It happened again in the same exact place. Right in front of my house while slowing to turn into the driveway. Only indication is the steering suddenly got heavy. No shuddering or weird noises. The car runs fine otherwise with just a slight random miss at idle. I do mostly city driving so there are plenty of similar conditions thruout the day. Is my mailbox sending out gamma rays?

__________________
1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

As you know, I also have a 85' 380SE. You may also know I was having a stalling problem, but mainly when placed in gear, when the engine is fully warmed up, but there have been three occasions within 3 months when it stalled while stopping. Once was when I came to a stop to make a right turn. It started right back up and went on. The other time was when I stopped at a traffic light. When it was upshifting, the idle was going down too far and at the end, it stalled. The other time was last week when I was turning into a parking space at the supermarket. It was a sharp left turn (as I was swinging back up toward the other direction), and like you described, the steering became heavy and I noticed the engine had stalled out, but I went ahead and coasted into the space. It has not stalled out since, nor has it stalled when placed in gear, BUT over the past few days (since last Tuesday), temperatures have only been in the 50s, so the engine is running cooler, hence the decline in stalling.

I am wondering if we may not have the same problem- whatever it may be.
__________________
1985 380SE - 265K miles!

Well its been doing it more lately. When it happens its during coasting with gentle braking. I've been watching the tach sometimes dip below 500 and then jump back up. I can't force it to stall out, it just does it on its own. 99% of the time, there no sign of a problem.

I found some history on this car. Turns out it had this problem for a very long time, like since it was brand new! The original owners only kept it for 2 years because MB could not figure it out. Then my dad had it and spent thousands on new parts, but the problem never was resolved.

I though I had it licked when I tightened up various connectors, and it hadn't stalled in months. Now its bordering on dangerous, since it can happen on a highway off-ramp for instance, and its unpredictable.

All vacuum hoses are tight with no cracks. I'm wondering if the little vacuum bypass upgrade on the ICV might fix this?

__________________
1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

RAYMR.... I am still having the exact same issue with my 85' 380SE and it seems to be getting worse.

Last time I drove it (Thursday afternoon), I had taken my mother to the post office and was in the car waiting for her. I left the engine on and left it in drive, so I would not have to deal with the stalling when I placed it in drive. Strangely it stalled out just as I let my foot off of the brake. It started right back up and went on. Before that when I stopped at the bank, I had turned it off. I restarted it and placed in drive and it stalled. It did this twice, then it finally went. This was around 3pm. The engine temperature was at 100*C. Later that evening, I drove it again around 8pm and it did perfectly, as the engine temperature was cooler. I had driven another car earlier in the day. I have 4 cars, but I enjoy driving this one and drive it despite the stalling, but I am about ready to stop driving it later in the day (or on that 2nd or 3rd trip out).

Sometimes my idle will drop to almost "0", yes "0", RPMS when I place it in gear, but it does not stall, but sometimes it does stall. Also, when hot, it idles at 900 rpms, but does not keep it from stalling. Its crazy. Sometimes when I get home, I will "test" it and place it in park, then drive and I cannot make it stall. Like yours, it stalls when it wants to and gives no warnings.

I also do not know it has stalled until like you said, the steering gets heavy. Sometimes mine also stalls when I make a turn into a parking space, or on the slow turns as I near my house. It is starting to get embarrasing, because the other day, it stalled at a traffic light. I was setting there for about 45 seconds, released the brake and it stalled as quickly as turning the ignition off. It started right back and I was on my way. It seems to be getting worse.

I am thinking it is the idle control valve, but now it seems to be linked with the brake pedal. Perhaps a vacuum leak is the problem with mine, but who knows with these cars?

Good luck to you. Hopefully we can get these cars back in proper working order.

today at work i had 2 380 SL's (same engine as both yours cars) that had similar stalling issues. one had the fuel mixture set way too lean, enrichening the mixture fixed it. and the other one had a defective ov relay. have either of you checked these two items? the easiest way to verify if the ov relay is working is remove the air cleaner and see if with the engine running that the frequency valve is working, it will be on the drivers side near the air intake. if it is buzzing or can be felt vibrating it is working.
you can also un plug the idle valve if the ov relay is good idle speed will raise, next would be to check the fuel mixture.

Thanks Carson. I will check those items soon (on my next day off.... Wednesday).

Do a search for w124 + sudden stall.

I take it that your car starts right away, right?

That seems endemic to certain Benzes.

Check the hall effect sensor in your car. Also check the fuel pump and fuel pump relay.

__________________
Current Benzes

1989 300TE "Alice"
1990 300CE "Sam Spade"
1991 300CE "Beowulf" RIP (06.1991 - 10.10.2007)
1998 E320 "Orson"
2002 C320 Wagon "Molly Fox"

Res non semper sunt quae esse videntur

My Gallery

Not in this weather!

This morning I turned the mixture 1/16 turn to the right. I took it for a drive and it *seems* better. Over the next few days I will know for sure. Thanks!

__________________
1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

be sure not to turn the mixture too far, make sure the mixture control is working properly do as i said above. you can check and adjust it with a DMM set on duty cycle, black lead to ground, red lead to pin #3 on the x connecor on drivers fender well. i usually adjust them to oscillate between 38-45%.

I both unplugged the OV relay and idle valve, and idle speed increased in both cases. The duty cycle always reads higher in this car. Now its between 74 and 80%, with red lead on pin 3. It would slowly climb to 80 then pop back down to ~74 repeatedly. No stalling yet.

__________________
1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

that seems too lean to me, ideal is under 50% now lower than 35 no higher than 50

It runs very badly if I try to get it in that range. Maybe it has ECU strangeness, or maybe its part of the original 'uncurable' problem.

__________________
1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

have you tried another ecu? have you tested or replaced the oxygen sensor. have you tried runnung it with the ecu disconnected?

The O2 sensor is new. I haven't done anything with the ECU since my dad had it replaced several years ago. The car passed emissions a few months ago and mileage is decent, so the equipment is mostly working.

I just checked the braingears manual. For my year car there is no specific on/off ratio, but the ratio at idle should be close to what it is at 2500 rpm. I guess I'll check that next.

__________________
1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

50% is what mercedes calls for in the manuals, i adjust to the rich side for better idle quality and to compensate for engine wear and possible vacuum leaks. seeting it where i do does not have negative impact on emissions. so try 50% and see what happens, be sure to rev the engine to get the oil hot, on the side of the engine near the oil filter housing there is an oil temp sensor that only enables lambda when the oil is good and hot.