What to do when a M103 engine is giving trouble

Most, if not all jobs on these engines require basic tools, some reading and patience. One basic rule
when it comes to the M103 engine is that if you take something apart, it goes back together ONE
way. Its very hard to ruin something on these engines, but they do require maintenance. Many parts
are expensive and it would be more cost effective to get some original parts from a junkyard.

Well start from the top My car runs rough. Misfires, bucks, sometimes itll stall, where
do I start? When was the last time you did a complete engine tune up on your car? If you cant
remember, guess where youre going to start?

SPARK PLUGS
If the spark plugs you just bought are Platinum or Iridium etc, youve bought the wrong ones.
These cars are very sensitive to the type of spark plugs used: most common spark plugs are resistor
type. The problem for M103s is that the spark plug wires have resistance built into the wires and if
used with resistor type spark plugs, you are running your engine with an inefficient burn. Over time
this can develop into a misfire, fouled plugs, and more varnish in your engine. The correct plug is a
copper core, non-resistor plug such as Denso T20EP-U, Bosch H9DCO, or NGK BP6EFS. Spark
plugs should be gapped .032" - .035.

DISTRIBUTOR CAP
Often overlooked, its simple to replace with a few Allen screws around it. Moisture has a tendency to
make its way to the inside of the cap and cause all sorts of problems. Remove the cap and check the
button; if it is missing or doesnt feel spring loaded, then replace the cap. If you see a slightly white
hazing in the cap (usually red-orange) than you have an arcing problem, meaning an incomplete and
weak spark, and in most cases causes a misfire. The interior rim of the cap has 6 points where the
spark transfers from the rotor to the cap. Each will have some slight normal discoloration where
spark transfer occurs, but if the points are crusty, its a good time to replace the cap. If you dont
have a new part handy, you can clean up the points with some sandpaper and bring out a new nice
shiny finish. This buys some more time with the cap and is a good point for some diagnostics.

Many misfires can be sorted just by cleaning the cap. Replace it every 15k -25k miles (depending on
weather, dry climates will be able to take these further) and remove the cap and clean it every 7,500
miles. Keeps everything in tip top shape and you can keep tabs on the integrity of your parts.

DISTRIBUTOR ROTOR ARM
This part spins inside the cap and directs electric flow to every point on your distributor cap. If its
crusty and worn down, its overdue for replacement. These are usually black in color: if you find
white hazing around the part, it has the same arcing problem as the cap. Replace it. Otherwise, clean
at the same time as your distributor cap.

SPARK PLUG WIRES
MB spark plug wires are extremely robust and some of the best wires around. The wires themselves
are very low resistance, but the boot ends have roughly 1k ohm resistance built in: a good set of
wires should measure 800ohm to 1.3k ohm. Check the spark plug wires for arcing on a dark night
with a little bit of misted water. If it looks like a small lightning storm on your engine, youve found
part of your misfiring. MAKE SURE YOU PULL THE WIRES OFF OF THE PLUGS BY THE ENDS, NOT
THE WIRE or you risk pulling the wire out of the end! Ive never found noticeable difference in an
aftermarket set of wires vs. an OEM set of Bosch wires.
OVP RELAY (Overvoltage Protection Relay)
All of your engines vital components are protected by this little relay. Do some more research
elsewhere on this part as it can cause a multitude of problems from hard starting, stalling, rough idle,
etc. Id be typing out a novel trying to explain the function and theory of this particular part.
Essentially, if you have the old style (single 10amp blade fuse) on top, replace it immediately with the
updated 2 fuse design. Theyre more reliable and will save you headaches down the road. A bad OVP
relay will still let the car start, but itll run rough and may stall.



FUEL FILTER
Come on now, if youve never replaced the darn thing then do it - 15-20k mile service intervals. They
dont last forever and theyre very easy to forget about. A poor fuel supply is enough to cripple the
car. Its cheap, its a little smelly, you might get a little buzz from doing the work under the car, but
its easy.

AIR FILTER
Replacing it is good and cheap insurance. If youve never done it, chances are you might be getting a
more efficient burn and better fuel economy! Dont bother with aftermarket air-filters, the factory
filter is the BEST cold air intake we can get for these cars.


OXYGEN SENSOR
Another overlooked part on the cars. Some cars didnt come equipped with a check engine light, so
most people never think to look at the O2 sensor. They have 100k mile service interval. Replace it
and dont worry about it for another 100k miles. Otherwise, youre burning more fuel than you really
need to so its another part that pays for itself over time. Its connected under the passenger side
carpet and gets fed out through a grommet on the transmission tunnel.

Over time the sensor wire can feed itself out of the grommet and the slack waves around as you
drive your car, allowing it to touch the driveshaft. The sensors can SHORT out on the driveshaft and
make the car completely inoperable. It would buck and run extremely rich, misfire like crazy, etc. A
short in the O2 sensor sends spurious signals to the engine computer and confuses it. Crawl under
the car and ensure the O2 sensor wire is away from the driveshaft. Easy, preventable maintenance.

