PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - New valve stem seals--now a miss?

lee polowczuk · #20 12-21-2007, 08:29 AM

i am going to try to explain it the best I can..... I did the seal job...and buttoned everything up.

I then started the car..it started but with difficulty and was real rough. So i shut it off. I checked some wires and it seemed like there was one or two that were not quite engaged with the plug.

Started it up again... it started, but with a not so distinctive miss. I have always had smooth running Mercedes, so I was a bit nervous... like maybe one of the stem seals wasn't on right and it was causing an issue with a valve. Keep in mind, I am not a technician or a mechanic, but I do all of my own work, because on these older cars it's just a matter of screwdrivers, wrenches and sockets.

Back to the issue... so i look under the hood... oh no problem..there's a vacuum hose not hooked up. I hook it up. No difference.

So I pull each wire individually... engine gets worse. I pull #3. Seems to be the same... that must be the culprit. I change wires with the 260e. No difference. Must be the spark plug. But I convince myself that it can't be the spark plug. I just put them in in April.

I call on the troops. The troops (Tom, Don) say its probably a fouled plug... no foul. I put in a can of BG44k... it was about due. I do this once a year. Drive for about 10 miles... no difference.. no fouled plug.

I check OVP... no problem with OVP. Everyone says plug.. I say to myself can't be a plug.

I loosen each nut on the fuel distributor (per David) It's definitely #3. So I am thinking fuel injector.

Instead I pull a plug from the 260e. Problem solved.

I go to the dealer and get a new plug.

So, what happened to this plug? Did it short out or something when I tried to start the car up the first time?

Bottom line... listen to the people on this board. I can't tell you how many times, I have a problem and it is the simplest thing. Yet I convince myself of doom.

So yesterday... I stop by this shop to see if I can get a replacement wire.(another story).. and tell the guy that I did the valve stem seals... he said how many miles on the car..I tell him. He said that job will only last 20k miles, then I will need a complete valve job, or have to do the seals again. I wonder what the people on this board think? I would tend to believe them more than a indy mercedes tech.. no sh...i...t.

Sorry for the long post