230ge hates hills!
Hi, I have a 230ge short wheel base f reg. It is generally in good shape, but latterly it seems to lack power, especially up hills or towing. Timing is bang on to the mark, fuel air mixture appears fine, plugs burning beautifully and leads etc not that old. It has 39k on clock so guess that really means 130k, but i can only guess at that as I have history of the vehicle since i bought it 6 years ago...
I have had nothing to gauge it against so it may simply be that the engine is under powered for the weight? It runs very smoothly but also has a very slight miss periodically.
I have considered either rebuilding the engine or just replacing it with a sprinter diesel. The latter would be a fairly sizeable job!
I use the car mainly in the winter, as it goes anywhere and through anything! Living in rural Scotland this is pretty much essential! I also use it to pull a trailer but mostly it sits in the garage doing not much at all.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the problem might be or recommendations of how to go about changing over to diesel?
All sensible suggestions welcome!
thanks
Martin
are you losing water, if you are that would suggest head gasket. Do a compression test on the head. With the missfire it could simply be the plug or something more serious. You are correct though with regard to power/weight though the 2.3 makes a better fist of hauling the car along than the 5 cylinder diesel. Our Spanish envoy has some knowlege of the 16v MercedesCosworth engines being transplanted into ge230's, that would solve the power to weight issue. Might be worth sending him a P.M.
I'm confused as to wether you have had it for 6 years or have the past 6 years of history from previous owner, the 230 is under powered but is a sweet little engine, if you have had it for 6 years then you will know if it's lost power or not, but if you got nothing to compare it with towing with the 230 is hard work for it, although I use to frequently tow 3500 kgs with mine (auto). not sure why it would lose power and 139k isn't a lot for the engine, does it burn oil, the valve guide seals wear which might lose a little compression but nothing major.
Two things check out, by my suggestion. Check out whether the throttle is fully opening. On a stationary engine get an assistant to floor the throttle pedal, observe the opening on the throttle lever on the engine, does it travel the complete distance on the cam?
The other, very much over looked service item, is the valve clearances. If you do not have hydraulic tappets, check the valve clearances.
Have the vacuum advance on the distributor checked out, if seized, you will not get the timing advance necessary for load conditions.
Cheers,
i had the pleasure of using a 90 model 230 ges. cracking little engine and economic too compared to the 280, and better than 617 in my opinion !!
it ran great on the straights,power seemed really good, but it died quickly up the mountain pass here in n cyprus. i also noticed noisy tappets when under full throttle on the straights and up hill.
now sold,so never got round to checking the engine out..
2.5-16 transplant would be a great option mind you.
One thing to remember at the top left hand side of crankcase there is a rubber hose which is the breather, when you take the crankcase cover of there is a plate covering a gauze filter, this gets blocked, you have to grind off plate to get to gauze to clean out in petrol, or soak it in petrol overnight if you dont want to cut off plate. If it is blocked it can't breath and therefor pressure builds up in crankcase which can exaggerate the valve guide seals issue.
JOIN THE GWOA
This website and forum are provided for the benefit of enthusiasts and owners of all Mercedes Benz off road vehicles, in particular the G Wagen. The costs of development, upkeep and provision of the site are met entirely by the annual subscriptions of club members. If you are using the site and are not a member of the G Wagen Owners Association please consider joining. You will have access to areas on the site that are not open to non members, to club trips and meetings and to technical assistance. In addition your contribution (only £25 annually) will help us maintain and develop our website for future users.
Who's new
- Jaffa_JIM_23
- Wrabstar
- GG
- KTMSCANIA22
- 280ge
Hi all ,
thank you all for your great feed back.
I think i should look at doing a compression test first and then taking the head off and doing the valves. one of the lifters is noisy anyway. I have had it for 6 years with no prior history (I realised my error in the original text after i posted message!) It was more capable a couple of years ago but there is now seemingly less power available. I have looked into the 230 Cosworth and would dearly love to fit one as it is the most straight forward way of overcoming the power to weight issue. Hard to come by tho and very expensive!
It is due for a few things this summer so i'll try out all the suggestions and let you know what worked best!
Thanks again
Martin