could it be the thermostat ?

[daaabart]

am proud to own a 1991 300sel24 but am not mechanically knowledgeable.Last week drove it to south of france ..OK whilst driving at 100kph each time we stopped at peage it continually cut out . Rescue service had it for 3 days and couldnt find problem. have nursed it home in cooler weather..friend thinks could be a sticking thermostat ??

 

[Myros]

was the temp gauge indicating overheat

would be the first question to ask. They can run quite happily as long as they are out of the red zone. however, your symptoms, and the others you have posted indicate an electrical fualt, rather than a thermostat problem.

Malcolm will probably have an answer for you, but if you could provide some more description and symptoms, it would help.

Welcome aboard btw

 

[Legoman]

a sticking thermostat would show up on your temp gauge tbh , if its normal id lean more towards an ignition fault (seems to be common on our cars) or the temp sender

 

[daaabart]

would be the first question to ask. They can run quite happily as long as they are out of the red zone. however, your symptoms, and the others you have posted indicate an electrical fualt, rather than a thermostat problem.

Malcolm will probably have an answer for you, but if you could provide some more description and symptoms, it would help.

Welcome aboard btw

Temp gaugeabout 85 when cruising, raised to about 90/95 (never near red zone ) on stopping then engine cut out, starts immediate but cut out several times, after 4/5 times stayed alive and OK when reached cruising speed again. Outside temp was hot 29/30c.

 

[Legoman]

thats not the thermostat then , im leaning towards more of an electrical fault tbh , what you say suggests this , mechanical failures dont tend to be intermittent as your describing. agian this sounds like my fault i had , check your dizzy cap and rotor arm , since all this wet weather we had ive heard of countless dizzy cap failures from friends , also both my merc and my golf ones died. my merc would start from cold ok , it would run fine at high revs but at idle on full temp (which drops down to 500-600rpm approx) the car would stall and stutter. people fail to check this on mercs as its not in plain sight like my golf , its hidden under cover at the front of the engine.

 

[daaabart]

loose plug lead

hi legoman
took covers off of diizzy cap and plug leads,,,found that first plug nearest to windshield was not pressed on...would that be a factor ???

seems to run smoother now !!

regards and thanks for your help.

 

[Legoman]

um ..... yes! , that would cause some issues to say the least , you would be running on 1 less cylinder which would stall the car and run rough , at higher speeds it doesnt tend to show up as the engines momentum masks the missing cylinder.

hopefully that should of sorted your problem imo