Hello all... I'm new member to the boards here, but I have been lurking since I got my 1990 300ce. Love the car, but it had a few "issues". I've had it about two weeks. It has many of the same symptoms/gremlins that have been talked about in these forums (hard start, rough cold idle, hesitation on acceleration, abs light appeared, exterior light comes on sometimes, safety belt motor arms not going back in place).

I got the car from a friend that took very good care of it and had kept all the records of repairs. She had thrown a lot of parts at it (plugs & wires, rotor, cap, vacuum lines, etc. etc.). She told me her mechanic recommended trying to swap out the idle control valve next. I did some research and the rough idle and hesitation looked like it was being caused by the ICV and I was getting ready to plunk $500 down for her mechanic to fix it. I'm glad I didn't.

After exploring these boards and reading the posts on OVP problems, I figured what could it hurt. I looked through the car records and a OVP replacement was not listed anywhere. I pulled it and replaced it (it was the original). I am glad I did. You guys saved me a $500 bill from the mechanic.

Installed the new OVP last night and it cranked on the first try this morning. Smoothed out the cold idle and it seems to be behaving much nicer.

Thanks again... You guys rock! This site was a great resource for someone that has never worked on a Mercedes before.