I promised Simon I'd post the problems I'm having with my 190E 1.8 - I just bought it about a week ago. I knew it had problems before I bought it, and at the price I got it for, I couldn't turn it down. Plus, I would like to think that I'm to the challenge of fixing it up.
I've got the Hayes book, so I do have seom pointers on where things are. Here are my bouts:
Symptons
--------
Hard startes, needs a good nudge on gas while starting, sometimes more than once. Starte motor sounds fine. Right after it starts, sputtering with plenty of engine knock, like its running on 3 cylinders instead of 4. Also, if the car is slightly cold, it will sputter on acceleration from a stand still, knocking all through first up to second gear, but sometimes it doesn't do that. The car is as smooth as butter above 40mph though, and on the motorway, it runs great, purring its way happily at 70mph. It has no problem looking for gear.
My diagnosis
------------
I know from the car's previous owner that the spark plugs need replacing. I'm guessing they explain the hard start and the sputtering, as well as the knock during acceleration from a standstill. I'm also suspecting a set of dirty fuel injectors, or clogged fuel rail.
Symptoms
--------
Chain noise from bottom right of car at idle, as well as rolling starts, up to 30mph. No grating noise, just sounds like a loose chain.
My diagnosis
------------
No clue. It doesn't seem to be affecting performance, it's just a noise, but I'm concerned it might be something serious that needs to be looked at.
Symptoms
--------
Car overheats in stuck traffic. Temperature shoots past 80 while oil pressure is 2.something. If the car is in D at a stoplight, the car shakes, threatening to stall. Once shifted into neutral, it idles at 1000rpm, which I think is too high.
My diagnosis
------------
I'm sure the water pump needs replacing, and maybe a radiator and cooling system flush. There is defintely no coolant loss because I check the reservoir bottle every day and it hasn't moved, which means I'm not losing water. The previous owner told me the water pump defintely needs replacing (find out why below). That explains the overheating, but doesn't explain the stall threat in D.
Symptoms
--------
On full wheel lock, the car stalls, in both D and R.
My diagnosis
------------
Previous owner told me he blew the head gasket while stuck in traffic in London. The car overheated (due to faulty water pump), and they got his engine block welded. The technicians told him that there was 'compression' loss and that was why the car stalled on full wheel lock. To me, that doesn't make sense because the car runs like silk over 40mph. I've tried kickdowns and the car will happily go for hours at 80. The acceleration is pretty impressive, and eventhough I've never experienced the 1.8's performance, I can tell it has gobs of torque. I can't see how there is compression issues in one of the cylinders. Also, my old man has an 84 200, and it had the same problem (nearly stalling on full wheel lock). Turned out to be electrical. In my car, the alternator and battery have been recently replaced.
Any help I can get will be much appreciated.
By the way, I can't find the OVP relay behind the battery. I've been told that it could be responsible for the funny acceleration behavior, but I can't find it.
Waiting for those grease monkey comments!
I've got the Hayes book, so I do have seom pointers on where things are. Here are my bouts:
Symptons
--------
Hard startes, needs a good nudge on gas while starting, sometimes more than once. Starte motor sounds fine. Right after it starts, sputtering with plenty of engine knock, like its running on 3 cylinders instead of 4. Also, if the car is slightly cold, it will sputter on acceleration from a stand still, knocking all through first up to second gear, but sometimes it doesn't do that. The car is as smooth as butter above 40mph though, and on the motorway, it runs great, purring its way happily at 70mph. It has no problem looking for gear.
My diagnosis
------------
I know from the car's previous owner that the spark plugs need replacing. I'm guessing they explain the hard start and the sputtering, as well as the knock during acceleration from a standstill. I'm also suspecting a set of dirty fuel injectors, or clogged fuel rail.
Symptoms
--------
Chain noise from bottom right of car at idle, as well as rolling starts, up to 30mph. No grating noise, just sounds like a loose chain.
My diagnosis
------------
No clue. It doesn't seem to be affecting performance, it's just a noise, but I'm concerned it might be something serious that needs to be looked at.
Symptoms
--------
Car overheats in stuck traffic. Temperature shoots past 80 while oil pressure is 2.something. If the car is in D at a stoplight, the car shakes, threatening to stall. Once shifted into neutral, it idles at 1000rpm, which I think is too high.
My diagnosis
------------
I'm sure the water pump needs replacing, and maybe a radiator and cooling system flush. There is defintely no coolant loss because I check the reservoir bottle every day and it hasn't moved, which means I'm not losing water. The previous owner told me the water pump defintely needs replacing (find out why below). That explains the overheating, but doesn't explain the stall threat in D.
Symptoms
--------
On full wheel lock, the car stalls, in both D and R.
My diagnosis
------------
Previous owner told me he blew the head gasket while stuck in traffic in London. The car overheated (due to faulty water pump), and they got his engine block welded. The technicians told him that there was 'compression' loss and that was why the car stalled on full wheel lock. To me, that doesn't make sense because the car runs like silk over 40mph. I've tried kickdowns and the car will happily go for hours at 80. The acceleration is pretty impressive, and eventhough I've never experienced the 1.8's performance, I can tell it has gobs of torque. I can't see how there is compression issues in one of the cylinders. Also, my old man has an 84 200, and it had the same problem (nearly stalling on full wheel lock). Turned out to be electrical. In my car, the alternator and battery have been recently replaced.
Any help I can get will be much appreciated.
By the way, I can't find the OVP relay behind the battery. I've been told that it could be responsible for the funny acceleration behavior, but I can't find it.
Waiting for those grease monkey comments!