W124 300e cold starting issue.

[richard300]

Recently acquired a 1989 300ce - And even though ultimately it's to be a weekend car, or something to just tinker with when work, wife and kids allow - I am initially using it every day, to try and get a feel for it and because i have just sold my daily driver and have not yet found a replacement.

The car had been sitting (mostly) for the best part of 6 months and i plan to service the car, replacing the following items:

Oil and filter
Air filter
Spark plugs
HT Leads
Fuel filter

The car has a little bit of a rough idle maybe even the slightest hint of a misfire and when i first drove the car home, i could smell petrol quite badly.

The smell of fuel seems to have subsided the more i use the car, and it feels like it runs better than that initial journey BUT the car has a cold start problem..

If i try to start the car it will turn over but just won’t start - i could spend 40 seconds holding the key and it won’t start, but the second i release the key it catches and starts from then on it starts fine until its left for a number of hours.

Will my service cure this or is it a familiar problem associated with something else?

 

[John Jones Jr]

The first items I'd replace are the distributor cap & rotor, Bosch ones. I could tell you several tales of woe due to worn caps & rotors on M103's!

 

[richard300]

Thanks - I will add them to the list of service items.

 

[GP801]

+1. These cars get through distributor caps and rotor arms with determined regularity. MB genuine ones are the best for a relatively small extra outlay.