Transmission and engine are OK

my car recently had some loose front flex disc bolts and this provoked a horrible vibration. I had no choice but to drive it as it was for two days and I couldnt speed up over 40. This week I got a new front flex disc and replaced it but the VIBRATION DAMPER (rubber disc that goes parallel to front flex disc) is all shrewed and I decided to "eliminate" it. Now my driveshaft doesn't have that damn vibration damper disc. I don't see that disc availalbe at parts shop.

Besides that, I was recently playing with the adjustment of the idle speed and changed my fuel distributor as well as throttle body.

This week I realized that THE CAR DOESNT' GO OVER 50 OR 55 MPH and it hesitates a lot between shifts (it's an automatic). And if I want to reach 55 mph I have to press the gas pedal really hard, as if there is an incorrect setting somewhere.

A mechanic, though he says transmission and engine are OK, says something like a "catalyzer" or something like that is clogged.


Any ideas ??????????????? thanks .. This is very recent

incorrect driveshaft position maybe a quick adjustment ??

You need to state what model you own. I deduct you own a gas powered 190E, but more info would be helpful.

While I am not as accomplished as many of the guys around here, I will offer up what I can.

First- don't make changes without writing down, marking, or photographing what you are adjusting.

Will the car rev freely in lower gears? Are you speed limited or RPM limited? What changes did you make?

Good luck.

__________________
'90 300SE 298k
-300K and it gets put into retirement.
'80 300D 255k Purchased new by family in 1980.

Had a:
1973 220 (gas)
1980 300SD
1992 400E

The car is an '85 190E 2.3 8v. The changes were just adjusting the idle mixture as stated in other threads. I also removed the vibration damper disc that goes parallel to the front flex disc in the driveshaft.

Perhaps this will help:
Today I took a quick test drive. I first put the transmission in "neutral" and pressed the gas pedal hard and the RPM gauge reached as high as 6K, I assume it didn't go any further perhaps because the engine is old, I think.

Then I drove for like six miles and the car did not go faster than around 55 mph, and the RPM was around 2.5K, about half the "allowed" rpm in neutral, no matter how hard I pressed the gas pedal. The car just feels too "heavy" after 40 mph but slowly it reaches 55 but no more.

WHAT THIS APPARENTLY MEANS
That the speed is not limited by the RPM, there must be something else that is stuck or not aligned correctly or not correctly set

thanks fahrgewehr2 for the comment

I think your mechanic was pointing at the catalytic converter(s) as being plugged. Had a volvo that plugged, couldn't get it past 35mph, sluggish as can be. Car also whistled (because the cat was blocked). Potentially your problem?

Will the engine rev in the lower gears? When you go to accelerate, is the car downshifting?

Where is your mixture set when reading the duty cycle?

Take some more notes and post them here, particularly the cars behavior under load in each gear. This will get figured out.

__________________
'90 300SE 298k
-300K and it gets put into retirement.
'80 300D 255k Purchased new by family in 1980.

Had a:
1973 220 (gas)
1980 300SD
1992 400E

This may sound stupid. But, how are the brakes? Are the brakes locked up or something? The emergency brake? Do you smell brake pads?

Just a thought?

__________________
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

2006 - Suzuki Gran Vitara (2.0 L fully equipped) Like this car so far except for trying to put on the seatbelt.
1988 - 190e - 2.3L - 172K miles (It now belongs to the exwife)
1999 - Chevy Blazer LS Fully Equiped - killed it June 2006
2001 - Honda Civic EX - 68K miles (sold June 2004)
1963 - 220S - Dual Carb 6 cyl. (sold)
1994 - Yamaha WaveRaider (fun to ride)

perhaps your throttle linkage is out of alignment... so that when you're flooring it, the throttle isn't open all the way?

__________________
'82 300TD
'77 6.9
'75 280S
'74 280
'87 Porsche 944 turbo

The driveshaft won't keep the car from achieving speed. A plugged catalytic convertor will.

__________________
Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

Oh, and BTW, catalytic convertors are some really durable items but the easiest way to screw one is to make uninformed mixture changes.

The lambda control system is not to be played with unless you know what you are doing or enjoy repairing your training losses.

__________________
Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

In other words if too rich of a fuel mixture gets into the converter... it burns up and plugs your exaust system.

__________________
Earl



1993 190E 2.3
2000 Toyota 4x4 Tundra

You mentioned changine the Fuel distributor, intake mainfold, but I did not see if these were adjusted to work correctly.

Steve is right, this might very well be a plugged CAT, but it could also be an array of other things especially after you had all this work done on the car.

Start with the exhaust, go from there.

xp

__________________
1985 190E 2.3L - a constant project.

Don't sweat the vibration disc. Car will be fine without it. However, since you had your hands all over the handbrake cable, is it too tight now? If you put your car in neutral, can you push it around?

You can loosen the two bolts on each side to see if it is truly the cat converter, it will be loud but if it goes over 55 mph (convertor on dyno. (convertor is bad) Cats are expensive, so you want to be sure it is the cat before you replace it. Know anyone with a dyno to check this?

Any muffler shop can check your cat in about ten minutes with a tempiture indicator..........

William Rogers..........

Thank you all for your replies,

After much thinking about this problem, I decided to disassemble and reinstall again the throttle body, fuel distributor and all the lines, and checking vacumm lines for any leaks while "tightening" them just using my fingers, and reinstalled every single screw very carefully and cleaned the wires and idle valve.

After that, I noticed that two injectors were loose, so I went to my parts car and took the other ones, which appeared to be in better condition, and installed them back very carefully. I was very fortunate that I found a K&N filter in that parts car and went to buy a "recharger" to clean it.

I took a very quick test drive for about five miles and the car is much better, it accelerates very easily and reached 75mph and then 80 without need of pressing the gas pedal too hard, just moderately. The car is not perfect but far better than months before. Cool, problem fixed !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways, since I have an extra car for parts, I think I will change the exhaust pipes including the cats in the near future, mine is too noisy already and I don't think it will be a big problem.