LAMBDA ADJUSTMENT (Air/Fuel Ratio mixture)
This only applies to cars with completely functioning O2 sensors. If your O2 sensor is suspect,
replace it and THEN attempt to adjust your lambda. This is the last thing you can do to improve fuel
economy and drivability with M103 engines. Ive been getting an amazing 26-27 miles to the gallon
on a car with proper tune and maintenance in check. Checking lambda is best done with a multimeter
that can read duty cycle in %. If you don't have a duty cycle meter, but you do have an old dwell
meter, you can substitute the dwell meter for the duty cycle meter when setting the lambda
adjustment. You simply look for mid-scale on the dwell meter. All a dwell meter is, is a duty cycle
meter marked up in degrees instead of %.


The screwdriver in the above is simply a 3mm Allen wrench. It doesnt have to be long, just long
enough to engage the screw so youll be able adjust lambda. Adjustment can be done with the air
cleaner in place, but can only be done if the anti-tamper ball in the adjustment tower has been
removed. Take off your air cleaner and see if you have the ball still in the adjustment tower. If the
ball was in there, I would cover my work area and use a Dremel to saw just underneath the ball so I
could remove it. Its cleaner than breaking it off like some shops do.

Monitoring adjustment is done at the X11 diagnostic connector on the driver side fender well. The
signal provided at pin 3 of X11 is called the "lambda on/off ratio" signal. It is convenient to use pin 2
of the same connector as a ground reference. Make sure your multimeter is set to duty cycle % and
adjust the lambda until the % bounces on/off at around 44-49% duty cycle. Get it to just under 50%
thatll be the optimal running range for that engine. You get the best fuel economy, power, and
emissions at this range.


EHA (Electro-Hydraulic Actuator)
If your car smells like gas, it's most likely coming from the EHA on the back of the distributor. It also
can cause long starting, rough idling, hesitation from a stop or sudden acceleration. It has two small
green o-rings that, over time, harden and cause fuel leaks and cause all sorts of havoc on your sense
of smell and the running/starting condition of your car. The EHA makes last second pressure
adjustments to the upper and lower chambers of your fuel distributor. It works together with your
Lambda to keep everything together in your fuel system. Check out your EHA AFTER you're done
checking and adjusting everything else. They rarely go bad, but when they do, you'll often smell it.
Either the O-rings have started leaking, or the EHA has internal leakage that you'll be able to see
externally.
The EHA is mounted on the rearward side of the fuel distributor assembly. You have to take the air
cleaner off to gain access to it. Removal is done with a Torx bit (CAREFUL, washers can fall from
screws and you're screwed) and adjustment is done internally with SMALL 1/8" increment turns.
Clockwise richens the mixture, and counter-clockwise leans everything out. Precise adjustment is a
real pain in terms of watching duty cycle and a CIS fuel pressure test kit - so small increments work.
Often times, enriching the fuel mixture a tad will significantly help with off idle acceleration. There's a
small flat blade screw that's blocking the 2mm Allen adjustment key - make sure before adjusting you
make note of where the EHA was originally, in case you go too far with your adjustments.



After adjusting the EHA, I recommend you recheck your Lambda and fine tune from there.

FUEL PUMP RELAY
This only applies to the early M103s as the later cars used a MAS, rather than a separate relay for
the fuel pump. If your car is stalling out while driving, doesnt start, or has trouble starting (you
should always hear the fuel pump prime with the key in #2 position) than chances are your fuel
pump relay has failed or is in the process of failing. Its located next to the OVP relay on early cars.



To test, fuel pumps jumper sockets 87 & 30. If your fuel pump turns on, youll have a bad relay on your hands. A good
used relay is under $40 on ebay. Or you can open the relay up and check for cold solder joints. Ive resoldered a few
relays and theyre working fine to this day.


CRANK POSITION SENSOR (CPS)
When these fail, your car will not start or run. If the sensor dies when the engine is running, your
engine will stop running. If your car starts fine when cold, but doesnt restart when warm (have to let
the engine cool down to restart) than in most cases your CPS is failing. The CPS usually doesnt have
any effect on how rough the engine runs. Its usually ON or OFF with the CPS. The difference in
resistance with temperature is great enough that it sends incorrect signals to your EZL. Resistance
values should be in the range of 650 to 1200 ohms. Lower than 650 and youve got a dead
sensor. Resistance can be measured at the EZL end of the CPS wire.


IGNITION COIL
The ignition coil is mounted on the driver side fender well and can be exposed to the elements if you
dont have a splash shield installed on your car. Its also very rare for these to fail, but when they do,
theyll often give you a NO START situation. They do last a very long time. I havent found any
specific ignition coil test procedures, as Ive always had a spare junkyard one around to throw on for
diagnostics. I dont believe Ive ever come across a bad ignition coil amongst the 20+ cars Ive had
my hands on.


