I am posting this for my co-worker, who has an '82 240D with a 4-speed manual, 340K miles or so.

The car has always been slow, but recently on a trip he was driving at about 60 mph and all of a sudden felt a power drop-off, where the car started to struggle to maintain 45-50 mph. After driving this way for some time, he turned on the cruise control and the car proceeded to accelerate strongly to 70 mph or so. Turning off the cruise made the car weak again.

Today, when driving to work, the car performed normally and he maintained a speed of 65 mph easily without the cruise.

Any ideas on what's going on? I'm thinking that his linkage from the accelerator pedal is getting flaky for some reason. If that seems logical, where would we look first for trouble spots?

Thanks in advance,

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Charlie

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'66 VW 1300 96K miles
'97 E300D 239K miles
'85 300D 203K miles (sold Sep 2012)

Check the throttle linkage thinger on the firewall. The rubber is probably dying, if so be careful driving it like that mind decided it wanted to get stuck at WOT once.

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http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...73378_30-1.jpg

youve answered your own question.

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1986 300SDL, 211K,Dealership serviced its whole life
1991 190E 2.6(120k)
1983 300D(300k)
1977 300D(211k)

not trying to bust any balls, but:
"where would we look first for trouble spots?"

lol he kinda did though.

My money is on that firewall throttle thing, someone please chime in with the correct name

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http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...73378_30-1.jpg

Accelerator linkage mount.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

or fuel filter/prefilter/strainer starting to clog.

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1980 500SE/AMG Euro
1981 500SEL Euro
1982 380SEL
1983 300TD
1983 500SEC/AMG Euro
1984 500SEC
1984 300TD Euro
1986 190E 2.3-16
1986 190E 2.3
1987 300D
1997 C36 AMG
2003 C320T 4matic

past: 1969 280SE 4.5 | 1978 240D | 1978 300D | 1981 300SD | 1981 300SD | 1982 300CD | 1983 300CD | 1983 300SD | 1983 380SEC | 1984 300D | 1984 300D | 1984 300TD | 1984 500SEL | 1984 300SD | 1985 300D | 1986 300E | 1986 560SEL | 1986 560SEL/Carat | 1987 560SEC | 1991 300D 2.5 | 2006 R350

Thanks for the replies. I was checking to see if there was another possible source of this problem besides the accelerator linkage, but it seems like I was on the right track.

Regarding the fuel filter etc., since the car will accelerate to 70-75 mph when the cruise is engaged, I'm thinking it's getting plenty of fuel.

__________________
Charlie

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'66 VW 1300 96K miles
'97 E300D 239K miles
'85 300D 203K miles (sold Sep 2012)

UPDATE: adjusted the linkage and took out most of the slop, the pedal feels much better.

HOWEVER: on top of the valve cover, there is a nylon/plastic pivot arm that is held in place by some kind of fastener - the visible top of the fastener holds the clip on with a circlip looking thing, and the bottom cannot be seen because it's underneath the pivot. This fastener is very, very loose and feels like it will fall out any second, which will cause the throttle linkage to stop working.

It looks like we're going to have to take that pivot arm off and see if the fastener can be put back on more securely.

thanks to all,

__________________
Charlie

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'66 VW 1300 96K miles
'97 E300D 239K miles
'85 300D 203K miles (sold Sep 2012)