We have a '98 E320 4Matic wagon. 150K miles on it. When we pull up to a stop sign/light the car stalls. We have taken it to our local mechanic but they couldn’t find anything wrong. It stalled again less than a block away from the same mechanic so they towed it to the garage rather than attempt to start it. They failed again to find the problem. When my wife drives it she puts it in neutral at stop signs & lights and revs it a bit. We don’t want to sink a lot of money into it because we ordered a new car. Any thoughts of what the problem is?
There’s a component on the throttle body either called the Idle Air Control or Idle Air Bypass valve. This is what allows the engine to idle anytime the throttle is released. Since your wife is able to prevent the engine from stalling by putting it into neutral and revs the engine a bit, points to a problem with this component.
Tester
Thanks, is this a costly fix? Do you think I can sell the car as is if I list this problem?
I would try cleaning the IAC first. It’s free if you can do it yourself, pretty cheap even if you have someone else do it. Stay away from the dealer, they’ll want to replace a bunch of parts.
Should be a pretty easy fix, you’ll be able to sell the car for more money if it runs right.
Thanks for the advice. I just have to figure out were that IAC is located.
google it. or go to a website that sells auto parts such as rockauto.com and put in your vehicle info, it’ll show you a picture of the IAC, then you can find it once you take off the plastic covers covering your engine.
It’s probably near your intake manifold.
I just went to a couple parts web sites but didn’t find an IAC for your car.
Is there any check engine light on?