e350forme

When I am cruising at 45 or 60 and I press the accelerator all the way down ..... nothing except the lightest of acceleration. Car has no pickup and go , especially on highway. takes longer than most cars to get up to speed.


Is it normal for car to not be able to get past 3200 or 3300 RPM when flooring it?

raymond g-

The seat-of-pants diagnosis doesn't work very well in your case and it is no doubt, more
constructive to have the car scanned using a MB factory compliant scanner (SDS, STAR, clone).
I feel the RPMs may be low though

MB210320

plugged up catalytic converters?

e350forme

I think it has something to do with the throttle cable / position of the throttle sensor because.....

For first time ever, I pressed WOT and car came alive! Rev'ed to redline first time ever. It was able to do this one time more before it stopped completely being able to accelerate in this manner.

I will get car scanned with MB tools and update

fabbrisd1

To be helpful - put Kickdown to the side for a moment :

1. Your "new" test: when on the highway in D - instead of kickdown - hold your shifter to the left for 3 secs - and your tranny should downshift to "power gear" for that speed - once at power gear THEN apply throttle to accelerate

2. Checking cats does not require MB tools - only need a IR thermometer and a rubber mallet.

(Front Cats) with your MB measure temp at the front pipe going into each cat - then measure the exit temp on each cat - if Exit temp is sincerely a cut higher than Entrance temp then front cat(s) are functional.

(Rear Cats) with MB off - use rubber mallet to tap/thunk each "rear cat" - which are hollow small drums with a screen inside - when tapping/thunk'ing you are checking for the sound of heavy loose "chunks" inside each rear can. If you detect those "chunks" then each rear can comes out - shake out the chunks - and resinstall - it's the heavy chunks in the rear cans which can be the Exhaust Choking here.

e350forme

no dice when i do your test. just steadily and slowly accelerates.

I want to take an ohm meter to the CPS and see what the resistance is when someone presses throttle (at least that is how I understand it)

Cant want to unleash all 230 HP one day.
Ill do the Cat test, thanks for tips. I did not know there was a second set of cats downstream

kajtek1

Sounds like you drive like grandpa and the car has adaptive transmission, who remembers preferred driving style.
Not only Italian tune-ups work, but kicking WOT couple times a day will change the adaptations.
Do that for couple of days before jumping to mechanical conclusions.
And yes, gasoline engines don't have much torque when you drive at low rpm and try to accelerate 1/2 throttle. Each time I switch to gasoline car, I am close to creating accidents as I got used to diesel torque
Even when you press the pedal to the floor, gasser will "think what to do" for couple of seconds before downshifting, when diesel will pull like a train.

e350forme

So far, no luck. I guess the easiest way to explain problem is that when I press throttle all the way down, it is not capable of redline. it also accelerates way to slow. the pedal does not accelerate anything, it seems to be stuck in a limp mode.

I have checked/replaced (had spares) MAF, throttle with TPS, brake pedal actuator assembly. I have reset the transmission "driving style" already.

Am I missing anything else? no codes. car should redline, right?

raymond g-

are you confirming that you had it scanned with SDS/Star unit and it returned no codes
or
are you saying that there are no Check Engine Light codes via OBD scanner

(two vast differences in scanning)

e350forme

I only did a basic OBD scan on my car. I should really get her into more detailed scanning.

car is still slow but I am getting used to it. Just wish it would redline but does not look to be in my cards.

kajtek1

MB makes automatic transmission programs, who will not redline unless you use manual override.
Try to redline it on 3rd gear manually? If the engine will not get there in timely manner - something has to be wrong with it. But then a code should show.,

khomer2

If you've performed the basic checks already, you now need to scan and look at your STFTs LTFTs as well as the o2 readings.
You should not have to get use to it, PLUS this could be affecting your gas mileage (although you haven't mentioned this yet)

e350forme

I tried Kaytek's "test" and in third gear it does not redline, just chugs slowly before I let off at 4-5k

I am sure the gas mileage is poor albeit I would have to calculate it to help assess how bad.



for STFTs LTFTs...is this a star only thing? does only MB dealer have STAR or do good indies also have access?

Not giving up haha

kajtek1

When engine is not performing- good idea is to start with basic tune-up , regardless when it was done before.
New plugs, new filters,
I am not sure if you need SD scanner to check engine.
Lifted W210 do have some data available via OBD plug, so if you have android, spending $5 for bluetooth plug and Torque app might be good start.

e350forme

kajtek, what is an SD scanner?

I do have the torque app and dongle, will see how fuel trim looks

khomer2

A few comments & Qs:
No CELs no codes.
It sounds like you have some sort of possible exhaust restriction.
You haven't commented on whether you tested the cats yet.... simple test: use temp gun method.

Do you have a 38pin connector under the hood? (I dont recall of the 01's req'd reading the other modules under the 38pin under the hood)
STFTs LTFTs - $tealer$ship if you have DEEP pockets or a good Indie that knows MBs (if they do not, run away....)
You need to read these FTs and the o2 sensor to see what is happening as well as if the o2 sensor is operating correctly.
I doubt your torque app and dongle will read FTs.
Either invest in a decent scanner or borrow one at get some readings.

e350forme

Dont see a 38 pin under the hood.

Khomer, would you recommend or know of a scanner you can recommend of the top of your head that can read FTs? edit torque has this provision. I will check bank 1 and 2 at idle and throttle/drive. purchased an odb scanner for a whopping 17.99 that reads o2 sensor data, and other "live data" such as FT's. will post some results when I can

kajtek1

SD= Star Diagnosis.
I would advise to spend $5 for Torque Pro upgrade.
Once you click "add a gauge" you will get to the list of sensors and modules, when those who apply will show in green. That will give you detailed list what you can do without going into $150 scanners.

khomer2

excellent.

raymond g-

it's not going to be exposed, given the crap flying around under the hood. open the fuse box lid
covering the coffin box in front of the driver side/fender close to firewall

Dave The Hippo

Hello, did you scan the car yet? I had a similar issue where if i did WOT the car would go into limp mode. It was a P0123 code and it ended up being the TPS.

e350forme

So i found out that previous owner removed the check engine bulb behind the cluster. I was wondering why i never saw a check engine light upon startup (and why the right side of cluster was dark)....

So codes came back and there is a secondary air injection p0410 and there is "TID $03 CID $04 low sensor voltage for switch time calculation" ..

did some research....(secondary air pump ....I saw a thread about cleaning that system and looking for vacuum leaks, and then only thing I found about "low sensor voltage for switch time calculation" was something to do with bad ignition packs )

Now I am really in for a problem. forget the slow acceleration, at least she starts and drives. Now I have a CEL and smog due in 2 months!

Dave The Hippo

I would probaly start by clearing codes, but when I looked up the P0140 code, it seems to be either an issue with the MAF or the O2 sensor on Bank 1 Sensor 2. Maybe cleaning the MAF with cleaner could solve your problem.

e350forme

^mine is p0410

however, it is a pending fault, hopefully pending means I can still pass smog.

I spent entire weekend opening and testing my instrument cluster with bulbs.

cleaning and inspecting the secondary air injection system seems very complicated, I have tried to read all the major threads. hopefully makes sense when I tear into it looking for leaks

e350forme

forgot to mention, was able to redline the car! It was right after battery was unplugged and the transmission was reset with the press down accelerator procedure. it hauled @ss all the way to redline! I have read that this reset is temporary , and I can only do it once or twice before things settle down