Hi everyone,

For the past four weeks I have been trying to solve a problem with my '91 245. It runs extremely rich, with black smoke and lots of gas smell out of the exhaust.

I have been to two garages and a dealer, and still no solution. I have had the plugs replaced, the fuel injector temperature sensor replaced, the O2 sensor replaced, the fuel pressure regulator replaced. No improvement. Next I tried to check the cold start valve by unscrewing it from the intake manifold to see if there was gas flowing through at idle. There wasn't so I think that means it's working OK. Can someone confirm this for me?

The mechanics I was working with threw up their hands and said it was either the air mass meter or the ECU, even though I wasn't getting a diagnostic code for an AMM. Unfortunately I am in CA and my car's fuel injection is a Federal/Canadian version, which means that even my local dealer doesn't have a spare AMM or ECU sitting around to try, so they are reluctant to help me out by ordering a part that might sit on the shelf if it doesn't fix my problem.

So I took a chance and found a rebuilt AMM which I popped in today. It got a little better. There is less black smoke, but I still get diagnostic codes for running rich and I can still smell gas in the exhaust.

Any other ideas out there for me before I run this car off a cliff into the Pacific Ocean?

Thanks.

Peter