I have a 1985 190E that is missing intermittently. When I say intermittently I mean it will run fine for a different amount of time before it misses. Sometimes it may be 5 times in a minute, sometimes 5 times in 25 seconds. It missed at idle as well as when you are driving. I have replaced plugs about 3,500kms ago. I also pulled off spark plug wires to see if problem got worse or stayed the same but did not make difference just ran worse. Any help would be appreciated.

You may have a resistor tip failing. Have it scoped and it should be easy to find.

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Benzmac:
Donnie Drummonds
1981 280GE SWB
1987 16V
ASE CERTIFIED MASTER AUTO TECHNICIAN
SERVICE MANAGER FOR 14 BAY FACILITY
MERCEDES SPECIALIST 8 YRS
PARTNER IN MERCEDESSHOP.COM

Does "resistor tip" mean "spark plug wire" (at the plug)?

Also, any way to substitute for the factory plug puller?

Yes - the resistor tip is the long metallic piece that attaches to the spark plug.

One guy here named Jeffsr has indicated he pulls them off by hand! I saw this in one of his old posts.

Now that is one bad cowboy!

Can you get them off w/o the $27 MB pullers? I have no doubt. I choose to use the correct tool simply because doing otherwise might damage the resistor tip and they are not cheap.

Besides - I love gadgets.

I pull the plug connectors off using pliers BUT grabbing one of the small folded metal edges on the side of the connector. Works well.

Haasman

i use the same technique with the plier as haasman.
no need to buy expensive tools.
once you identify the faulty resistor-it can be removed from the spark plug wire by unscrewing it in the counterclockwise direction.
the resistance of the resistor should be 1000 ohms or 1kohm.
the procedure for unscrewing the resistor applies to wires made by bosch or beru as far as i am aware.

you can buy the resistors on their own from the fastlane where you can also see pictures of the resistors.
:cool: