1986 Mercedes 300E 6-Cyl (125000K Miles)
I hope someone can really help me out with this expensive problem:

My car's economy guage is reading all the way to the red, which indicates that it is using way too much gas. I just changed out the fuel distributor(used) last night, and still it reads to the red, smells like gas, and now won't even turn on unless I slighty push down on the throttle air passage hole (brass circular platform, opens and closes the air passage) and give it a little bit of gas. I turned the oil cap and opened the valve cover to smell any burning oil or gas, it smells like gas, not even like oil anymore. It is burning too much gas. I have no idea what to think or do next. Might it be the Fuel Regulator? Fuel Sending Unit? Or do I need a new engine? The car was working fine (it smoked a little from sitting a long time on the driveway) and never did this. This happened from one day to the other, and I have had it with the car and the awful gasoline smell. Please email me back at architect1803@yahoo.com or reply to the thread. I will greatly appreciate any angel of God who can give me a solution to this problem. I have had it with putting money and time into the car. My next objective will be to take it to an open field, light it on fire, and enjoy a cigarette while I watch the f*cking thing blow to shreds. So please, can anyone help me out? If you need a better and more detailed explanation of the problem with my car, email me and I will be more than delighted to give you my phone number.

Again, I want to thank anyone who is able to help me out with this problem.

In Regards,
C/P

Please don't burn you car, just give it the charity and get a tax write off!

As for you fuel smell problem, is the car tuned correctly? Does it pass the emissions tests? If so, but how much, if it just barely passes, take it into a shop and have them adjust whatever is necessary... Just my guess...

well the last emissions exam it passed was back in 2001 I believe, which was the last year the car was driven acording to the guy a bought it from. As far as the car getting blown to pieces, I think I'll wait on it for now....

SLOW DOWN THERE. You need to check the gas mileage, it might just be a faulty gauge, I would start at the fuel tank and look for leaks, then work your way up the fuel distribution line for leaks, you would smell them if you had any, my bet is that you have an un-hooked vaccum line to the gauge which is very easy to repair

__________________
Jerry

2004 SL500 Black 55K Miles
2002 s500 Black 90K Miles
1986 300E Gold 233K Miles
1966 Twin Cessna 320D
1989 Jeep Cherokee 233K Miles
1994 Ford Van E150 399K Miles

About 5 years ago a ran a bottle of injection cleaner through my 300E and it developed a fuel leak on a small part located near the fuel distributor. I can't recall the parts name. So you might check that area of your engine for the leak. A fuel leak should be fairly easy to find.

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Earl



1993 190E 2.3
2000 Toyota 4x4 Tundra

yea man, i have had a gas leak on the EHA Valve (the black computer box connected to the fuel distributor) through the tiny holes it has on the back. I changed out the fuel distributor and bought a used one(non-leaking), put it on, and still, my car doesn't wanna crank! I returned the fuel distributor and put my old one back, and bought a new battery as well (the battery i had on the car before was bad and barely started the car [525 ca]). STILL, NO CRANK!

At first, I thought it was the Fuel Pump, but I turn the key and I can hear the fuel pump pumping the fuel to the engine. My guess is that it's ok. Second, I took out the spark plugs and checked them out. They are black and stuffed with black carbon (I think it's more like gas build-up). The ignition coil is fine, distributor cap and rotor are both new, spark plugs are all sparking, and new 875 ca DuraLast battery has been placed in. I don't know what else to do guys. I am most likely going to take it to a MB Diagnostician in a few weeks. However, if I can get some other advice from someone here as to what to check, buy, or try next on the car, I'd rather take your word(s) for it rather than paying the $200 they are asking JUST to inspect my 300E and tell me what is wrong with the piece of *****!

PEACE!

PS: As far as the leaks, the only fuel leak I can identify right now is through the EHA Valve. It's also got an oil leak (pretty big leak) between the head and valve cover. However, I dont think it's the fuel distributor leak because when I put the other one in there, which did not leak at all, the car still would not crank. I am starting to get the feeling that something in my Injection system is messed up. By the way, where could I find this vaccuum leak you're talking about? How do I get to it?

Hello,

You may want to check the vacuum supply line to your gauge.
If there's no vacuum it will go tp the red??

The main supply is from the inlet manifold on your far right looking at the manifold[driver side] in the engine compartment. it feeds your air conditioning stuff as well!

Brian

Because you see spark from the coil, or even on a test plug, it might be a weak spark. A good spark is whitish blue, not orangy red. If your MB has a sheet metal stamped centerbody on the coil, chuck it. New coil: 66.00 bucks.

BINGO!!!!