E-200 Engine Stalls After going over a high hump

wuqi25

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Hi all,

Just recently acquired a E200, '92 model. It worked fine for a while but the past few months, alot of things started to fall apart it seems. The motors on the glass windows don't work and was replaced. Old tyres were replaced by 205 ones, air con compressor suddenly fails and when it jammed,it cause the fan belt to tear and tear it did, stranding me (luckily near my home) for a while before i manage to start the car and drive it home. This was replaced together with the fan belt. As you can see, i have really spent alot on this car but recent developments has made it worse. I have a couple of questions which i really appreciate help with:

1. My E200 stalls with all the warning lights on halfway when going over a particularly high hump or when i hit a hump harder than usual. This has happened 3 times over a week. Very disturbing. I really don't know what could be the cause.

2. When accelerating from 40 to 60 km/ph, sometimes when i release the accelerator for a moment, i feel a drastic decrease in engine power followed by a very noticeable slowing of acceleration and thereafter, an almost relunctant effort on the car to go faster and i have to coax it for a while.

3. My car seems to use up the water in the radiator alot, used to be once a week when i have to top it up, nowadays its 2 days. I have to top up my engine oil once every 10 days also. Does it bode badly for a '92 E-200 or is this still considered normal.

4. Lastly, the tyre pressure on my car is rated at 51 PSI or at 350 maximum. I have filled my tyres to 280. What is the best pressure to set the tire to?

Very grateful if anyone can advise me. Some factors and background information below for reference:

1. New driver - Only 6 months experience including with this car
2. Car is a '92 E-200 Automatic (Petrol)
3. Ambient temperature in Singapore ranges from 24-36 degrees centigrade
4. Tyres are new, soft type, 205 with 51PSI maximum rating
5. Average milage on the car is less than 100km per day (Around 75 on average) and maximum per week is at 700km.
6. Car is regularly serviced. Synthetic oil and filter change. Last serviced in November 24.
7. When fan belt broke, had to drive back to home as it was the middle of the night(Took 15 minutes to get home, power steering non-existant during that time)
8. Petrol used is primarily '98 Unleaded
9. Regularly top up depleted engine oil with normal (non-synthetic) engine oil.
10. Had an front end to truck backend collision when the truck roll down a slope which dented the bonnet and smashed a left headlight in November.
11. Yellow indicator light shows up when i am doing a U-Turn to the right(doesn't show up when turning on the left though) - Indicator Yellow in colour, looks like a complete circle with a short line at each corner

Really appreciate any assistance i can get. Thanks in advance.
 

joe bloggs

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Hi there, my money would be on the overvoltage protection relay, cars around this age seem to suffer from poor connections/faulty relays, should be screwed to the bulkhead behind the battery, or clipped to the plastic control unit rack behind battery (black cover possibly, relay has a clear top with a fuse on top), gentle tapping while running engine sometimes produces the symptoms, have a look at the fuse on top, are the connections clean?
Bit concerned re your tyre pressures - 280psi???, average should be around 30psi

Check for coolant leaks at the rubber pipe that emerges from the bottom of your water pump, have a general look round for leaks, does the car run hot?
 
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wuqi25

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Thank you so much, i will have a look at it, is it cheap to just replace the fuse? This is because i have been somewhat "fleeced" by our local mechanics as some of the shops i've been to charged me "an arm and a leg for minor issues." A bit on the dodgy side but nevertheless, not much of a choice given that i know nuts about cars. No leaks that i can find, engine running around 80 degrees (not sure whether its centigrade though) but the water inside goes away within 2 to 2 1/2 days and whenever i am topping up the water, notices lots of dirt and mud like muck on the cap and in the radiator tank. Another thing, when making right turns, a yellow indicator warning light flashes, looks like a circle surrounded by short diagonal lines, located at each of the four corners. This only happened today. Thanks again for your great help.
 
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wuqi25

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The tyre pressure is rated at around 350 PSI i think, the equivalent in the other form of measurement is around 33 so i am not sure if this is the best/safest tyre pressure to maintain.
 

joe bloggs

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Warning lamp is for low front brake pads, don't panic this is an indication they are getting low, and will begin to come on a bit more as they wear, just replace reasonably soon, check the rears also,as they do not have sensors.
Coolant loss could be (sorry) head gasket, quick test is to fill your coolant bottle right to the top, run the engine and look for bubbles emerging. not too difficult / serious a job to replace on your car, don't let the dealer overcharge, post your chassis no and I can give you the official MB time for this job.
 
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wuqi25

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joe bloggs said:
Warning lamp is for low front brake pads, don't panic this is an indication they are getting low, and will begin to come on a bit more as they wear, just replace reasonably soon, check the rears also,as they do not have sensors.
Coolant loss could be (sorry) head gasket, quick test is to fill your coolant bottle right to the top, run the engine and look for bubbles emerging. not too difficult / serious a job to replace on your car, don't let the dealer overcharge, post your chassis no and I can give you the official MB time for this job.

Thanks again, really appreciate it, but the strange thing is that the indicator light only comes on when i turned right or make a right U turn but strangely not when i turned left and i wasn't touching my brake too. Oh i see, head gasket? So if i fill it up with water, run the engines, what and where should i be looking out for the bubbles(so sorry, ignorant fool here) Also, about the OVP issue, can i clean the connections myself if its really a dirty connection problem? What should i look out for?
 

panason1c

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Could the indicator light also be the 'low brake fluid' warning light?...try topping up brake the master cylinder (with brake fluid)
 

joe bloggs

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No this is a red lamp, doubles as the handbrake w/lamp. Reason for orange lamp coming on when cornering is either 1. slight movement in the disc/ hub when under cornering stress and making a better connection with the worn pad sensor 2. possibly the wire from the sensor fouling on something and earthing, or 3. the front struts are not earthing correctly and the earth via the pad sensors is intermittantly coming and going (happened to me).
Bubbles may appear on the surface of the coolant bottle which you have filled to the top, leave the cap off and look for bubbles emerging on the surface, should be fairly obvious if your gasket has blown.
Over volt. relay is a sealed unit and if found to be the culprit is best replaced.
 
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wuqi25

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I am going to send it in for servicing this weekend. Is there anyway you can post a picture of the bubbles or the coolant top? Also if you could post a pictue of a typical E200 OVP relay i will be very grateful. So sorry to be a bother.
 

stwat

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If you do see bubbles from the top of the exspansion bottle, smell them. Sounds daft i know but if they smell like exshaust gasses then you know its the head gasket.

Stu
 


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