190E 2.6 has become gutless & less willing to rev.

[neilrr]

About 3 weeks ago my automatic 190E 2.6 Sportline didn't want to run properly at all.

It wouldn't accelerate as it always had before, wouldn't rev past 4,000 rpm & when kicked down it would drop still down a gear or two, make the right noises but wouldn't pick up worth a damn. It also seemed to need a heavier foot just to keep speed constant & would lose speed on any incline, even if floored.

By a process of elimination I figured it was fuel delivery & changed the fuel filter. Immediately this improved things, but not to the point where it had been before. It's harder to kick down, doesn't rev as smoothly & still feels a bit gutless & lethargic. The car has 146K on the clock but until this happened the engine was as sweet as a nut & as smooth as silk, revving to the redline easily & willingly & pulling strongly all the way through the rev range.

Now, assuming (perhaps incorrectly?) that it's still something to do with the old blocked fuel filter, what could be amiss?

I changed the EHA for a unit I knew to be working perfectly & this made no real difference. Plugs are recent, dizzy & rotor are good.

Any ideas anyone?

 

[grober]

Maybe your fuel pump is failing to reach the required pressure/delivery/ Renewing the filter helped but maybe still not quite enough. Other possibility is a blocked fuel tank vent- the way to test this is to run with the filler cap loose. Other possibility is your EZL ignition unit is on its way out so no ignition advance?

 

[jonnyboy]

Have you checked oil and water for contamination, compression test etc?

 

[neilrr]

Have you checked oil and water for contamination, compression test etc?

The possibility of a CHG problem occurred to me & I have checked coolant & oil for mixing. All looks good, temp is the same as before & the car isn't using oil or coolant.

 

[neilrr]

Maybe your fuel pump is failing to reach the required pressure/delivery/ Renewing the filter helped but maybe still not quite enough. Other possibility is a blocked fuel tank vent- the way to test this is to run with the filler cap loose. Other possibility is your EZL ignition unit is on its way out so no ignition advance?

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll investigate tomorrow.

 

[jonnyboy]

neil, just a thought, have you a spare OVP relay ? i had a running fault problem with an m103 once that was the cause.

 

[neilrr]

Well, it turns out that I am the cause of the problem.

When the car first started to run badly I fiddled around with it, taking the dizzy cap off & plugs out for a quick look, leads taken off & replugged. air filter out for an inspection & vacuum & EZL switched from 'S' to 'N' because I thought it was meant to be on 'N'. (Must RTFM on that section)

Everything else apart from the EZL, which I forgot about, was returned to it's original configuration. This morning I turned the EZL back to the position it's always been in & the car is running fine again. Doh!

Thanks for your suggestions boys.