109e 2.3 16v starting issues. help needed

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gmanrangers

Active Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2011
Messages
210
Location
yorkshire
Car
c36 amg,2.3 16v 190e x2, 1968 280s, 312 sprinter
hi there having trouble getting my car to run. drove the car one day and parked it up. few days later went to start it up and would not fire. car turns over fine just not firing up.
have checked fuel pumps and all ok. its getting fuel to the plugs so dont think its a fuel issue. has had new fuel pressure relay, new ovp relay dizzy cap and rotor arm.
the car is getting a spark when i take a lead of and put another plug in against the engine.
took air box off and the flap moves freely when turning it over. have also swapped my coil over with another one i have and just the same.

does anyone have any ideas what it could be?
any advise appreciated:thumb:
 
When did you renew the rotor arm and dizzy cap [ pre or post fault] occuring ?----- And what make did you use?
 
didnt replace dizzy cap and rotor arm. took it apart and was all clean with no sign of wear or dampness.
you reckon it is at fault?
 
People have had problems in the past after using cheaper HT aftermarket parts [ non Bosch] which sometimes fail prematurely or give rise to poor performance [ e.g. rotor arm shorts to earth via rotor shaft leading to poor spark] hence my question. You could try asking over at Mercedes-190.co.uk lots of good 190 guys across there.
 
every part that goes on the car is from merc dealers. the dizzy cap and rotor arm were done last service i think.
 
anyone any idea what to try next? cant really afford to take it to dealers just now with coming up to christmas
 
i have another one that drives good that i can swap parts over to try find the problem. just dont know where to start
 
really appreciate all the info on my engine grober, thanks. will read through it all and see if i can sus anything out.
 
I have a 2.5-16v which I had converted to EFI to eliminate many of these issues as I lost the dizzy too and went over to coil packs. Im not saying do that as it is expensive business.
However have you confirmed the presence of fuel? It could have gunked up when parked.
Can you hear the fuel pump priming? When you flick the key you will here a buzzing noise from under the back seats. Could be a relay or fuse if you cant confirm it is priming.
 
hi there,
fuel pump priming when ignition on. getting plenty of pressure at regulator in engine bay and the return pipe has less pressure so that works ok. getting fuel to plugs just not firing up. plugs are wet with petrol once removed. when i take a lead of and put spark plug in it sparks against engine, so i assume its getting spark ok.
a bit lost with it
 
Spark or fuel.

You've eliminated fuel so check they all spark.
 
You only need compression fuel and a spark for it to fire up so somewhere along the line you're missing one of those. You say that the plugs are wet so if they are cleaned and replaced it should fire at least if there's compression

CPS never really give much trouble on these cars.

I'd check for compression first, start with the basics before looking too far into this. As Grober has said, the simplex 2.3-16 with the early tensioners are known for the chain jumping teeth on the sprockets - so you would be wise to check for decent compression and/or check the timing (takes a few minutes at most)

If you'd not said that the plugs were wet with fuel, I would also have suggested bridging the FPR as it might be priming at first but not operating the fuel pumps once you turn the engine over.

So check the compression and timing first would be my advice :)

Will
 
thanks for info will.
got a compression test done on it and had timing checked all is good. it should be as 20000 miles ago £3500 was spent on new chain and top end work at mercedes. the fault was the dizzy cap. that one was only done on last service, anyway all is good again with new cap from dealers. £86 and back to normal.
thanks for all the help guys
 
Good to hear the feedback :)

Have to be honest though, you did say in post #1 that it had already had a new distributor cap, and Grober asked about it in post #2 :eek:

Always best to start with the basics, at least you also know that your engine is healthy :cool:

FWIW, you can buy M102 BERU distributor caps and rotor arms from GSF for about £20 - 1/4 of what MB charge. Best quality too IMHO :thumb:

Will
 

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