190e cutting out.

TheJim

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Hello chaps.

My 2l 190e has started cutting out again. last time it did the whole (drive fine for ten minutes..... judder judder.... die....... oh, I am all OK now) routine it seemed to be water in the petrol and was cured with injector cleaner.

Now, I could be jumping to conlusions here. But it was a rather wet day yesterday, to put it mildly, and the last time the car did this it had been torrential too.

So,

If I make the assumption that water is getting in my fuel tank from the weather, where should I start to look? I presume that the breather is the hole in the bottom right hand part of the hatch for the cap. Could this be the problem?

Are there any hoses elsewhere that I should check?

Also, on occasion there has been a strong petrol smell in the car. This has only ever happened a couple of times though.

Cheers, Jim.
 
E

Ed pies

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I had a similar problem recently with my 300SL, always stalling following torrential rain.
The rac guy took off the cover to the distibutor cap (where the leads form the spark plugs go)and 'liberally' applied WD40into it. He believed that water (either directly or through condensation) had got into distributor and used the WD40 to get it out.

I then proceeded to similarly dowse the cap in wd40 everytime I had a judder, which cured it in the short term.

I then got my local back street garage (who always do the basic jobs for me) to cover the distributor cap in silicon grease to prevent any further ingress of water and replace the plastic cover. I have happily done 2,000 miles in the last two months, including a 500 mile round trip this weekend and have had no problems.

It could be that the distributor cap is cracked (ouch) but it is worth a try.
good Luck
 

ducati

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Have you dained your tank- any water in there is not going to go away!
 
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TheJim

TheJim

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The dizzy might be worth a go, I will give it a blast with the water dispersant later. But surely it would fail to start rather than stall after a few minutes?

This morning it was fine one minute then idling lumpily as hell. Annoying.

Ducati, I don't fancy draining the fuel tank. Last time I used injector cleaner which being a detergent emulsified the water into the fuel and got it out that way. A good tip I got from a mechanic who specialises in K-Jetronic.
 

Myros

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the dizzy cap thing can be variable

what happens is the humidity builds up in the dizzy internally and then condenses on the inside of the cap and shorts out your spark. I had one do the same, and it didn't need any rain to provoke the symptoms. After a while of stationary contemplation by the roadside, the cap would dry itself out in the heat of the engine bay and off I went again until the next cut-out.
If it's the tank, then that hole in the hatch is the drain for the cap hatch, and not the vent. I think the vent comes out somewhere else, ususally through a filter and a valve.
If water is getting into your tank, it's either through the filler with the petrol (try a different filling station), the cap, buy a new one, or the tank's integrity is compromised somewhere.
I'd attack them in that order as that's the cheapest way to do it as well.
 
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TheJim

TheJim

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Having just inspected the filler cap area, I have just noticed that the rubber skirt that goes around the neck of the filler and seals against the bodywork has a tear in it. Could that do it?

I had never noticed it before......

To check the tank and hoses I am guessing that I need to take the back seat out. Is that right?
 
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TheJim

TheJim

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Hard to know as I have not seen the tank itself and I don't know if that (which would seem to be from a diesel) is similar or not.

I have had problems with the boot lid leaking..... So maybe the guage sender pipe thingy is where water is getting in. It looks like it would be more or less under the rear window. It would also explain the fumes inside the car......

I think you might have put me on the right track. Thank you.

I will have a look tonight and see what I can see.
 


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