First let me say I have enjoyed reading thru your forum for the past few days. It has given me quite a bit of insight to the recent problem I've been having with my '84 230E (123).

It's my first Merc, inspired by my father's '72 220D which he bought back in the late '70 and it still a "fine automobile" today. (Although I'm sure he squandered my college money to keep it serviced -- diesels eh!).

Anyway back to my newly aquired '84 230E....

It's been relative trouble free now for the 1st 4 months of my ownership until last month. I experienced the usual dead battery/dead alternator scenerio that any car owner has probably experienced. Amazingly (or not), it took me less than 20 mins to swap the out the alternator. That's the part about Mercs I really like! Once you know what's wrong, basic tools and logical mechanical apitude gets the job right and in good time.

Then last week...

It died completely...no warning...I had been out running an errand, it was running great, stop at the store was in and out in 15mins, jump in to start it, fine, started right up, no hesitation, went 100yards down the road, then just died. And it wouldn't start back up. The batt power was good, starter turned and the engine would fire straight up then died after 10 secs as though it was out of fuel. Engine was not overheated, temp gauge read around 90c. Tried to restart it for about a half hour, still no joy. I had to call out a recovery, 2 hours later arrived home courtesy of a ride back on a platform recovery truck. After rolling the car off into the street in front of the house, I jump back in to turn it over and whola...started right up as though nothing had happened. I parked it up into the drive, let it idle a bit, let the temp get up to about 90c (which seems normal for a warm standing idle, I've yet to see it go much hotter...) then as it did before, died as though it ran out of fuel. Fuel gauge okay, over 1/4 of a tank, but it would start up, run 10-15 secs then die. By this time, late at night, decided to leave until morning.

Next morning, started up fine, ran great for the 10 min trip to work. 8 hours later, started up fine, ran great for the 10 min trip back home. After arriving home, decided to let it idle for 15-20 mins to get the temp back up to around 90c, and sure enough, engine chugged to a halt without a notion to run after several restarts.

Now it seems to me if it was the fuel pump/fuel filter/ignition/coil/distributor/cap/rotor/spark plugs/wires, this problem would be continuous. Being so intermittant I was left scratching my head and turning to anyone who had any sensable advice, which has led me to your forum. And after 2 heavy nights of meticulous research, I myself have come to the conclusion that it may be the fuel control relay. Now I haven't deemed it my final conclusion but from all of the horror stories I've read in this forum, I feel it's work checking out.

Now if I could just find the little bugger!!!

If it's being sujected to various ranges of temperature which is affecting it's operation, I figure it must be somewhere in the engine compartment. But I can find any relays??? Fuse panel yes, easy-pezy, relays---what relays???

So anyone who has had clocked any mechanical repair time on the ole 123 chassis can assist me in finding this fuel control relay, please, please reply to this thread as soon as possible.

In the mean time I am desperately waiting for a "certain online book seller" to send me a copy of the Mercedes W123 Owners Workshop Manual which I'm sure will answer all the question I so long to ask about my 1st baby!

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Regards,

Smitty