[Poleaxed]

This 1979 (12th Month) 280E Sedan (W123.033.22.062873), 110 Engine, CSI Injection. Runs so RICH it is ridiculous. When the car was aquired, it ran very poorly. Contaminated fuel, worn injectors, fuel & air filter were all attended to. Engine would start & run reasonably, but could not be idled down. The aftermarket injector seals were incapable of being sealed by the retaining plate and thus leaked air. If one applied pressure to an injecter, the engine would immediately run EXTREMELY RICH and stall (I considered it to be too rich beforehand). The car would not restart and one would normally have to wait till the following day. It would eventually start from stone cold but quickly get too rich and, once again stall. Replacement of all injector related seals was done using genuine parts. This, as one could guess, further enrichened the black mess. All basic, common sense engine checks have been performed and it appears to be in reasonably good order, and yes, the plugs are new. A couple of Mercedes repairers have suggested that it would most probably be the Fuel Pressure Regulator. The Fuel Distributor has been checked and seems okay as per the Workshop Manual. With all due respect to the publishers, the Haynes Shop Manual for this model may as well have been written in Dalek. I've read a few shop manuals in my time, and have been employed in the automotive industry, but this one takes the cake. Parts seem to be renamed, depending on which page you are on. Without the resources to aquire a spare Regulator, living in a rural area (Australia) and having no cash. This trade for a slab of Jim Beam has caused no end of drama. Any thoughs out there PLEASE!!!