Starting Problems

[Chris Gardner]

Hi,

I Have a 1987 W124 300TE with 180k on the clock. About a month ago (whilst in traffic) it spluttered, cut out and refused to restart. It did restart 30 mins later and drove perfectly.

It did the same the next day and was dispatched to a local garage who diagnosed a faulty ignition control unit. This was replaced with one from a breakers. Although it still (generally) won't start, the exception to this being last weekend when it did start and ran and idled cleanly right up until I put it in gear (automatic) and it died and would not restart.

Today a mobile crypton tuner has been and left stumped, although he did say there was a really good spark at the plug, fuel was getting through and generally it should have been starting. It turns over but will not catch. Has anyone got any ideas - I am thinking of a sensor but am guessing now.

Many thanks

 

[Andy]

Hi

I would remove the distributor cap & check the rotor arm bracket. Make sure it has not broken.


Regards


Andy@ www.mercedesservicing.com

 

[adi_88_99]

no start

try fuel pump relay ( bridge 30 with 87 for trial), overvoltage relay (the one with a fuse) or Cranckshaft positioning sensor (sticks into Ignition ECU)

 

[Arnie]

I had this problem twice on a G300 (same M103 engine); once when travelling at 30mph and the other time a few days later when trying to start in a car park. (Same thing with engine dieing when putting auto-box into drive.) Enventually, after some 10 minutes of rest, it started and stayed on, having let it idle for a few minutes, before selecting D.

When I got home, I then stripped out all the ignition leads, cleaned them and the distributer cap and rotor and fitted new spark-plugs. I also checked the OVP relay, unplugged and reconnected it to check for loose or corroded connections. (In my case the OVP relay also powers the ABS and never noticed the ABS light comming on during the problems- so I don't think that was the fault.)

Anyway, the only really real thing that I noted was that there were some minor signs of corona tracking on the inside of distributer cap, so I cleaned it with WD40 and gave the brass contacts a quick scrape with medium-grit "sand" paper.

I did however, suspect the fuel pump not working properly as this could cause a lack of fuel and power.

Touch wood, the car has been fine for the last 6 months.