engine surging

[gt-83]

posted a couple of days ago about buying an old 260e with 216000 miles (turns out its nearly 220000), well i bought it and she really has been looked after with thousands spent attending to every problem, however, not the problem i have just discovered! on start up she runs at 1500 revs then falls to 600 which is fine, but then up to 1500 again.....600 1500 600 1500 sometimes for a couple of seconds sometimes for a minute, just taken the filter housing of to see the flap going up and down, pulled a few small hoses off but no difference, any ideas appreciated

i should add that its an old 1987 model so no loom problems (i think)

oh and it continues even when the car is up to temperature

 

[d w124]

Great,post some pictures when you can
As to your problem,you might have a vacum leak but also giving the throttle body a clean might help
I would wait for more feedback from the chaps as I'm not an expert

 

[jaymanek]

It will be an idle control valve issue, If its anything like the V8;s then the idle valve is a small cylindrical unit with two hoses spouting from it... if its been stuck that long id bet the valve is stuck.

 

[gt-83]

ok, just removed the valve, and it seems to be free (will revolve easily) could it still be this valve that is the problem........really frustrating as it just jumps from 600 to 1500 in a second and back again

 

[gt-83]

pictures are better than words, this is a video of the problemYouTube - ‪260e idle problem‬‏

 

[gt-83]

Thanks to Jaymanek, problem solved, flushed the valve through a few times with degreaser and all is well, only got the car yesterday so not a good start