so, my w123 gasser (euro 250 that recently got a 2nd lease on life) won't idle for anything.

it's so strange...she drives well, and the throttle is responsive. sometimes it's taken a squirt of starter fluid to get her going, but once warm she starts right up (though she immediately develops a high/low fluctuation and will die quickly). strange, when stone cold she seems to operate better, but only for a block or two. afterwords, she'll die at every stop sign/light and when parked, unless you put your foot on the gas and rev/coax her.

i've checked all the vacuum lines, and they hold pressure.
i've checked around the base of the Solex carb for leaks by spraying WD40, and haven't been able to affect and change.
the accelerator pump seems to be working/spraying fine, and she's got new plugs and wires.

one thing i've noticed is that the secondaries (the flaps over the larger barrels (?)) seem never to open, and appear to stick a bit. the vacuum dashpot keeps them pulled closed no matter how high the car's revved. when the car is shut off and i push on the secondaries, they do not operate smoothly, but, rather have a couple 'snags' and seem to stick at a few spots...if you open them all the way, they'll most likely seize and stay there. could this be my problem area, or would it only cause poor performance at very high throttle?

thoughts on all this would really be appreciated.

__________________
-lee
'83 300CDT (286k)

former proud owner of:
'85 mercedes euro 300TD
'80 mercedes 300TD
'77 mercedes 280e
'80 mercedes euro 250
'82 mercedes euro 250