The ignition switch might be the problem as others have stated, though
you didn't mention if you tried starting it in neutral instead of park.
The park neutral switch on the tranny might be off, or broken. Try the
easy stuff first. :)
Rob
'85 300D
Garden grove, CA
==
On 1/29/11 1:16 AM, diesel_mercedes@yahoogroups.com wrote:
> she's dead Jim (for now)
> Posted by: "bartonfiske"barton.fiske@gmail.com bartonfiske
> Date: Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:41 am ((PST))
>
> Sylvia has officially kicked the electrical ignition bucket - one of her intermittent demon personalities that has been lurking but not exerting her momentum buzz-killing powers until yesterday. Drove car to appointment, parked in driveway and there she sits.
>
> Problem has been previously overcome simply by opening and closing the driver side door. Pretty cool tech, no? Something in that part of the car then falls into place and it will start and operate "normally." Alas no more. Open/shut - nothing. Car is electrically dead - no lights, no radio, no power - nada.
>
> Battery has full charge - cables/leads to ground and starter are believed to be ok. Been through the fuse box, pulled every relay, turned and aligned every fuse. Have not been under the car to look at starter leads and probably won't in favor of having it towed to a shop that knows way more about debugging this problem than I do (and time for right now).
>
> Sometimes, if you're lucky and put the key in and advance to pre-start position, the "diags" and alarm buzzer noises for seatbelt/lights will sound, the glowplug light cycles, and as usual the alarms time out - i.e. the car works electrically, but still nothing when you hit the ignition to start. No click, no noise whatsoever.
>
> Attaching a fully charged jumper pack to the battery does nothing, and charging the battery does no good as it's already charged. Been through all the "obvious" parts of the wiring harness near the glow plug "fuse" on driver side, and the leads from the battery on the passenger side. When the glow plugs were replaced, the wiring harness was inspected at that time and visually didn't appear to have any problems.
>
> Sigh...back to the land of the unreliable...trying to stay secure in the knowledge that if this problem gets fixed, the rest of the car should be back to normal long enough to be worth fixing this current predicament..
>
> Really grimacing as I put the '78 99 Saab 99T through another New England winter.....I promised her I wouldn't do this, that Sylvia would take the load off....
>
> -Barton
>
> (tips/tricks welcomed...)
>
>
>
>
