Engine starts up good & smooth on cold-start.

MERCSL

MEMBER
1991 MERCEDES BENZ 500SL
230,000 MILES

Engine starts up good & smooth on cold-start and can be driven fine without a problem for 6 Km. After a rest of 20 minutes engine does not start and sometimes splutters. I leave it to cool down (not to drain the battery) for 30 minutes and then it starts up fine but does splutter sometimes on acceleration running unevenly and there is loss of power.
Typically, this problem has persisted for a while wherein on cold start-up it runs fine to any distance but once the engine is shut down and left for 15-20 minutes starting is a problem, running unevenly and occasionally misfiring.

Previously starting after 15-20 minutes was not such a big problem but the engine would stall and run unevenly. Recently this problem has aggravated where now starting-up is a problem
Thanks
Ahl

2 Replies

PAULJOHNSON1

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Man, this question is like the plague. Its everywhere, with no signs of retreat. I hope this helps. I've got the same car, 177k on it, and when I bought it it had the same problem.I've literally dumped close to $8,500.00 all of which began with the BRAKES. Yesterday at noon I basically had a brand new car that ran like heck. Frustrated, stomping on the brake pedal, I heard a new noise, a "pop"? Now what the heck, I thought, as my idle leveled out at 550.A few moments later my#3 and#6 cylinders slowly came to life. Within 5 minutes the only indication of a running car was the tachometer. Opening the hood revealed an oily mess of smoking brake fluid. Apparently the jackass who did the brakes compressed the last caliper and failed to siphon the excess fluid. This minor oversight completely jacked my vaccume system. Affecting everything from the trunk latch to the timing (not literally). This morning I turned the key (yes its new also) and after a minor mixture adjustment gleefully smashed the gas and stuffed 315 horses into the almost new Dunlops for about a block and a half. This ticket pales in comparison to what my brakes cost, and I saved money doing them myself!