went on a road trip this weekend to the beach, the evening after I got back I (for whatever reason!) revved it to 3k while in park, not while driving, and held it there for a minute. It started rhythmically sputtering, chug-chug-chug-chug, but today it doesn't do it. Bad plug? Bad hole? Ignition? I'm beginning to think I own a real POS.

Hi Will,

I'm about 99% sure that I read in my manual that that's normal, i.e. when in park, there's a rev limiter of some sort that keeps the engine under 3,000 rpm.

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Michael

1988 300 SL (5 Speed)
1994 E320 Wagon
1997 C230

Interesting! Hope you are correct.

Try again three ways, in park, in neutral, in gear, and see what happens.

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Michael

1988 300 SL (5 Speed)
1994 E320 Wagon
1997 C230

What was the reason for revving it to 3 k rpm in park to begin with ?

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2007 C 230 Sport.

Yeah, that's not healthy. Unloaded engines should not be revved hard. Take the car for a drive, run 'er to 6K through the gears and let us know the results. If it falters at 3-4K or so under load, I have a guess...

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif

well I was showcasing my new stereo to a friend and using all it's ability, so I wanted to make sure I re-juiced the battery before turning it off.

And I know you will say that's unnecessary! It's just a hangup of mine I guess.

Anyway, zero driveability issues, but I tried it again yesterday and it didn't do it at 3k. So I dont know about that rev-limiter deal.

try 4k. I'm curious now.

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Michael

1988 300 SL (5 Speed)
1994 E320 Wagon
1997 C230

There is a rev limiter that cuts fuel when the car is in nuetral above a certain rpm. This is done to prevent the torque converter from excessive static pressure that can result when revving the car high with no load.

Don't rev it hard in nuetral. Neither the engine nor the transmission appreciate it.

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Ali Al-Chalabi

2001 CLK55
1999 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel
2002 Harley-Davidson Fatboy
Merlin Extralight w/ Campy Record

Cool. Do you know where that's documented?

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Michael

1988 300 SL (5 Speed)
1994 E320 Wagon
1997 C230

Torque Converter rev limiter for standing vehicle.
The test is to drive car above 6 mph and then put the trans in "N" . it will then rev over 4k as the vehicle speed sensor over-rides the rev limiter circuitry.
This is for TEST Purposes only.....