Hesitation on M104 300TE

[ytr1903]

Hi Everyone,

My daughter is driving a 1993 M104 300TE. A week or so ago the CEL came on, but the car continued running well, so I didn't jump on the solution. As of a couple of days ago the CEL went out by itself. Yesterday, the car started exhibiting some hesitation issues. Here is an excerpt from an email that my daughter sent to me today, "started today (wed) the wagon is not acting right. when i start going, it takes about 10 seconds to kickinto gear to go. also, when i sit at a red light, the car acts like it is going to die several times and i can hear a rattling under the driver's side. also, it smells like fireworks burning". She has been trained (by yours truly) to observe the problem and report back to me. She is really pretty good at looking at changes in the car's behavior.

The wiring harness was replaced several years ago. I did a search on this subject and the spark plug connectors, the spark plugs and the coils seem to be a recurring theme. Am I on the right track? I will run the codes on the CEL when I get my hands on the car on Monday. I guess the fireworks smell is due to backfiring. Any help is truly appreciated here.

Thanks,
Tom