mercedes 190e 2.0 - misfiring engine

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Sun 23 Dec 2012 20:00
mercedes 190e 2.0 - misfiring engine - johnyswoonara

I have a 190e 2.0 litre year 1993 . I was driving in trafic at aby 30mph and sudenly in started to run on 3 insted of 4 slight loss of power etc. Ive had the car for 5 years and never thrashed the engine .Even now she is starts strait away, but she just wont run smoothly like she used too.My local garage has checked the distibter cap ht leads spark plugs etc and they seem ok.they have surgested that it might be something internal. I was just wondering could it be somthing more strait forward like a blocked and varnished up fuel injector or a partly blocked catalitic convertor. when it strted to run uneven at the time I did open my window to hear the engine and I got a strong smell of sulfer from undernethe the car for a brief second.could it be damaged sensor other electrics somewhere or am I missing something really simple. would welcome some surgestions. thanks.

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Sun 23 Dec 2012 21:19
mercedes 190e 2.0 - misfiring engine - elekie&a/c doctor
A compression test would be the next step.It may have a burnt out valve.hth
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Tue 25 Dec 2012 15:01
mercedes 190e 2.0 - misfiring engine - johnyswoonara
A compression test would be the next step.It may have a burnt out valve.hth

thanks , I had a compression test done and the mechanic told me it was good. A couple of hours befor it played up I drove through a massive puddle that was half way across the road. I know this sounds stupid but could the water have somehow spayed underneath the plastic cover that protects the fuel pump, filter and acumilator . ?

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Wed 26 Dec 2012 01:47
mercedes 190e 2.0 - misfiring engine - countryroads

Water can get into all sorts of funny places, just last week I seriously upset a Toyota Camry splashing through a puddle on my own drive! Be methodical, I would do this:

Remove and clean/dry all HT leads at both ends (inspect for cracks)

Remove coil lead and do the same

Remove spark plugs, check condition (I would replace anyway if more than 12months old)

Make sure all LT connections at coil are clean, dry and tight. Do same at battery. Give everything a nice spray of water dispersing electrical spray, not WD40!

Once you get the car running on all 4 again, get the engine good and hot and do some full throttle runs, kickdown if automatic and work the engine hard to get rid of some of the built up carbon. Run some good quality petrol through it, maybe with a dose of injector clean.

If anything in the ignition is old, replace it, rotor arm, cap, leads, plugs, coil etc. EuroCarParts is having a sale, very cheap! its nearly a classic now and worth doing!

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Wed 26 Dec 2012 13:01
mercedes 190e 2.0 - misfiring engine - vsick

The sulphur smell is the cat ,could be collapsed or blocked but get a diagnostic done first to elimate any electrical faults.

Exactly how deep was the puddle and what were the compression readings this could be the dreaded deep puddle hydraulicing syndrone.

Mileage and compression readings are crucial here.

Edited by vsick on 26/12/2012 at 13:03

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