Mercedes Benz Starting Problem

[NXTIME]

A friend's 1982 Merc 380 V8 is being difficult to restart when warm. Cold start it is fine, but when it is shut off then restarted when warm it takes a while before it decides to finally start. It struggles for a 5 seconds and on the third or fourth attempt it finally starts.

Anyone know of any common causes of this for the 380 V8?

TIA.

Charlie.

[Cookiemonster]

Did he try spraying paint all over the interior?

[Jim]

is it the electronic fuel injection one or the mechanical injection?

if it's EFI then chances are the ignitor module is on the way out, or is overheating. some of these used a silicone heat sink paste under the module, if that gets washed away the module can overheat. it could just be plain old maintenance too such as plug leads and plugs worn out.

if it's mechanical injection, it could be a sticking air meter plate. with it running, blast some carby clean up the inlet pipe from the air cleaner end.

[NXTIME]

Secoh, thanks for the reply. It's mechanical injection. Carby cleaner has already been done to the air meter as you described.
Fuel regulator has been changed and that helped, but the problem remains with the car still perfect on cold start but not when warm.

[Stix Zadinia]

whats the fuel return like?

my sisters 450SEL has the same problem.

how warm does it get?

[NXTIME]

Not sure exactly, but normal operating temp. Say after a 30 minute drive, then switch it off for 10 mins or more and it will struggle to start.

[Stix Zadinia]

so, 175f?

it'll be a fuel supply issue. my M110 does it as well...

it's a W123 model right? does he have the manual? i'll check the CD manual for it and see if it has any answers

[NXTIME]

Unsure of exact model code. Any help will be appreciated.

[Jim]

check the resistance of the coil. it could be on the way out. that would be consistent with the temperature issue too.