Documentation of Solex carburetor model numbers seem to suffer from typographical errors, or inconsistent translations from German (or French) into other languages.
If you have any facts or theories as to why the “I” versus “J” discrepancy exists, please contact the editor. / January 6, 2002
Examples
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The 190b owner's manual lists the carburetor as Type 32 PAJTA. In other documentation, the correct carburetor for the 190b is the Type 32 PAITA
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The 180b owner's manual lists the Type 34 PJCB carburetor. Other sources list the 34 PICB carburetor for the 180b
The question arises around the usage of the letter “I” versus “J”. This discrepancy may stem from the fact that the Solex carburetor was made in Germany under license to the French Societe des Carburetors (Solex S.R.C.). Meaning, the more times the name was translated, the more chance there was for human error to enter in to the translation. Also, the “J” and the “I” are near each other on the typewriter, so the typographical error theory may have credence for another day. This theory was developed in January 2002 after a reader of this page noted that the 190b owner's manual listed the correct carburetor as being the Solex 32 PAJTA. The table above lists the correct carburetor for the 190b as the 32 PAITA.
In January 2002, the issue was discussed by the members of the International Ponton Owners Group (IPOG) and the following observations were made:
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The Mercedes CD-ROM workshop manual (Mercedes-Benz STAR Classic Service Manual Library Volume 2, part #P-2700-EV2-000 Version 1.0) lists the 32 PAITA as the correct carburetor for the 190b.
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Another general observation was that the “I” and “J” are seemingly used interchangeably in Solex nomenclature for some unknown reason.
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Glenn's MB Repair and Tune-up Guide lists the correct carburetor for the 190 and 190b as 32 PAITA, not 32 PAJTA.
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Page 07-3/7 of the MB 180-220SE Service Manual describes the 220S carb as Type 32 PAITA, not 32 PAJTA.
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Page 07-0/1 of the MB 190 Service Manual lists 32 PAITA, not 32 PAJTA.
If there is any question as to the correct Solex carburetor for your Mercedes-Benz Ponton, the carburetor model is embossed (raised) on the side of the unit. It is the advice of the editor that the carburetor model be verified before purchasing any carburetor rebuild kits. It is not necessary to remove the air cleaner housing to see the Solex carburetor model name on the Type 190 sedan.
Update: November 18, 2002
Reference: P. Olyslager Motor Manuals (volume 16) Mercedes-Benz 180a / 180b / 190 / 190b / © 1962 P. Olyslager
The Olyslager Motor Manual p. 57, states, "The carburettor for the 190b (up to 1960 models) is a Solex twin-barrel down-draught carburettor, model 32 PAJTA, which differs from the 32 PAITA mainly in the following respects:
The carburettor body incorporates a slot below the throttle valves, connecting the primary and secondary halves and the accelerating pump mechanism is modified so that fuel is additionally injected during the time the mechanically-controlled secondary throttle valve is being opened. The accelerating pump capacity is 1.4-1.6 cc per stroke. Adjust idle speed to 700-750 rpm.
Note: 190b engines of first production did not incorporate these modifications."
Update: October 24, 2026
The Solex carburetor “I” versus “J” discrepancy was covered again in the following IPOG topic.
Topic:
https://groups.io/g/ponton/topic/carburetor_rebuild_job/121873620
Message № 154218:
https://groups.io/g/ponton/message/154218
Michael Zdarsky wrote,
"As a son of a “Schriftenmaler”
(sign maker) I'd like to add some perspective. I watched my father for hours and
hours doing freehand writing (some would say drawing) advertisements on
cardboard papers and other material. Each poster
(or whatever it was) had a different font in those ancient days. One of the
old fonts was “Fraktur”, which was often used in print media, and
books.
In aktur, the uppercase “I” looks like this.
Because the raktur uppercase “I” looked like a “J” on the typewriter, a
confusing mistake was born.
Over the decades, the Fraktur font died, and especially with documents that were written with typewriters, the Fraktur “I” became a “J”, which looked more like the Fraktur letter “I” with the Courier types, which most typewriters had at the time. Someone must have incorrectly used the “J” rather than the correct “I”. For me, that is the reason why a PAITA carburetor was transformed into a PAJTA. Of course this is a little bit off topic, and even absolutely unimportant, but it may be interesting to some readers."
Michael Zdarsky
Heroldsbach, Bayern, Germany
1959 220S (W180) Webasto, Hydrak >October 24, 2026