190E Gearing
 

I just purchased a '91 190E, 2.6. It's a 2 owner with 86K on it, and it has all of it's service done and documented. Very happy with the car.

A couple of questions though, at 65 mph, the tach is showing 3,000 rpms when in 4th gear. Seems like it needs another gear. Is it me, or is this a little high for cruising down the road.

Even though I have all of it's service history, is there anything mechanically that I need to watch out for in the future. That is, is there any preventative maintenance I can/should do now to prevent trouble in the future.

Any help would be appreciated.

Al & Baby Benz

well
 

the five speed carries the same rear end so with a 20% od which i believe is what it has the rpm would be about 2450 or so. so if you could find a higher gear for the rear the car would pull it on the highway. yiou would sacrifice stoplight get away for highway mpg and less noise.

tom w

Something to watch out for
 

If the ignition switch starts to act up, change it. It has to unlock to get it out.

Compared to my 2.3 litre, that seems a tad high. I turn about 2800 rpm at 65mph, and 3000 rpm at 70. (That's if I'm cruising on a flat surface.) If I'm accelerating, then I have about the same results as you. (these transmissions do not lock up, so you are always slipping some... more while accelerating than cruising)

4th grear on these automatics is @ 1:1. Kinda stinks at highway speeds... it could really use a 5th gear. (The manual trannies are also 1:1 in 4th, but they DO have a 5th gear OD.)

Enjoy the car -- it's a magnificent machine.

Jeff Pierce

Lots of folks are surprised by the highway rpms exhibited by Mercedes of this era.

It's the way it is and it isn't a problem.

190 Gearing
 

Thanks to all that replied. After putting around 400 miles on the ole girl this week, I realized the transmission is working fine. Cruising @ 70, the tach is reading around 3200 rpm. A little nerve racking till I realized the "sounds" the car was making were fine. Didn't sound overworked.

Have found a couple of little issues:
- When driving the SRS warning light comes on sporatically for 4 to 5 seconds then goes out. On a 150 mile trip, probably did this 15 times.
- The other issue is when cold starting, invaribly the engine fires then dies. On the second try, it runs fine. But, with the A/C on, when stopped and in gear, she is on the verge of dying. Hasn't done it, but need to give the gas a little extra pressure to ensure she keeps running.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Al:)

Could be the OVP Relay causing both the hard cold starts and the SRS light. Check that first. If not then move onto the Water Temp Sensor. It tells the Fuel Computer to fire the Cold Start valve. But I am leaning toward your OVP since you said that the Engine almost dies when AC is on. The OVP supplies power to a lot of the fuel systems electronic controls, the IACV, EHA, Cold Start Valve and ABS/SRS stuff.