W124 cutting out (fuel incompatible?)

[Sala]

Hi all,
New to this and would be grateful for some advice. I have owned my 1990 e class coupe 300ce (petrol engine) for the last 12 years used more or less daily. Recently it started cutting out and miss firing. Took it to Merk specialist garage who replaced 1 of the fuel pipes and also cleaned some other bits and told us the problem is due to the fact tha the petrol we use nowadays is no longer compatible for this car. It seemed to run ok after that but then a couple of weeks later it cut out again and the misfiring started again . Has anyone ever had a similar problem and what did they do to solve it please?
Many thanks in advance for your advice.
Sara

 

[alabbasi]

Sara, is the shop that you're taking it to a Mercedes Benz specialist? I ask because what you're being told is nonsense. If it's cutting out and misfiring, you should look at the ignition system. I would start by inspecting the distributor insulator as that's a common problem that can cause such a symptom. Of course this is a wild guess because I've not seen the car but it's 10x more valid than fuel compatibility.

Best wishes

 

[grober]

Fuels

Click on a yellow box below to jump to a topic ...

www.fbhvc.co.uk

Your specialist is talking about the E5 biofuel derived component in fuel. Problems in this area may increase with next years proposed E10 introduction

https://forum.mercedes-benz-club.co.uk/uploads/short-url/jD6xDmpt0idSBnWm2NPyiz6egDz.pdf

This may also help
QUOTE:-
The majority of unleaded 95 Octane petrol sold in the UK contains up to 5% ethanol as required under the Government’s Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO).
There is currently no requirement for renewable fuel (such as ethanol) to be present in super unleaded (97 grade petrol).
Esso super unleaded petrol (Synergy Supreme+ Unleaded 97) is ethanol free (except in Devon, Cornwall, the Teesside area and Scotland). We would therefore advise anyone who has concerns about the presence of ethanol in petrol to use Synergy Supreme+ – providing they do not fill up in Devon or Cornwall, the Teesside area or Scotland.

 

[SL300-24]

Probably dizzy cap and rotor would sort it, these engines are pretty susceptible to it change the seal as well to keep the damp out.

 

[horatio]

They are notorious for eating through dizzy caps. A bad ignition coil caused cutting out on my 190 years back, cheap fix. I believe thats rare though.

 

[Sala]

Sara, is the shop that you're taking it to a Mercedes Benz specialist? I ask because what you're being told is nonsense. If it's cutting out and misfiring, you should look at the ignition system. I would start by inspecting the distributor insulator as that's a common problem that can cause such a symptom. Of course this is a wild guess because I've not seen the car but it's 10x more valid than fuel compatibility.

Best wishes

It is a garage specialising in mercedes cars. They are normally pretty good and have done some great jobs for me over the years but they seem to struggle with this problem. Love my W124 and rather to begin to think of it as unreliable as never sure when it will next let me down.
Thanks for you suggestion, I'll mention this to the garage

 

[Sala]

Fuels

Click on a yellow box below to jump to a topic ...

www.fbhvc.co.uk

Your specialist is talking about the E5 biofuel derived component in fuel. Problems in this area may increase with next years proposed E10 introduction

https://forum.mercedes-benz-club.co.uk/uploads/short-url/jD6xDmpt0idSBnWm2NPyiz6egDz.pdf

This may also help
QUOTE:-
The majority of unleaded 95 Octane petrol sold in the UK contains up to 5% ethanol as required under the Government’s Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO).
There is currently no requirement for renewable fuel (such as ethanol) to be present in super unleaded (97 grade petrol).
Esso super unleaded petrol (Synergy Supreme+ Unleaded 97) is ethanol free (except in Devon, Cornwall, the Teesside area and Scotland). We would therefore advise anyone who has concerns about the presence of ethanol in petrol to use Synergy Supreme+ – providing they do not fill up in Devon or Cornwall, the Teesside area or Scotland.

 

[Sala]

Fuels

Click on a yellow box below to jump to a topic ...

www.fbhvc.co.uk

Your specialist is talking about the E5 biofuel derived component in fuel. Problems in this area may increase with next years proposed E10 introduction

https://forum.mercedes-benz-club.co.uk/uploads/short-url/jD6xDmpt0idSBnWm2NPyiz6egDz.pdf

This may also help
QUOTE:-
The majority of unleaded 95 Octane petrol sold in the UK contains up to 5% ethanol as required under the Government’s Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO).
There is currently no requirement for renewable fuel (such as ethanol) to be present in super unleaded (97 grade petrol).
Esso super unleaded petrol (Synergy Supreme+ Unleaded 97) is ethanol free (except in Devon, Cornwall, the Teesside area and Scotland). We would therefore advise anyone who has concerns about the presence of ethanol in petrol to use Synergy Supreme+ – providing they do not fill up in Devon or Cornwall, the Teesside area or Scotland.

Thanks Graeme, I'll certainly use this fuel when the problem is sorted

 

[Sala]

Probably dizzy cap and rotor would sort it, these engines are pretty susceptible to it change the seal as well to keep the damp out.

Thanks for your input Derek, something else to mention to the garage

 

[Sala]

They are notorious for eating through dizzy caps. A bad ignition coil caused cutting out on my 190 years back, cheap fix. I believe thats rare though.

Thank you

 

[alabbasi]

Fuels

Click on a yellow box below to jump to a topic ...

www.fbhvc.co.uk

Your specialist is talking about the E5 biofuel derived component in fuel. Problems in this area may increase with next years proposed E10 introduction

The US has been using E10 for yonks and Mercedes Benz cars have no problems with running on it. You will have issues if you let your car sit for years on end with E10 in the tank but not if you're driving it and continuously cycling through fuel. That's a classic case of I don't know what's going on so i'll blame it on something that nobody has control over.

 

[grober]

The are perhaps 2 aspects to ethanol in fuel. One is the compatibility of various fuel system components [ mainly elastomers ]with alcohol- fairly straight forward- they are or aren't? Two is more complex based on the fact that ethanol is hygroscopic- forms a water alcohol mix if exposed to water or water vapour giving rise to the possibility of fuel degradation depending on age,climate environment, storage handling etc. A clean tanked Mercedes in constant use fuelled from a high turnover filling station in a dry climate is unlikely to experience problems-- a older "garage queen" sat inactive for long periods in a warm wet garage might be different and this may have coloured the specialists perspective?

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/emissions/what-is-e10-fuel-and-how-could-it-affect-you/

Is there a point at which Ethanol (E10) fuel becomes harmful to gas tanks or engines if not used?

This is not the typical chemistry question on this website, but I think it's an important practical question. When I got a gas string trimmer, the woman who worked at the gardening shop told me th...

chemistry.stackexchange.com

 

[SL300-24]

Thanks for your input Derek, something else to mention to the garage

No problem, I am Ray

Derek is sadly departed, but not forgotten

 

[optimusprime]

Grober will this make any problems for my engine m103 and i use premium fuel ?