I have a plea for the list. I'm trying to keep my Mom's 87 300E on the road and I only get word when things are bad. Recently she called to tell me that one day she went to start the car (was probably about 50 F that day) and it would turn over easily but it wouldn't catch and run. She stated that the day before all was fine and dandy. She managed to get it started and came down to my house. She was there for several hours and we went out to start it in my driveway.
When you could get it to catch and run it ran very rough unless you took the tach up to about 1800 - 2000 rpms where upon it would smooth out. If you dropped it down into the 1000 rpm range, if you could keep it from stalling, it bucked and I could intermittently hear something like a backfiring sound through the air cleaner (I was standing outside the car). If you kept the engine in that higher rpm range for about 5 minutes until the coolant temp came up to about 60 C, then it would run pretty much normally at all rpm ranges. Once warmed up there was no loss of power or misfiring that I could detect. I checked the air filter and it seemed normal enough. Not sure what to check next. She did mention that her ABS light has come on now and doesn't go off. I could be connected or just a weird coincidence. She added fuel injector cleaner prior to coming down to my house (about 35 miles of highway). I thought about changing out the fuel filter, but that doesn't make sense in light of the improvement in running once warmed up. I would appreciate any ideas. The rest of the family is anxious to get her into some other car which she won't be able to afford and no doubt will turn out to be a death trap tin can. ...Kevin 79 240D 87 300TD
