Hey everyone,

My dear 400E is giving me problems again, but this problem has been going on for the last few years. Whenever its hot outside, the car refuses to start. It seems like the engine is flooded. Today it was about 85 in Cleveland and the car had the usual difficulty starting, after about 10 min, I managed to get it start. However the problem today is the car stalled while I was driving. The revs just dropped and that was it. Any ideas on what's wrong? The car has about 170K miles on it and I'm pretty good with getting it serviced on time.

Thanks

That was a constant problem with my car since I bought it...I was given new distributor caps/rotors, and the problem was fixed...my car is a '95 E420...however, I don't believe there was a link between my problem and ambient temperature...

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1995 black pearl/black Mercedes-Benz E420 :

This reminds me of my first car, a '74 Datsun 260Z. In hot weather, the carbs suffered from a condition referred to as "vapor lock". It would sputter along in hot weather, especially when the engine was warmed up. In cold and especially cold damp weather, it charged like a bull. I loved that car.

But I digress. Sounds like a fuel delivery problem of some sort. I would try a couple of tanks with Techron, then go for a nice Italian tune-up.

Somebody jump in here that knows what they are talking about.

Vapor lock was an annoying problem for many car manufacturers...but solved the problem with a couple of design changes...

...moved the fuel pumps closer to the fuel tank, (and even inboard)...

...relocated intake delivery systems (fuel injection or carburetion) AWAY from the exhaust manifold.

But it sounds like your problem might be the fuel pressure regulator.

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car