Hello

I was searching the net for Mercedes manuals and found this forum, and found a few old posts relating to some of the problems I'm having with my beloved 1990 carburated 2.6 190E Mercedes.

I have some repair experience and have done a number of repairs on my cars through the years. The most ambitious being replacing the left front control arm, axle, ball joint and brake caliper on a 74 sirrocco.

First I was curious where everyone is getting their repair manuals. I noticed Chiltons doesn't have anything after 1984. Did mercedes stop them from publishing them? I saw that mercedes sells the manuals, but like everything else mercedes, they are somewhat pricey.

My most pressing problem with the car is that the waterpump is making noise and the engine is overheating. My wife's mechanic puts the job at $500, $300 for the pump from the dealer and $200 for labor. Is this a job I can or would want to do?

The other issue is that the engine will, from time to time, surge while idling, and sometimes stalls. My previous mechanic could never figure it out and eventually disconnected the O2 sensor. He thought it might be the computer, but was able to find another computer to temporarily put in the car to check and the car still had the same problem. Now with the O2 sensor disconnected, the car still has the same problem. Another potentially related problem is the cruise control doesn't work properly. Sometimes it works, but sometimes it feels like the car is trying to hang on to the speed it's set at, and then just lets go. It feels like a vacumn problem, but I don't know.

The car is probably worth about a $1000 on a good day. If I pay to get it fixed, I'm looking at $500 for the water pump, probably $300 for a broken rear window regulator, maybe $500 for the O2 sensor. Not to mention I live in CA and the catalytic converter has to be changed the next time I have to get it smogged (next January)

I like the car, but with a 6 month old baby, my wife refuses to drive it anymore. I'd like it to be reliable again.

But the first step is the water pump. If I get that fixed... at least I can drive it.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Alan

Alan, take a look at alldatadiy.com. They have online repair manuals you can subscribe to for a pretty reasonable price. The info is usually pretty good, but not as good as some of the DIY articles on this very site.

As far as parts go, click the "buy parts" link at the top of the page and see if Phil can help you out with your water pump. Good luck!

__________________
"It's not about how fast you can go, but how well you can go fast."

Bob in Richmond

'97 S320 (LWB), Ruby Red Metallic, 73k miles
'97 S420V, Smoke Silver Metallic, 155k miles

As far as manuals go, try the "factory" CD, either from MB or E-bay

Graf makes a "good" aftermarket pump. YOU get a new one instead of a reman from MB.

Job can take 3.5-5 hrs to replace that pump.

__________________
MERCEDES Benz Master Guild Technician (6 TIMES)
ASE Master Technician
Mercedes Benz Star Technician (2 times)
44 years foreign automotive repair
27 Years M.B. Shop foreman (dealer)
MB technical information Specialist (15 years)
190E 2.3 16V ITS SCCA race car (sold)
1986 190E 2.3 16V 2.5 (sold)
Retired Moderator

What does "good" mean. I just put a graf in my 420sel. Does that mean in a couple of years I'll be needing another one?

__________________
1984 300SD Orient Red/ Palomino
1989 560SEC
2016 Mazda 6 6 speed manual
1995 Ford F-150 reg cab 4.9 5speed manual

http://www.startekinfo.com/StarTek/outside/8002/?requestedDocId=8002

MCDoc

I've been looking on the board, and most of the people who do it themselves say it takes them more like 7 or 8 hours.... plus with the recommendation that I replace the belt and belt tensioner. Then also there's a recommendation that I buy a special tool from this threadhttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=29568&highlight=190e+waterpump

Any one have a different experience? I don't want to be in a situation where I'm cutting bolts off the old one, etc...

Alan