300E stopped starting follow up
 

Problem was the car just would not start; strong gas smell, checked one plug and it smelled of gas; car sat for about a day, started up, moved it, pulled another out of the garage, started it up again and drove it in the garage. A day later, drove around got it good and warm, parked it; started up again; checked all plugs, all have same tan color on the top; only first one had a hint of gas smell, oil does not smell of gas; the only clear consistent is the orange spark from the plug; thinking it ought to be blue; poor coil wire? When it is running it is so smooth you can't feel or hear it in the car and that is with over 214k! I think I will replace the coil wire and check the spark. Any special specs on the coil wire I should pay attention too? Anyone have any thoughts? I don't like not knowing what happened. David

did you check the cap and rotor? if they look worn replace them, check the coil wire at the dist. cap they tend to corrode at the connection. hope this helps

You should just replace all the wires if there is a question about spark getting to the plugs. Also, how old are the plugs? It is possible that the one you are focusing on could have too large a gap or it could be a bad plug. Plugs are pretty cheap, so I would just replace them too.

When I was having problems, I replaced everything in the ignition system, cap, rotor, wires, plugs, supression cover, distributer cover, and coil. the engine purrs like a kitten now.

Good luck.

Sam

Thanks for the replies; that is the road I am heading down, plus checking the injectors and eventually replacing them; changed plugs last night;