I have a 92 200TE wagon with 100k on the clock. It is giving an intermittent hesitation problem when accelerating. Sometimes the car responds immediatley, sometimes it takes a few seconds. This problem is evident both when accelerating from a standing start or when the car is rolling at speed. Car also starts off with revs at about 850RPM but soon drop after about 5 mins to 500RPM and is quite rough at idle.

Work Done.
Auto gearbox checked and does not appear to be at fault
Carburettor & fuel injection system checked - no faults identified
Exhaust - Catalytic converter broken up inside. Car does not require a Cat so Cleaned out but - no affect.
70 degree Vacuum Value & Breather hose replaced - no affect.
Replaced new Bosch distributor cap and rotor - no affect

The car is the old 2.0L engine and has no air flow meter.

I have exhausted all the specialist mechanics. Please let me know if you have any ideas at all that may be causing this.

I have the same problem right now with my 1989 300ce. I just bought the car. It was in storage for a long time. When did yours start to happen?

i bought the car 4 months ago and it has awlays been there, although not noticed when i test drove it or when i had it checked by my mechanic. Previous owner has left the country (luckly for him!!!!) I have now been to 4 different mechanics and i am still no closer to fixing it. It is very dangerous. When you try and pull into traffic you don't know if the car will take off or simply creep for upto 5 seconds before the acceleration kicks in. And when you want to overtake it may kick in immediatley or again seem to almost hold back for a few seconds and languish before doing what you expect.

I know exactly whay you mean. I am experiencing the exact same thing. Have you changed your spark plugs yet? That's what I'm going to do today or maybe tomorrow.

No not yet. I am so frustrated with this car that i need to get rid of it but nobody would buy it in this condition. I bought it for my wife but she won't drive it. The car is due a service in about 700 miles but it was last serviced nearly 2 years ago. However my mechanic does not feel that the filters or plugs are the reason behind this. I have had a carburettor and fuel injection specialist look at it for 2 days and run loads of tests. He replaced the distributor cap and i'm sure he would have checked the plugs while he was at it. What have you ruled out so far, or what have you tried to date?

I have only driven my car 4 days now in total. I haven't even put 100km on it yet. I did an engine flush and changed the oil and filter. I am going to buy new spark plugs this afternoon and see what happens. I am also going to change my air filter. I haven't decided with which filter to buy yet. I am thinking of a K & N filter. This may or may not help the problem, but I want to change these parts regardless since teh car has been sitting for so long.

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1989 300CE Astralsilber/Schwarz
1992 300CE Schwarz/Schwarz

good luck and please be sure to let me know what difference if any it made.

I will keep you posted each step of the way.

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1989 300CE Astralsilber/Schwarz
1992 300CE Schwarz/Schwarz

hey guys i would just change the wire set, distributor cap adn rotors + spark plugs before touching anything else
let me know if that works out for u
take care
mani

Thanks for the input. I have already changed the distributor cap and rotor with new Bosch parts, but for some reason neither my mechanic nor any of the other 3 i went to suggested changing the spark plugs even though the car has not been serviced in nearly 2 years. Mileage wise it is only coming due for it's 108,000 mile service in another 700 miles. I don't want to pay for a service as i need to sell the car and buy one my wife will actually drive.

Why would they not start with the plugs??? What is their reasoning behind this? I have spend over $600 messing around with differnet mechanics and tests etc.

I just bought the spark plugs today and they only cost me $12.97 Canadian ($9.50 USD). I think that is a cheap investment to see if it rectifies the problem.

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1989 300CE Astralsilber/Schwarz
1992 300CE Schwarz/Schwarz

No way!!!! i thought that they would cost upto $200. Go on put them in, give it and drive and let me know what happens.........

Margey, have the local specialists check that the Oxygen sensor is functioning properly. According to the Maintenance Manual the Oxygen sensor should be replaced every 60,000 miles.

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Fred Hoelzle

Hi Fred, welcome to the discussion. The answer is that I don't know, but i will find out. I seem to be spending way too much time on this car at present. I have to go back this afternoon to one of the diagnostic specialists as he cleared out my catalytic converter last week as it had broken up. The car now rattles badly from the exhaust so he is going to remove the cat and replace with straight pipe. I will ask him if he checked that out when he examined the engine. Thanks for the input

Thanks Margey, I have a feeling it's the O2 sensor. Can you give me what's entailed in replacint it? Is it on the tailpipe? What's one cost?