I recently purchased a 1989 Mercedes Benz 190E 2.6 liter with high mileage, drove it back home which was about 250 miles. All was going fine, then I started repairs or more correctly performing preventive maintenance. I bought a K&N air filter (before the car was installed with OEM
Mercedes Benz Air Filter), installed it and soon there after started having problems with the car not wanting to accelerate.
It's as though it is running on one or two cylinders, can let up on gas pedal and eventually get the auto up to speed. As long as I am driving at highway speeds all seems to be okay, just some hesitation while on cruise control. As I get into city driving, the problem will reappear, a couple of times I have had to pull over and let the car sort of clear itself.
I suspect the injectors are partially the problem, just not sure how to test or where to get equipment to test injectors. I have installed K&N air filters on most every engine I have owned, their claim to fame is the ability to deliver greater quantities of air. If this is the case, could my air/fuel mixture now be so far off I will need to go back to a paper filter until I can have the air/fuel mixture adjusted?
Unfortunately, I discarded the old filter but would consider purchasing a new paper filter to confirm my theory or perhaps I can choke off the intake. I believe the car is well worth any repairs at this point in time as it drives as well as a new vehicle, quite remarkable considering the car's odometer reads 201,000 and it is no longer working.