shdoug

Glad it's fixed!

Riot Nrrrd

STOP PRESS!!!

It happened AGAIN

WTF?!?!??!

Friday evening I was coming home, and it didn't happen in the 'usual spot' (i.e. coming to a stop at the end of the downsloping off-ramp for my freeway exit).

But I got within a half-mile of my home and while coasting to a crosswalk stop, it went out again!

It hasn't happened since and it hasn't happened before, but the bottom line is ... a new Idle Air Valve did not completely cure the problem.

Could this be a case of 'offsetting penalties'? i.e. the new Idle Air Valve is doing its thing, but the ECU is faulty, and the combination is deadly to its idle-at-stop condition?

I am at my wit's end with this!!!

dragonfli_VF

heh, wow... this same thing happened to me... I was having a vacuum leak- replaced all the brittle stuff with silicone hose (I was in the process of doing a bunch of other stuff, but something I did in the process fixed it)

but I feel you, most of the time for me, I am taking a corner and breaking at the same time and poof! there goes powersteering and the engine is asleep?! ... grrr... I wish I really knew how to help you with that.

bige864

did anybody fix the problem still having same thing happening to me

Riot Nrrrd

It's baaaaaaaaaack ...

Yep ... after having posted a year and a half ago that my stalling problem was "A bad Idle Air Valve", it's back. And worse than before.

It pretty much is guaranteed to happen if I am going on a downhill-sloping road and have coasted for a bit. I don't know what it is, but instead of dropping down to about 500-600 RPM and "bouncing" with it settling at 700 or so, it just plummets ... straight down to 0

The other day I was going down a long shallow incline to a freeway on-ramp that required a right turn underneath the freeway itself to get to the on-ramp. Mid-way through the turn it died ... this is getting scary, it's one thing for it to die when I come to a stop - it's quite another if it dies while I'm still rolling.

It's happening on an average of once a day and sometimes more ... (sometimes it doesn't happen)

I thought I could "prevent" it from shifting into Neutral, but the other day, coming down the off-ramp, I tried that ... and the Tach promptly plummeted like a rock to 0 RPM and it died

I'm finding it hard to believe that the Idle Air Valve would go bad after a mere year and a half ... making me wonder if it wasn't really that in the first place?!? ???

I really had thought this was fixed ... so aggravating ... if I hadn't suffered a lapse in registration (couldn't pass CA smog test for months ... but that's another story!) I could've gotten rid of it during Cash For Clunkers ... argggh!

Rio Z Lander

your best bet is to go and get you car looked at by a shop. take them for a test drive and show them the problem 1st hand....take it to at lest 2 or 3 places you might be looking at something small or big.

my problem turned out to be my fuel distributor witch was the death of my benz. those can dump fuel and flood the motor or not give enough fuel to the motor and cause it to die. in the end i was looking a 2k for one now there less
good luck to you

here is a photo of one you can find it under you air box if you pull that off

Riot Nrrrd

Rio Z - so you had a similar problem? And when you found out it was the fuel distributor, and it cost that much to replace, did you just give up on the car?

Did you sell it? Take it out back and shoot it?

Rio Z Lander

well i was looking at a 4 or 5k to fix all of it but that car had a lot of problems.
it was best to move on and get a car that ran well.

now im not saying to move on or its all down hill for your car please dont think that. that is up to you"

best thing i can say is go to a shop and have it looked at they will know more than me. it could be something small or big you never know

now why i say go to 2 or more shops is some will make stuff up or charge a lot because it is a benz. if one place want you spend a lot go to another shop with the list of parts and see what they say they might say less or more
it does not hurt to shop around for good deals.

always check your OVP fuse that could be it to. mine would pop if it was cold out or very wet out

Riot Nrrrd

Update!

After a few more months of having the stalling problem get worse, I took it in for servicing of some other issues (A/C refrigerant slow leak, broken/removed the front anti-noise cover underneath, and a couple of other things I can't recall at the moment).

Got the car back, and suddenly it had a lot of its old pep back again - no more hesitation while going uphill while still cold, in general it had some of its '*****' back.

But the best news of all? No more stalling problem!!!

I asked my mechanic what the heck he did to cure both issues, and he gave that look - said "I just changed the air filter to the Mercedes-recommended one".

[BTW - I should note, I live very close to where the big Station Fire was in Southern California a few months ago - every time we get a storm or wind kicks up, my car ends up coated in dirt - so I'm sure the air filter was clogged to all Hell.]

So, between the anti-noise cover in front (maybe airflow underneath is better now?) and using the 'right' air filter, suddenly I'm right as rain!?!

I don't quite get it, but from now on, I'm not letting Jiffy Lube change my air filter along with the fuel filter & oil

aleemboat

I have been having the same problem intermittently for a number of years now. My experience has almost mirrored yours completely.

I recently had the engine on my car replaced (unreleated blown head gasket, warped block etc...), but the problem persists. Before it would only happen upon deccelerating and braking from highways speeds. Now, it happens when I sit and idle for too long.Just this morning I had trouble restarting it, which is unusual . I don't want this problem to progress, but I just haven't been able to fix it.

Did you ever replace/renew the ECU? After you had the Idle Air Valve cleaned, how long did your stalling problem disappear? Were you ever able to determine exactly what fixes the dealer made that ultimately resolved the issue? Is the problem still gone?

