urgent 190e 16v help required: conked out on the motorway!!!
 

not good.......not good at all. :( :(

car has performed faultlessly for ever....had a full servicer about 3000 miles ago with cap/arm/leads/plugs/oil/fiter/etc...

started it after work, on the button - as always. got to a roundabout 3-4 miles away...brake, clutch in, revs to 1000 - fine. go to pull away and it bogs down a little, i guess i didnt give it enough gas - n0 biggie.....i stop again, rev the engine, its fine, i pull away.......as i pull away and accelerate in 1st...it feels weird, underpowered as if its missing/struggling for breath...

i continue to drive through the gears, its starting to loose power.....a couple small back fire type noises.....it dies on me (!!!!!) i managed to roll into a layby. very similar feeling to running out of fuel.....(there is plenty of fuel!)

i get out - PISSED (the car has NEVER broken down before!) i check....fuel pump making noise with ignition on - fine. fuses in OVP - fine. i then took of one of the fuel lines to the injectors from the fuel distributor end, ignition on, no fuel coming out....is this normal - i thought it would have come out at a rate once ignition was on? the fuel pumps seems to be priming when you first switch the ignition on.......could it be the fuel pump relay?

so please - i need ideas - FAST!! its my only transport and i am in trouble without it!

at the moment i am leaning towards a fuel pump relay but would have through that the fuel pumps wouldnt have made any noise if it was this?

i also checked all the fuses in the fuse box - they alll seem fine - verything else on the car seems fine, it cranks and sounds fine, but no sign of life.....i'm convinced its fuel but could well be wrong...

help me.....PLEASE!

its a 1990 UK 2.5 16v non cat.

sounds like the fuel pump!

Remove the fuel return line & hold it in bottle, turn key to on position & see if you get fuel into bottle. IF not then the pump(s) is(are) the problem.

It's a shot in the dark, but also check two fuses placed behind the little plastic wall behind the battery. There is a little hinged cover on top of the unit with two more modern (not the typical Mercedes) type fuses inside. I don't know what they do, buy my mechanic had me check them recently as I haven't been able to get my 16 valve started for the driving season. I'll have to have it towed to his shop. :(

thats the OVP relay your talking about....i checked that and its ok.

i'll try to check the fuel pumps later today...

any other ideas?

thanks all

steve

Sounds like Mike Brewer broke it ;)


You are right: if the fuel pump runs when you switch the ignition on, then it is likely not the fuel pump relay.

Was the fuel pump noticeably noisy up until now?

I presume you've checked you have spark? The original toolkit has something that lets you remove your plugs.


good luck

Russ

P.S. How many miles do you have on it?

i'm sure this is nothing to do with mike?! :)

the fuel pump has never made any noticable noises.....it hums a bit when you turn the key to the on position to prime the fuel system but once started its fine, no untoward noises.

if i switch the ignition on i can hear it humming/buzzing this means the relay is ok?

havent checked for spark yet - thats tonight!

car has 115,000 miles on it

any other suggestions?

thanks!

Yes, at least on the M102 8v engines, can't see why anything would be different on the 16v.

Maybe I missed this in the posts but when was the fuel filter changed?
 

Maybe I missed this in the posts but when was the fuel filter changed? :rolleyes:

I normally approach these problems by the process of order, in other words, if fuel pump runs, what is between running pump and no fuel at the pulled line?

With higher and higher fuel costs we all start to look at lower cost stations. This can be a leader to more contaminated fuels, all fuel has the possibility of crud in it or there wouldn't be a filter. Even top rated gas companies will go to the bottom of the barrel more when it is worth more to them. hence, possible filter failure?

Symptom of filter plugged is fuel starvation, much like running out of fuel, especially when under heavier demand, Acceleration! You would however notice some poorer operations prior, but not always!

trants4md
______________
85 500SEL
80 Leland TR7 Convertible
And Some American Stuff
94 Dodge Ram
93 Chev Lumina APV
79-81-83 Forzda

right....

i got in from work today and went through the fuel system, i took off one of the lines that goes from the fuel distributor to the injector, turned ignition on and cranked started....no fuel from fuel distributor BUT when I pushed the air flow meter plate down, feul came out at quite a rate......

i assume this means feul is ok?

I then took a sparkplug out, left it on the top of the rocker cover and cranked the motor.....NO SPARK!

I checked the cap and arm and wires, all good - only 3000 miles on them.

So, what next....coil? whats next up the line from that?

not too good with electrics.....anyone got some simple fault diagnois ideas for the ignition system?

thanks guys...

steve

Nope have a friend push down ever so slightly on the AFM plate while you crank and see if that does anything. Also test the crank sensor with a VOM and give us the results!

If the car starts with the AFM pushed slightly you may have a severe vacuum leak or bad intake boot or bad hard lines to and from the Idle Air Control Valve. Check the IACV as well and make sure the hoses are all good in there as well.

right.....pressing down on the afm doesnt effect anything....

i found this thread: http://www.190revolution.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12380&highlight=16v+spark

witch sounds very simlar to my problems i tried testing the flywheel sensor as described and got 815ohms accross the inner/outer cables at the EZL end, does this sound ok?

mctwin2kman: whats the crank sensor? is that not the flywheel sensor? how do i test and where is it?

thanks

On a 124, you can rule out/rule in the fuel pump relay by jumping pins 7&8 at the relay block. This simulates a relay on condition. Bet yours is the same.

You can then tell if a fuel pump is operating by putting a hand on it. You probably have 2 pumps.