starting problems

[bigdave12]

when cold my 1988 230 coupe auto wont start untill about the 5 or 6th turn of the key, then it will start, revs will go to 10 but then drop straight away to 5 and the engine will cut out. this happens a few times and then when car seems to warm up it starts up straight away, revs are fine and i can drive away with no more problems until i turn the engine off leave it for a few hours come back and have the same problem. a couple of people i know have said it could be the auto choke. does anyone have any solutions? and is there a starting sequence for these cars? thanks

 

[BlackC55]

Sounds like the cold start enrichment is faulty.

 

[grober]

see my other post here. http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=33066&page=3

 

[bigdave12]

how difficult and expensive of a job is it?

 

[grober]

how difficult and expensive of a job is it?

If you mean the relay then its located behind the battery behind the plastic cover usually marked kickdown 4zl or similar. Its a simple-- remove the old relay --plug in the new one. The relay cost new is below £100 but sometimes they can be repaired with a soldering iron-dry joints on the circuit board inside. Assuming that's the problem of course. It could be several other things of course.

 

[kevin747]

when engine starts is it running lumpy for a minute or two then ok .
if so could be injectors leaking ,
if just turns over not firing up then i would suggest it is the one way valve on the end of the fuel pump , it screws into the body of the pump and is available seperatly or with a new pump , regards kevin

 

[bigdave12]

when it does eventually start after cutting out a couple of times the engine idles on about 5 on the rev counter then slowly moves up when the car gets warm, its only a problem when the car is cold or left for a few hours!

 

[bigdave12]

thanks for the replies everyone, problem is now sorted it was the ovp relay one of the 10 amp fuses ontop had blown, changed that this morning and it started first time in the cold. now running smoothly. great forum cheers for the advice!