I had the same sort of issue with my 1993 E280 - Same engine.

Mine was solved with cleaning the throttle body as mentioned. However, as mentioned by someone else, that year was know for wiring loom failiures.

Mine had this. I would do work like changing spark plugs, and weird things would happen to my idle - only to dissapear for months and run fine.

If you have had a head gasket done then chances are the loom has been disturbed - from my experiences this can cause very weird behaviour and make fault finding very hard.

Injectors have already been tested as was shown in first post, but thanks.

And Kiwi-bloke, checked the wiring, its fine, most of it has been replaced on this car already. And ya, the 93 E280 is the same as the one sold here in the US as a 93 300E. For whatever reason they just changed the badges.

Stuck fuel distributor plunger?

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-tp


1990 300SE "Corinne"- 145k daily driver - street modified differential - PARTING OUT OR SELLING SOON - PORTLAND OR. AREA - PM ME FOR DETAILS
1988 560SEL "Gunther"- 190K passes anything except a gas station
1997 S420 - 265k just bought it with a rebuilt trans. Lovely condition

Do you mean the fuel regulator on the fuel rail?

Anyways, latief, I made a mistake.... the car ran fine for me for a day or so, then my wife calls complaining it died on her at a red light and took a couple minutes to get it started again. After she got home, I started it 20 without ever touching the pedal. That sent me searching again as that didn't act like the actuator going out. I had told you the wiring on it was fine because I had checked the wiring on the car side of the connection.... then the thought crossed my mind that this may well be the original throttle body, so I cut back the covering on it.... Son of a *****

So, now to take it out again and see it I can re-wire the dang thing. One more thing for ppl to keep an eye on if they are having starting or idle issues. Thanks again man.

Check for a post by J. M. van Swaay, I think he posted pictures and tips about rewiring a couple of these....

good luck

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1993 300E, 2.8 M104 .....

Checked, all I could find by him was where he sent one off to be rebuilt.

M104 Throttle actuator/harness REPAIR

It was on the other forum, I swear i've seen it over here though ..maybe not

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w124-e-ce-d-td-class/1448549-how-rewire-m104-throttle-actuator.html#post3519101

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1993 300E, 2.8 M104 .....

Well, back where I was, hard as hell to start. I pulled the ETA and rewired it as it had nothing left in the harness except for corroded copper wires and crumbled remains of what use to be the plastic insulation. It unfortunately didn't solve my problem. Is there a way to make absolutely sure that the ETA is the cause of my problems before I order one, as they are not cheap at all. Some kind of test to do on it? Once the car starts, it drives like nothing in the world is wrong is the reason I ask, except for the occasional stall at stops. After I put in the rewired ETA, took it for about a 20 min drive and then let it idle in the drive for another 10 mins, drove like it did when I got it. But then I turned it off and tried to start again and it took 30 secs or more to get going. I'm at my wits end with this, and nearest MB shop is about 60 mins from here (I live in a small town in the country).

Any ideas on what else I might check or ways to test the ETA would be awesome. Thanks.

Man, that is bad.....

I would hold-off on buying a new one before making sure it is the problem.....pm MBDOC and ask him what he thinks about this.......I have no clue man......

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1993 300E, 2.8 M104 .....

Check your PM

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1993 300E, 2.8 M104 .....

Haven't found anyone yet to tell me how to test the ETA, but I have another question. The sprocket on the intake cam has the ability to retard timing, so I am wondering if it is possible for this piece to fail in any that would make startup difficult. Or if the sensor for it could in any way cause problems with startup? I know its not supposed to make any adjustments until 1500rpms or somewhere in that range, but if either of those pieces are "broke" and not working properly, could it cause start issues. I'm leaning towards no because once the car is started it runs great, even ran it just over 4k rpms before it shifted out of 3rd going down the road after rewiring the ETA to make sure everything felt good. And I am still getting the error code PIN 14 Code 11 about "Fuel Shut-off Signal sent to Control Module". I so wish someone knew what exactly that means and what can cause it to show on the computer, because fuel is definitely not being shut off. Is it possible I am dealing with a damaged ECM?

I doubt that is your problem, but some of the techs will provide some input on this........

did you see this?

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w124-e-ce-d-td-class/1510797-94-e420-eta-asr-throttle-actuator.html

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1993 300E, 2.8 M104 .....

Pulled the ECT from the car just for the hell of it to test it out and make sure it couldn't be adding to my problem. Is this the right chart for testing a 2 pin ECT?

32* F 5700-5900 ohm
68* F 2400-2600 ohm
104* F 1100-1300 ohm
140* F 500 - 700 ohm
176* F 300 - 400 ohm
212* F 150 - 200 ohm

That is 20 degree C increments from 0 to 100.

If that's the correct one for a 2 pin, than mine works great. I had found this on an old posting about the 4 pin ones and was hoping they would read the same.

Looking more and more like I'm going to have to sell a body organ or two and replace the throttle body. Lol

Found an ETA at a salvage yard at a decent price off of another year, but the number doesn't match the one I pulled from my car.

My part showed: 000 141 53 25
When I try to find a replacement I come up with number: 000 141 57 25

This car is NOT ASR, just ABS. I had misunderstood and thought if you had one, you had both but found out that is not the case. Is this just the new number for it as the one on mine was the original from '93? Looking at parts places, I keep getting the second number, so I'm fairly sure but would like to know if someone could verify somehow.

Also, what are the possibilities that the ECU had been damaged from the wires in the ETA being bare? They weren't crumbling, they were mostly dirt, and some of the copper had corroded. Found one of those at what I consider a steal, so may grab it also just in case. Still haven't found a way to verify 100% that the ETA is my problem, but most everything has already been done to the car.

Well, got there and the ones they had still had the old crap wiring on them, so it was a bust trying to get the ETA replaced this week.

There is something new I have noticed in the last couple days, the tach shakes most all the time and the speedometer shakes on acceleration and wobbles bad when braking. Could this be tied in with the problems I have been having, or is something new about to happen? I am so hoping that it is a clue to help nail down the persistent starting problem. Thanks for any ideas.