I posted this in the General Discussion form earlier today instead of here.

My '88 300 SE has had a hesitation problem for about two months now. Once rolling at 20mph or higher it is fine whether at part throttle or heavy acceleration. The idle is fine as well. From a stop, the car acts as if it is flooding out. I just replaced the plugs, rotor, cap and fuel filter, all long overdue but the plugs did not exhibit any fouling appearance. Anyway, none of this changed the hesitation at all. The hesitation is the same whether the a/c is on or off.

I have had this problem since the car came back fom the shop. It was in to top off the a/c and a Lambda adjustment. Could the Lambda adjustment be off and that is causing the problem?

I read a post about it possibly being the ignition coil. Is there a way to test the coil?

Thanks for any suggestions. I'm bringing in the car Wednesday for a NY inspection and I'll have them check the hesitation problem as well. I would just prefer to have an idea before bringing it in.

Thanks all,

Ron Brooks

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Thanks,
Ron Brooks

Ask them to hook it up to an ignition scope.
This will pretty much tell the whole ignition story ( including coil output ).
How are your plug wires ?

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2007 C 230 Sport.

If the labda was adjusted, there is a good chance that it was not done correctly which is why you have the hesitation. My car, an 85 had it set to the settings of cars made in 86 and later which had the same result, perhaps in your car something similar happened.

You can check the ingition coil for problems by driving around for a bit, then stop pop the hood and touch the coil, if you can keep your hand on it, it's fine, if it's too hot to hold on to, then it's on its way out. A tip I got from someone

xp

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1985 190E 2.3L - a constant project.

Lambda set on the lean end of control range will give you hesitation problems. Sadly, so will a vac leak or a bad fuel distributor potentiometer.

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

among the possibilities are clogged fuel filter
and injectors. cheers!!

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joel

Prayers bring forth enlightenment.