FUEL INJECTORS
These should be replaced at 100k intervals. Theyre not easily cleaned like electronic or diesel
injectors and service life is really determined by their inability to be serviced by being disassembled
like other injectors. They get gummed up over time and instead of a nice cone spray pattern, they
dribble and can leak down into the cylinders when the engine is off. Symptoms of leaking down or
gummed up injectors include very hard starts, long cranking when starting, running rough, misfiring,
running rich or under some conditions, lean running. If youve never replaced your injectors in the
lifetime of the car and it seems to be giving you any of the above symptoms after youve gone
through the rest of the car, it would be a good idea and excellent preventive maintenance for your
motor. You just might gain a few MPGs back in the process. Now would also be a great time to
replace the fuel injector seals. Apply a small dab of white lithium grease or oil to make installation
easier and so you dont rip the seals.
Take a look at your fuel injectors. If they are silver, theyre original. Replace them. If theyve ever
been replaced, theyre going to be brass / copper in color.

What do I do when my 300E has idle issues?

High idle on these motors can be caused by any of many problems with vacuum and some electrical
components. Again, like above, Ill try to order these in a plan of attack when it comes to problems.

Firstly, youll want to have your engine at operating temperature for this test. Vacuum leaks should
be more pronounced when doing this simple test, spraying a little starting fluid or brake cleaner
around vacuum components with the engine running. If you have a vacuum leak, the engine will run
completely differently when it sucks in the starting fluid. Itll rev up and youll more than likely have
found your vacuum leak and your high idle. Celebrate! Just be careful when you're doing this and
shoot in short bursts. Nobody wants you to blow up.

FLOOR MATS
Every time you get in the car you push the floor mats against the accelerator. Do it enough and the
accelerator will never return to idle position. So check your floor mats.

THROTTLE LINKAGES
Its an old car; make sure the throttle linkages arent hanging up. If youre in a climate with drastic
temperature changes, your roads get salt on them, or very sandy dry climates, check and lubricate
your throttle linkages. Standard MB procedure is to use trans fluid to lubricate the ball and cups of
the linkages. Ive always done that, followed up with white lithium grease and then covered the
entire ball/cup with grease/Vaseline to keep moisture out. Its good practice to do this every 15k
miles or so. A simple check-up is all you need to keep your linkages moving freely.
IDLE CONTROL VALVE
The computers control this to raise/lower idle when you start the car, have AC on, etc. Over time,
just by having the engine running, these can gum up. Theres a small valve inside, that when
gummed up, cant slide and will often stick giving a high idle. The opposite can be said for when it
gets stuck giving you a low idle. You can remove the valve and soak it in carb/throttle body or brake
cleaner to remove the gunk and give you a decently working valve again. Give the valve a shake with
some cleaner in it as well; you should be able to shake the small valve inside to clear out some more
gunk. Ive done this to a few valves and the crud that comes out of them is pretty foul.
You can also give the valve a quick test: connect center pin to ground and positive to pin 3 and
change the positive to connect to pin 1, the valve inside the IACV should move. If it doesn't, immerse
the IACV in some carb/throttle body or brake cleaner. If that doesn't help, it's time to change it.




THROTTLE MICROSWITCH
This switch is attached to the throttle linkages and is used by the ECU to determine off throttle
conditions and bring your engine to idle. If malfunctioning, youll have erratic idle, a surging
condition, etc. To test the microswitch, disconnect the cables and use a multimeter to test for
continuity between pin 1 and pin 3, the circuit should be closed when the switch is depressed.


VACUUM COMPONENTS
There are a multitude of vacuum components in the engine bay that are VERY neglected by owners.
On every single M103 Ive owned, Ive made it a point to replace every single vacuum piece in the
engine bay that I could handle. Usually costs about ~ $120 to get all the vacuum pieces including the
air meter boot (which always has cracks in it) from AutohausAZ or similar distributors. These parts
are rubber folks you find me a piece of rubber that hasnt become rock solid and brittle with
thousands of heat cycles and vibrations. They WILL fail, so replace them. If youre reaching 100k+
miles with these parts never replaced, youre going to start running into issues. Youll be chasing a
pipe dream trying to figure something out.

For those with automatic transmissions, theres a vacuum line that leads to the modulator on the side
of the transmission. These have a tendency to leak and give you poor shifting and high idles. Playing
with pieces is not a good way to inspect vacuum lines, REMOVE them and bend them all around to
check for cracking.


AIR FLOW POTENTIOMETER
Dont let the name scare you. Its a relatively simple part that MUST be in correct spec in order for
your car to run properly. Otherwise youll have surging idle, very high idle, erratic idle, etc. Ive have
a car sit at 2k rpm no matter what because the AFP was misadjusted. You need to back probe the
top two pins (1 and 2) and install the electrical connector. With a digital multimeter hooked up to
read DC volts, start the car and let it get up to a warm idle. With the engine at idle adjust the
potentiometer body by pivoting it slightly until 0.70v (plus or minus 0.10v) is obtained. If youre
unable to get that reading, then youre going to have to replace the potentiometer.



This is just BASIC stuff. If problems persist after checking and testing the components
outlined here, then you have deeper problems. Do your research! Most issues have been
covered extensively around the internet.

Issues can be carried over to MANY CIS-E fuel injected Mercedes cars. Basic maintenance
and preventive maintenance is a problem solver for most of these robust engines. They
dont often fail, but when they do, dont make an engineer somewhere in Germany cry.