Thank you for this thread; this has got to be one of the most perplexing problems W124 owners have ever faced. You're the first that I've seen approach a comprehensive account of your tribulations lol .

Thanks again.

Frank Nitty

I had the same problem with my 260E. It's the computer. I popped a used computer in and have not had the problem come back and that was three years ago. It cost $300.00 installed

Riot Nrrrd

aleemboat/Frank:

In my case I really do think it was replacing the air filter. No, I'm not kidding

It's only happened a couple of times since (semi-recently). So I told the mechanic it was probably time for a new air filter again

Unfortunately my A/C compressor's gone out (see other recent thread I posted) so I can't really see where I'm at with the stalling problem until I figure out a way to fix the compressor without breaking the bank

CaliE320

Since you're in L.A. you might want to try another mechanic hit up Enrique over at Mr. MB. Instead of paying good money to the same guy go get a second opinion before dumping more money.

Frank Nitty

If your car is stalling you wont need AC. So in my opinion you should take care of the stalling problem first. If you go the air filter route put a K&N air filter in. It gave me a little more punch in the low end off the line. It cost a little more but it last a lifetime if you get the recharge kit for $19.00 more bucks

Riot Nrrrd

The stalling problem is essentially non-existent at this point, but being summertime in LA the A/C problem is far more urgent

topdog

it's important to keep the airfilter clean because the fuel distrubter is
controled by the masairflow through the intake. and if the air flow is to
low when stoping than the baffel on the fuel distrubter will close and cut
fuel to the injecters.the baffel is totaly indapendant from the throttle linkage like thoes of you who are
pilots,that the compression and impella stage is differint from the drive fin post the exsaust chamber.
for cars that wont start or stalls apon stoping turn the air flow screw
on the fuel distubter turn to right 1/4 turn at a time,remembering wher you
started,and test drive cheak for better taking off.a star bit is requerd can't remember the size,
and remember that if you make adjustments all ways reinstall airfilter and cover befor testing,and remove star bit
and push down on baffel to un look linkage.star bit will jump out when baffel is depressed.
for cars that have a
bouncing tac turn screw to left 1/4 turn and the bouncing tac will stop
between changing gears or taking out of gear.
you can also get a vacume gage and tune that way
randy

zibi1988

well this is a great conversation between all the gear heads. I know its like 2 years after the last post but we all know someone will come by this over and over again. I have 2 Mercedes 300ce and they both have issues. They are great cars just hard to fix, (old school) so to say when it comes to diagnostics.

My white 1988 300ce shuts off just like this one you guys are talking about. Now I really think its the fuel pump relay because its way more than a relay and it does alot of stuff. I took mine apart and found that there were cracks in the leads on the board of the relay. Soldered them up and Im in testing stages. With these old merks the solder around the leads cracks on the boards in any electrical items. I fixed my HELLA module for lights that ay too. Sometimes before spending bucks on intermittent problem and you know its a computer. U figure something inside must not connect, take it apart and look closelly for cracks in solder around pins and stuff. I fised my seat computer, fuel pump relay, and the headlights module doing that.

Fuel distributors when it comes to these I bought 2 for my black 1988 300ce because of a darn dealer spark plug. my car kept struggling at low rpm it would be just for like 3 seconds and would go away. I found it after over 2 years when my spark plugs wore out and I changed them and I fixed the whole problem. So please dont scrap your merks because someone tells you you need 3K for a fuel distributor when junk yards sell them for 150.

When It comes to replacing an engine I did that after my valve got stuck I beat the crap out of that engine. Stupid me put the same thamn 2 month old spark plugs in and the problem persisted. I than replaced the distributor for the second time and I changed all the sensors but the knock sensor. oem wires cap and rotor. So I changed the engine no fix, changed all the other stuff and it came to being spark plug after 2.5 years of bs.

My trouble with that car persist now when not started for about 5 days It makes growling noise out of the intake I think my fuel drains out of the fuel distributor after while. besides that all is fine except my brand new dealer alternator voltage drops below 13v when fully loaded. Before that I killed 2 used alternators and a remanned one. I think it might be the blower motor I know the bearings liek to get stuck and than the blower takes lots more juice. Its my 2 used one on the car.

I am having issues believing in the air filter being the culprit but Im taking mine off in my white 300ce tomorrow just to see sucker turns off out of nowhere and yea its scarry when you are turning and the engine goes off, you sort of go straight and pray you have enough muscle to turn,

kluvsbenz

^^^^^ I used to have this problem. 90 300E. I changed spark plugs, OVP, fuel pumps, dist. cap and rotor to no avail. I started using Techron for 3 or 4 fill ups. Problem gone. Was clogged injectors in my case. It still has a rough start in the cold winter. I am thinking it's my fuel accumulator. It seems to be the fuel delivery on these W124. It's just a PITA to track the problem. It runs like a Deere now. Ooops wrong company

zibi1988

Turned out that the ECM would overheat after hile of driving. I changed it and problems are forever gone.

300Edd

I have a '89 300e and just this morning it died on me twice on my way to work. Would the OVP relay cause the vehicle to die at a red on traffic light? I have bought a new relay that has 2 fuses on it. But when i out it on and starts the engine, it wouldn't **** off. So i just left the old one with the broken fuse still intact. I have no idea what's going on. Please help.