It's a shame you still have this problem. But, I would not abandon the belief that fuel contaminants are causing your trouble, yet. I would add some Techron, toss in a bottle of Heet and drive. If you note a positive benefit from this as you drive, then you are likely looking at a recurrent contamination problem and should change gas stations. Also, if you are mechanically inclined, look at the plugs, check your electrical connectors for corrosion and tight fit, do all those cheap check-outs that help rule out little glitches.

I once owned a nice Toyota Corolla FX16 that was a wonderful car (wish I still had it). However, during the winter (lived in Colorado) it became a little snot to drive. Bucking and snorting all the time. We had to use the alcohol blended gas after November until March and every year between November and March the car bucked and stalled and was miserable to drive because the alcohol blend carried so much crud and water into the fuel system. Once Spring was sprung everything returned to normal, the car ran fine again and gas mileage went back to normal. During the deep parts of winter we would get some warm days, also regular as clockwork, in January. On those days the car was the most rotten little beast on the road because the fuel was contaminated and also was vaporizing so fast (higher temps) it would stall every time I let out the clutch.

Just a thought, hope it helps,

230/8

Techron and your average "cleaners" are little better than snake oil.....

Dump a can of BG44K in the tank.....it costs about $15 a can, but it works....something that the cheaper ones barely do.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

OK, my tank was nearly empty (light was on for about 5 miles) so at lunch time I got a bottle of Heet and threw it in there, then added 5 gallons of gas. The Heet bottle says it treats up to 10 gallons, so I should be OK. On the way back to the office, it still did the occasional jerk, but I don't expect the Heet to work immediately (if at all, depending on the cause). I'll drive this tank empty and report back if there is any improvement.

Interestingly, I had to go to WalMart to get the Heet, since the gas station was out of it. But the station attendant told me that if I couldn't find Heet, I could just use a capful of isopropyl alcohol and it would be just as good. Anyone know if that's accurate?

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08 W251 R350
97 W210 E320
91 W124 300E
86 W126 560SEL
85 W126 380SE Silver
85 W126 380SE Cranberry
79 W123 250
78 W123 280E
75 W114 280

Yes, you can use it without concern. There are two types of gas dryer out there, one uses methyl alcohol and the other is isopropyl. Of the two the isopropyl alcohol version is usually the most costly. I'd get it at the pharmacy section of wallyworld where it is dirt cheap, and try to get the 100% strength. The most common is 70% which means it is diluted with 30% water.

230/8

All alcohols act as a co-solvent that allows water to mix with gasoline rather than separating out and dropping the to bottom of the tank.

The trouble with most store-bought alcohols is that they already have water in them. Read the label. If it's 80 percent isopropyl alcohol, it already has 20 percent water, so you're better off using a product that has little or no water in it. Heet is mostly alcohol, and it should be "dry" (read the label).

Oxygenated fuel already has 5-10 percent by volume ethanol, so any water will have a greater propensity to dissolve into the solution rather than separating out. In CA we have oxygenated fuel year-round. In many parts of the country oxygenated fuel is only supplied during the winter months.

Duke

Important Question: Does it seem to be worse if the car has been sitting for two days?

I'd inspect the wires, cap, rotor, coil, etc for a loose connection. Trace the wire from the cap to the coil for shorts. I could see how a sloppy installation of this wire 15k ago would begin to cause problems if the insulation was getting scraped off. And the symptom could be the bucking too, since all cylinders would be momentarily effected and the buck would move the shorting wire.

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89 300te 222,222
92 300e 190,000

I really doubt it's any of those since they are all nearly new, but you never know. I'll check and report back.

I threw a couple bottles of Heet in there and filled up. Overall, the car *seems* to idle more smoothly, but I still get the occasional jerk and the car will still die backing out of a parking space or the garage if it isn't warmed up for a few minutes first.

I'm beginning to think my whole theory of this being related to fuel system is not correct. The occurrence at time of fillup may have just been a coincidence. I will be doing a full inspection sometime in the next week; hopefully I'll find something obvious.

__________________
08 W251 R350
97 W210 E320
91 W124 300E
86 W126 560SEL
85 W126 380SE Silver
85 W126 380SE Cranberry
79 W123 250
78 W123 280E
75 W114 280