anything else.

It is also possible you have some dirt from the old petrol in your carburettor (you don't have an injection system if I am not mistaken), cleaning the carburretor will not hurt.

You may want to check whether the air filter or your air intake is blocked or clogged up
Check the choke mechanism. Is it worn out or simply adjusted incorrectly
Check the compression in your cylinders. (not starting with warm engine can be caused by low compression)
Check your vacuum system, if it is leaking somewhere you will have these problems as well.

This is about all I can think of at this moment.
________
Buy Glass Pipes

 

i'll keep all of these suggestions in mind and keep you all updated and start ruling more out. but also i talked to a guy at autozone, and of course each person you talk to will say something different but i have had 4 people swear it is the ignition control module. i bought one last night and am waiting for it in the mail to figure out if its the issue. but until then, does anyone think this may even be whats causing the problem?