ClayH

I just inherited a 1988 300E. The car will start immediately when it is cold. I can let it sit there idling for 5 minutes and it is fine. It drives well for about 1 minute, then it dies, and won't restart. As I'm trying to restart it it turns over normally for about 10 seconds then it gives a big bump. To me it sounds like too much fuel is being delivered to the non-starting motor and then it makes for a rough few revolutions, like the cylinders have too much unused gas in them. There is a strong smell of gas under the hood during this non starting scenario.

I have to wait about an hour for it to cool off, then it starts right back up and the cycle begins again. I'm thinking its the fuel regulator. How do I go about testing it?

Also, I see that this car uses an assembly next to the gas tank that includes two pumps, a fuel filter and another item. What is that other item?

After reading through many of the threads I've got many ideas of things that might cause the problem, but of course would like some guidance to determine the most likely problem. Replacing parts is the easy part - diagnosing the problem is another story. Thanks in advance for your help.

Clay
MB newbie