1991 MERCEDES-BENZ 190E 2.0
Perhaps it knew it was destined for a new owner and wanted to hang around a little longer. Or, more likely, it didn’t appreciate being left with a residual amount of E10 in the tank for more than a year. Whatever the cause, it seems my 190E will be staying with me a little while longer.
Its most recent appearance in these pages charted how I’d got the car ready for sale. I’d spent a day cleaning it and everything; almost unheard of for me. In the intervening weeks, since taking the photos and listing the car for sale online, I’d had all manner of messages; from the lazy and clueless who hadn’t bothered to read, to those offering a fair price. As time passed, the insulting dreamers emerged too, offering me a pittance. Does anyone ever say yes to these people?
Fortunately, I had two solid offers on the table, so decided to drop in on the 190E to exercise it and take some close-up photos – in response to some more specific final queries – before getting to the viewings. Re-connecting the battery and hearing the ‘hiss’ from the fuel pump priming, I turned the key and was met with an engine that churned more than usual before a few cylinders lazily fired up. Something was wrong; this 190E is far from perfect but usually keen to start. A few months earlier, my 2.6 190E had shown exactly the same symptoms – low fuel pressure and a distinct whiff of petrol in the air.
Sure enough, when I looked underneath I could clearly see a steady drip of fuel. Swiftly shutting off the barely running engine, I investigated further and found that the rubber line running between the fuel filter and the hard supply line had more holes in it than rubber. Initially, that came as a relief, because it’s a lot easier to replace a flexible line than a hard one. Or so I thought...
The union between the rubber line and its perma
