W124, 1993, E280

[mjtray]

Hi,

I've just purchased a 1993 E280 with 75,000 miles and full MB service history. For its age, its in good condition, however, I do have two minor queries,

1) The throttle pedal seems very stiff....you have to apply a lot of pedal pressure to get the car moving, and you have to keep this pressure up even when its on the move. Is this just a case of a sticky throttle linkage or cable?

2) When you drive the car from cold, if you have to come to a stop, the car will start rhythmically lurching against the brakes and the rev counter needle starts to jump in time to the lurches....nice! This then stops if I shift the transmission into neutral or once the car is up to temperature......whats going on?

Look forward to hearing from you

 

[kid-jensen]

Mjtray,

Re: 1) The cheapest option is a dried-out linkage. There are seemingly hundreds of ball-joints and sliding whatsits involved in this. Oil it with ATF or High temperature grease.

The next cheapest is the throttle cable. To diagnose this, disconnect the engine end and hold it as high as possible in the air. You can then dribble some oil down the cable ( by wiggling the inner) until it soaks your carpet.

If things improve, you can leave it as-is or replace the cable.

Once the throttle is moving smoothly, you can replace the return spring with a lighter one, but by then you will probably have got used to it. I've found that an accelerator that needs a solid shove is less likely to give you ankle-ache on a long journey than a featherweight one.........


Re: 2) The engine is trying to stall. It most likely thinks that it's up to temperature when it isn't. first check is the engine management temperature sensor, (not to be confused with the temperature gauge sensor). I think the resistance figures are in the Haynes manual, so it's health can be easily established.

 

[mjtray]

Thanks Paul...........I'll give it a go and see if things improve. It would be good to get the throttle pedal issue sorted, as it's quite literally a pain in the bum, as I have to keep my leg muscle tensed all the time!!!!!!

Cheers

Martin