Newbie; E240 questions, problems and Hello!

[ScORTED]

Hi all,
I've been browsing your forum looking for help. I've been given an 1999 (T plate) E240 Elegance auto, its done 125,000miles. however it has a (i believe) gearbox problem. If its left to idle till warm it will select drive and go ok, however after a while it slows down and struggles to do 40mph - which as I'm sure you all appreciate is pretty dangerous. If its driven from cold it often struggles to go at all. Often if the car is switched off and restarted it will be ok for a bit. I was told it would probably cost £2000+ to correct, hence why my friend has given me the car.

I'd like more information about the model, I'm a reasonable competant driveway mechanic and have a good mechanic for a mate, niether of us have any knowledge of this model of car. Also how much would an autobox cost? would a manual conversion be a realistic thing to attempt? All my experience centres around FWD fords - mainly escorts

Alsothe car has some surface rust on the door bottoms, boot lock and bonnet around the grille. My grandmother Has a N plate E320 auto which is in much better condition - but it has had the rust patched up before. I know the rust is fairly common on these. would anyone have the official spec/facts figures/costs etc?

James

 

[television]

Hello and welcome, does the engine rev up freely OK this sounds more like a MAF filter problem rather than the gearbox

 

[ScORTED]

I'l give it a try, i abadoned it at a friends house in case it packed up on me somewhere dangerous. What type of sensor is the maf on these cars? is it a simple hot wire setup? if so can it be cleaned or would a replacement part be required. Thank you for the welcome

 

[television]

I'l give it a try, i abadoned it at a friends house in case it packed up on me somewhere dangerous. What type of sensor is the maf on these cars? is it a simple hot wire setup? if so can it be cleaned or would a replacement part be required. Thank you for the welcome

Go to our DIY section and there is an article on cleaning for the same car as yours, it works sometimes or you could unplug it and see if there is any change

 

[ScORTED]

ok many thanks for the advice, i will have a look tomorrow afternoon.

any pointers towards the specs etc?

James

 

[jberks]

Agreed its the MAF - that how it behaves when it goes. 40mph is good actually, I was struggling at 30 when mine went! Idled like a bag of spanners too.
Could also been the O2 sensor, mine went at the same time.
at 125k, get the gearbox oil and filters changed anyway - or you will be looking for a gearbox in the near future!
Plugs need changing around 60k so if not done, there's another job for you.
I found that plug leads started giving problems (idle went lumpy) after 3 years or so. You don't get a proper misfire due to the twinspark but it starts to knock slightly.

The 240 is a V6 twin spark 170bhp / 170 Lbft torque. Not fast but a nice cruiser. Long run mpg 34-37 - Extra urban 26 - round town 15-26. 0-60 arond 9.5 and tops out at 135ish.
The main thing is it's a really smooth cruiser.

Cost wise, I think new it would have been around £30k but depends a lot on spec and model - elegance/avantgarde added £2k, auto £1400 etc.
As far as swapping to manual - it's a V6 Merc - don't be silly!

 

[ScORTED]

thanks for your helpful post.

i will clean the maf - when i unplugged it the car stalls it would start but litterally a few turns before it died. it won't rev up in neutral either.

i'll clean the maf - it look as simple as cleaning an escort one. will report back. many thanks

James

 

[television]

The sensor on that one will be the sensor encased in glass, I think, it always hard to know what goes down. The wire ones clean up with better results

 

[ScORTED]

it was a hot wire style maf as seen in the stickied guide... i cleaned it an absolutely no difference not a sausage. The car hesitates to rev and won't do above 3k. Would it be worth purchasing another maf to rule it out? is the Lambda sensor on these a mjor ecu input/easy to change?

whats next? thanks in advance

James

 

[jberks]

I'd bite the bullet and get an indie to have a play. Partially for the diagnostic (read the fault codes) and partially because they can normally pop in a MAF to try.
At the end of the day, you may waste money and find that all you needed was the MAS, but you may equally find it's something else and you'd have wasted your money.
Also, be aware that there is a lower rev limiter in N and P (no merc revs above around 4-4.5k in neutral) and yes we've all gone back to the dealer compaining of a misfire and left sheepishly!.

 

[ScORTED]

ahh thanks for that... next time i can tear myself away from my various other more interesting projects i'll have another look and try and find a suitable independant to have a look at it.