I hate Fuel Injection - Question

[UNSAFE]

Give me a carb anyday

Anyway , I'm toying with the idea of buying a 1985 Mercedes 380 SL. It has a few problems but mainly it runs like #%@*&.

It starts instantly and idles fairly well but won't take throttle from idle very well. Once moving it will cruise down the road but is not hitting on all 8.

I've done my various tests and believe I have it narrowed down to 4 bad fuel injectors. One on the right side and three on the left. Compression, vacuum and spark are good.

This is a mechanical fuel injection and just getting the hard fuel lines out of the way looks like an all day project.

Then it looks like the injectors are held in by Allen head bolts. So if I go to all the trouble to remove them will I be able to do anything to fix or clean them ? Or is replacement the best bet ?

I'm trying to buy it cheap .

Thanks in advance for any info !

Kevin

[swi66]

Though I have no experience with a Mercedes.
Had some injector problem with my wife's Jeep.
My son is a parts guy at a Dodge dealership, and has played with fuel injection.
He says replace them all when doing the job, then they are all new and that's one problem you won't have to deal with again. He said the injectors are cheap compared to the time to change them.

[miniman82]

Better hope it's not the distro block those lines hook up to- you shit that thing, you're in for a load of cash. Why not ditch that crap (I hate CIS too), and stick a carb on it?

[Danthesignman]

Kevin , if You want to know if it`s worth digging into or buying , call Tom Scott at 515-282-5114 , He owns a local one man Mercedes shop . Tell him Dagger sent You . He`s a riding buddy of Mine and super smart about anything German .

[UNSAFE]

Miniman wrote >>>> Why not ditch that crap (I hate CIS too), and stick a carb on it?<<<

Wow Nick - I never thought I'd hear you say that But I agree !

I've decided not to buy the car but now I'm stuck trying to help my friend fix it.

I have checked it out and eliminated ignition and internal engine problems .

Everything points to fuel delivery but this system has more features than than a spaceship and I don't have a clue about how it works. I replaced the injectors on the 4 cyls that weren't working and 2 of them picked up a bit but still not good.

I have lots of fuel pressure coming from the pump but if I remove an injector line and start the motor I only get a slight trickle of fuel.

Shouldn't it have sprayed out at a fairly high pressure ??????

It seems like a problem with the fuel dist but at 400 bucks I'm afraid to try it without being sure. There are so many controls on this system I can't believe it. It even runs the fuel thru an A/C line to prevent vapor lock.

Living in a small Alaskan town , there is no one local that even has a clue.

I may end up calling someone but I want to exhaust all the testing that I can do myself first.

Thanks for the tips so far !

[miniman82]

Miniman wrote >>>> Why not ditch that crap (I hate CIS too), and stick a carb on it?<<<

Wow Nick - I never thought I'd hear you say that But I agree !

I'm a reasonable guy, I just don't like to see people making bad decisions. Last week I told a VW guy on The Samba to put a 4-barrel on his drag car when he asked about EFI, because EFI would not have made sense. If the car is having issues with a few cylinders, it can only be 3 things: the mechanical injector, the line, or the distro block itself. You should really go to www.shoptalkforums.com and ask this question, there are some CIS nut jobs over there that retro CIS onto everything. They would definitely be able to help you in the injection forum, it's a wealth of CIS knowledge.

[caraholic4life]

Mercedes, Lexus,Volvo, Audi and all those other high end vehicles are "Grand" old cars.

Every time they need work , it's gonna cost you a grand

ALL of my cars have AMERICAN name plates but unfortunately not exclusively Made in U.S.A. parts