Author Topic: Misfiring  (Read 4669 times)

karmannghia60

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Misfiring
« on: January 20, 2009, 22:15:31 »
Hello All
My '69 280 has been sitting in the garage not started for about 2 to 3 months. This morning it fired immediately but settled with a "Shake" on idle and a distinct regualr missfire on acceleration. I took the plugs out, cleaned them and readjusted the gaps. Cleaned the points and also put some injectors cleaner and filled the tank with fresh gas. Drove it for about 10 klms but things have not improved. Whats my first port of call, a fouled plug? THe plugs were replaced in Jul last year and have less than 2000 miles on them
Thanks
Rafik
« Last Edit: January 21, 2009, 01:15:45 by 280SL71 »

graphic66

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Re: Miss firing
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2009, 22:45:48 »
Drive it until it gets hot, then touch each spark plug and see if one is cold. If so you probably have a fouled plug,  bad wire, or distributor cap. If no difference I would look into the points or condenser. Also if you haven't already get some non resistor plugs. I am running NGK BP5ES gapped at .034 in my 66 230SL. They made the biggest difference of any single thing I have done to my car. Maybe just take the car out and run it hard. If you do find a fouled plug I recommend not putting in all new plugs right away. You can end up, because that cylinder is soaked with gas fouling your new plug right out. Instead get your car hot and while it's hot put one of the good running hot plugs into the fouled cylinder and one new plug in the non fouled cylinder. A hot plug that has been seasoned will fire a fouled cylinder much better than a new cold plug. By hot I mean temperature and not heat range. Also if the plug is fouled turn over the car a few times with the plug out to help dry the cylinder out. I have actually started engines before with the plug out and ran it like that for about 30-45 seconds to dry out the cylinder. If you have ran the car for a while with a fouled plug you may want to change the oil because there may be a chance the fouled cylinder blew some gas past the rings and thinned the oil, long shot though. Best to be cautious with your Mercedes.
 

ja17

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Re: Misfiring
« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2009, 03:16:55 »
I agree with graphic66,  try a set of new plugs first. It is the least expensive place to start. You can always save the old plugs for spares if they turn out not to be the problem.

To avoid this in the future, make sure you have the right spark plugs and drive the car when you start it. These engiines do not like go be  cold started and left to idle. 
Joe Alexander
Blacklick, Ohio
1969 Dark Olive 280SL
2002 ML55 AMG (tow vehicle)
2002 SLK32 AMG (350 hp)
1982 300TD Wagon turbo 4spd.
1963 404 Mercedes Unimog (Swedish Army)
1989 flu419 Mercedes Unimog (US Army)
1998 E430
1974 450SLC Rally
1965 220SE Finback

karmannghia60

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Re: Misfiring
« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2009, 23:49:15 »
Not a fouled plug by the looks of it. Last night after driving it home from work. Engine was pretty hot (35mins in peak hour traffic), couldn't feel a difference in the temp of each plug. Left the engine running then pulled the HT leads off one by one. Revs dropped when lead was disconnected then picked up when reconnected. This was the case with all plugs. I also checked the vacuum advance tube, looked ok. The problem is much more noticeable when the engine is under load (ie accelerating or going uphill). Should I still change the plugs and see?
« Last Edit: January 21, 2009, 23:52:41 by karmannghia60 »

karmannghia60

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Re: Misfiring
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2009, 10:26:36 »
Fixed, don't ask how. It just fixed itself while driving home today so I am guessing the problem with a clogged injector which eventually got cleaned because of the injectors cleaner I added
Thanks
Rafik

bpossel

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Re: Misfiring
« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2009, 10:53:59 »
Maybe one of your plug wires was loose and not fully seated.  By pulling them off one by one and then reseating them may have corrected your issue?  Just a possibility....
Bob  :)