jassoone

what up everyone, im new here to the site and was hoping to get some help with my car...


i have a 91 300CE and having stuttering problems everytime i slow down.

problem started the other day when i attempted to start my car and heard a soft pop coming from the engine, then a little bit of smoke came out of the driver side of the hood...at first i thought it was a blown vacuum hose that was busted, so my dad replaced that...but, the stuttering is still there...

i have a feeling something else is blown but dont have any idea what it is. any thoughts? thanks in advance

shdoug

Check and wiggle all your fuses. Visually inspect all the relays in that area.

jassoone

ill check that out and hopefully that solves the problem


thanks shdoug for the help

neanderthal

whens the last time you replaced your ignition wires?

jassoone

well the car was a hand me down car so iono if the ignition wires have been change then...i have had my car for 2 and half years now and been running smoothly ever since...but recently, problems started to occurr...

i checked the fuses and relays, and everything looks fine and no where burnt...my next hunch was maybe i need new spark plugs??
it bothers me everytime i slow down, cuz it feels like my car might die out


thanks guys

shdoug

Plugs and plug wires aren't going to burn up and cause smoke. Something broke or burned up. If you look very carefully you should be able to see or smell something burnt. Smell each component, wires, relays, everything in that area where you saw the smoke.

What do you mean by stuttering? A regular misfire, or just uneven idle? Is there a sound that is different? Is the engine shaking? Check Engine light?

jassoone

on park, neutral, and drive position, the idle is fine at a complete stop, its the same since ive first got it...check engine light is not on...no other warning lights are on either.

every time i slow down to a stop light, right when it hits 7-5 mph, the engine struggles like its gona die but it doesnt. kinda like struggling for air or stalling. misfire?...the engine shakes but smooths out at a complete stop, other than that engine sounds fine.

ill try and take another look at where the smoke came from, i checked it again earlier today for like 20 mins tryna find out if something burnt or what not, and nothing...ill take a sniff for burnt parts tomorrow.


thanks for your help

shadowgriffen

same thing just started happening to me, I noticed since friday that my car feels like it's missfiring at lights, gonna check out the spark plugs.

Something really strange though - I noticed it started doing this after a good dose of 93 from the local no name gas station

jassoone

^^^^looks like we're on the same boat...keep me updated on the status of ur car, hopefully it's just the spark plugs and nothing else major

shdoug

Sounds like a vacuum leak or something causing the idle speed to control incorrectly.

MediumKahuna

Check you battery voltage. Should be at least 13.7 with car running and most everything off.
When your alternator brushes start to go, battery voltage gets low which makes car run too rich (yeah, great German engineering). Charge light never lights to give you a clue (even when your brushes are completely gone).
On my car it idled rough, fouled plugs and plugged up my exhaust. Eventually car wouldn't start (even when I charged the battery).
I changed plugs, wires, cap and rotor to get it to start. Then tried to get away with just replacing regulator (which has brushes) in alternator but slip rings were already shot so had to change alternator.

shadowgriffen

Really? My alternator is about 1.5 years old, battery is pretty much new! Although I did buy a crappy battery from autozone a while back, and it died two months after!

I'll check the voltage and see what I get.

MediumKahuna

The thing on the bottom of the back of the alternator is the replaceable regulator with brushes attached.


Even if your alternator doesn't look exactly like above (most have screw terminals not plug), if its Bosch, it has a replaceable voltage regulator with brushes which looks like this:


If you replace the regulator/brushes before they go bad (like every 60,000 - 70,000 miles) then your alternator may just last forever. Once the brushes go bad they tend to tear up the slip rings (that they ride on) and you'll need a new alternator.

You can replace the regulator without removing the alternator. You can replace it without going under the car if you can do it by feel (I did) because you can't really see it from up top.

The regulator actually regulates the voltage between the alternator case and the "D" (excite) terminal on the alternator. This should be equal the the volts stamped on the regulator (14, 14.1 or 14.5 depending on car model). The volts you'll see across the battery will be less depending on the load.

The charge idiot light doesn't indicate the most common alternator failure modes. About the only time it comes on is when your belt breaks. However some of your other idiot lights may come on when your battery voltage is way low.

shadowgriffen

spark plug on cylinder # 2 was toast, replaced and voila! Like new again

thanks for the imput anyways mediumK

shadowgriffen

go for it, solved my stalling problems.