As I recall, you've already changed the fuel filters. Did you check
the
_Checked_ them, didn't change them. According to me PO they were new.
Certainly he replaced them, and the car has never been driveable on
his watch so they shouldn't be fouled (yet).
air filter yet? I had similar symptoms once on a VW when the air
filter
element got soaked with water, creating a major intake restriction. It
would idle great but had no power at all.
This morning I removed the air filter and the exhaust system.
No difference.
Make sure you're getting full travel on the accelerator linkage, too.
Did that. But...
I was looking at the throttle linkage again, and while it _does_
contact the full-throttle stop, that stop looked suspiciously
prominent. So I went over to the 300CD for a look. While it has a
turbo engine, and five cylinders, it's pretty substantially the same
in the area, and its full-throttle stop was nearly 1/2 inch more
screwed in to the pump than the Experiment's. So I grabbed the wrench
and gave it thirty lashes (counting, so that I could put it back if
necessary) until it looked about the same as the CD's. I then mashed
the throttle down using the PO's idle-setting stick against the
steering wheel (but on full mash). I then adjusted the throttle and
transmission linkages to get full travel again, since it was able to
move farther now.
Then I went for another drive. Transformation! While it's still
gutless it now acts a lot more like a normal car, and can get up to
speed on the flats, and can even accelerate up the hill in second gear
as well as first. When looking for trouble, and somebody's been
messing with the car, be sure to check _everything, even the
stuff nobody should be messing with, and _don't_ forget the
simple stuff. I think there is some flaring now that there are a few
horsepower applied to the front of the tranny, but it's much too soon
to really tell. I think I need to address the dragging brakes next.
Why not just measure chain wear the way Mercedes has outlined it (in
TSB
05/93)? Line up the cam and cam tower marks and read the number off the
crank damper. The degrees of stretch is a VERY accurate measure of
chain
wear. That doesn't require the engine to be disassembled and requires
I did (wrong, as it turns out), but the subject under discussion
what what mechanism might have been causing such a grossly wrong
reading as I had found, and how would one prove that out. And
of course our usual side-tracking applied...
What's the prognosis on the hand primer pump?
It leaks a lot when unscrewed. So I make sure to leave it
screwed in! There were no signs of air bubbles coming up
the clear pipe from the fuel pump, so I'm not thinking that
it is causing any problems.
-- Jim
