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W201 Stalling after 5 minutes driving, engine appears fine.

5K views 18 replies 10 participants last post by  dadette123 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi,

I have a very frustrating problem with a 190E I've had 10 years.

It is running fine driving normally for the first five minutes. BUT then it will start to stall. This will happen when at low speed (turn a corner, taking off from a traffic light) as you accelerate. Give it a normal amount of accelerator and it will stall. Just give it a delicate amount of accelerator and if you're delicate enough you will get moving. Once moving it is happy enough, though a heavy acceleration will make it chug once you have it at speed. Now it gets worse, 10 minutes after starting (from cold) if it stalls, its almost impossible to get it moving forward again. It appears slightly easier to get it going in reverse, but still wants to stall. Put the stick into neutral or park at this point and the engine will happily do whatever revs you ask of if. But put it into drive and it will stall.

Once cool, ie the next day, you can replicate the same circumstances. I.e. will drive normally for the first five minutes then start stalling and get progressively worse and stall more and more. But engine will always start and in neutral or Park and will rev perfectly to whatever you ask of it.

Fuel pump, fuel filter, accelerator cable and spark plugs have been replaced in an attempt to remedy problem. I was starting to think torque converter, but mechanics are saying probably not.

Cheers any help appreciated.


Engine number: 10296122055621
VIN: WDB 2010242F070934
Built Jan1985.
It is an automatic.
2.0 litre (4 Cylinder)
Fuel injected.
Normally aspirated (i.e. no turbo)
 
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#5 · (Edited)
Hi Landscape, Yep I've been going through this post (135 pages) looking for a hint since yesterday. Looks like there is lots of types of stalling and even more places to look for a cure. Thought someone may have seen these specific symptoms before.

Hi sranjesuper, Much appreciated. I did replace the plugs, but because the engine will run beautifully for at least half an hour in either park or neutral, never stall and I can "rev the nuts off it", my thinking is something between the transmission and engine. Maybe sensor, vacuum, control pressure cable?? Problem is I'm not that cluey on how these things relate and why problem worsens with warming up.
 
#6 ·
"turn a corner, taking off from a traffic light" these are my symptoms too. But how about when starting the engine? Do you have to crank more than 5 seconds? http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w201-190-class/1486943-no-start-long.html suggests to look at the rubber vacuum tubing peeking through between the air cleaner and the valve cover. I've checked mine, there's nothing there, it was lost while the last maintenance.. I will replace it tomorrow and will let you know the result.
 
#7 ·
you might have replaced spark plugs but not the distributor cap and rotor. Sometimes when your distributor is worn out, when you press the gas pedal, the distributor doesn't have much time to give the spark signal to each spark because the points wore out so when you give it gas, you sort of flood the engine because it puts too much gas in because it doesnt fire hard enough and then it riches the mixture out and stalls ur engine. just a thought.
 
#8 ·
Hi Oscar_Echo_Alpha. It starts beautifully, no more than 1 or 2 secs cranking time from cold. Breather tube between air cleaner and rocker cover is clear and in good nick.

Hi sranjesuper. I will be ordering these next I think that sounds very logical and worth the money. Strange thing is without a load (ie in neutral) you can give it as much gas as you dare and rev the proverbial nuts off it. Its only in drive it will stall. Also I think in reverse it stalls but not as horribly, but this may be subjective.

Thanks for the help. Will let everybody know when (if) I get a fix.
 
#11 ·
intake gaskets done? throttle cleaned out?? strainer cleaned out?? intake MAS boot leak??
 
#12 ·
I had the same problem with mine; the temp sensor and the Vacuum unit on my distributor was malfunctioning. I just replaced them and runs better than ever.

How to check your vacuum unit on Distributor is easy; remove the cap, remove the hose and suck the air out of the unit. If you can see the advance is moving there's no problem if not you have to replace it. But it is not easy to replace it. I thing someone talking better English will help you better than me.

BTW always check all of the vacuum hoses connected properly.
 
#13 ·
I have the exact same problem with mine. I'm very curious to see what the fix for this is. Unfortunately for me I had to park the thing as I don't have the time to commit to it right now.

One thing I was going to check but haven't yet was to take my cat converter off and see if it runs any better. Do you notice black carbon build up around the exhaust tip..............like it's running too rich? Like you described my symptoms don't start occurring until after the image is warmed up.

Ryan
 
#14 · (Edited)
Hi drewprof; I initially thought torque converter because of the way it stalled so I took it to a transmission mechanic and he said it wasn't the way they fail and had never seen that before.

Hi Runninrebel211; good & mechanic is a bit of an oxy-moron here. They only seem good at writing up what they haven't done (but can get away with) on the invoice and charging. Don't mind buying some of the parts that after 25 years are a bit questionable any way. It's also at this point still a bit of fun trying to work it out and find the fault (with help from everyone else of course).

Hi Jippi; Only problem I have with considering fuel and intake is that it runs beautifully til it reaches 80C (after about 5 mins) then just won't run in drive. Will still start and rev beautifully in park or neutral. What's a "MAS boot"? Please excuse my ignorance.

Hi Oscar_Echo_Alpha; I will look at this, it sounds quick, cheap and a possibility. Don't know why it would alter with temp or being in drive though.

Hi rdoepker; Inside the exhaust is not black, it's a gray colour. I've changed the plugs three times with different types and they all come out with a "nice" colour no unburnt carbon. I would guess mixture is close to stochiometric.

At this point I am thinking electrical (following sranjesuper's advice). I may even swap out the Ignition control module, but may have to wait till Christmas has been properly celebrated. I inherited the car when my Mum died so it's more of sentimental car than a commuter so I'm in no hurry.
 
#18 ·
I second this. Make sure you check your distributor cap. I too bought a brand new bosch cap and the thing went caput on me. I had the EXACT same problems as you. Only reason I never thought to check the cap is I literally replaced it 2 weeks before. I bought a Duralast Dizzy cap from Autozone and the thing hasn't failed me since.

Can this be?!?!?! Autozone parts are better than bosch:;)
 
#19 ·
For what it's worth, my daughter's '92 190e 2.6 began to sputter and stall after driving about 5-10 minutes from a cold start. It would re-start after about 15-30 minutes, sputtering all the way and then, it was good to go. Did not happen regularly but, became increasingly frequent. After getting frustrated trying to track down the problem, I took it to my local indy. He quickly diagnosed the problem as the Ignition Control Unit (little black flat box with several heavy guage leads coming and going) located on the driver's wheel well. Part no. for my particular car is Bosch 008 545 95 32. Very expensive new. Also, there are many variations so, it was important to local the same part number from the local bone yard. Replaced it and haven't had a problem since.

FYI, there is an ICU on Ebay right now for $80. Not bad. Also, my indy told me the reason the car re-started after 15-30 minutes was that the ICU cooled down. He said if I had poured water on it, it would have re-started right away.

Again, don't know if this helps or is your problem. Just passing along my "stall" story. Good luck.
 
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