Good news - Sylvia has risen from the dead and joined the land of the living again.
Earlier today I wrote two longish posts following up from everyone's suggestions and saying thank you and that I still had starting issues. Of course I sent them from the wrong email account, so of course they bounced back.
The good news is now those posts are now obsolete - I believe I found the problem today. Previous posts may have led you to believe the car was parked in random driveway - it actually made it back home before becoming a zombie. So today we pushed it into the garage for a quick "one last peek" before succumbing to the charms of my AAA membership.
Here's what I learned:
Wiggling, removing and re-connecting the alternator wire did NOT make any difference, but I did determine that if you forget to put it back on, you'll get the same basic behavior as before - car will be electrically dead (at least that's how this car behaved).
HOWEVER...
Wiggling and tugging gently on the wiring harness that goes to the starter made a world of difference. Tug one way you get nothing. Pull gently another way and you get electrons flowing, lights on, buzzers buzzing, but still no cranking action. Tug yet again, and voila, she starts and runs like always.
It's now back at the mechanic who did the glow plugs and suspension work. I'm guessing that whatever work was done was enough to make the circuit reliable enough for a few days, then it went back to its old tricks again once things "settled down". It's clearly not their fault - it was working the whole time they had it. I told them to chase it if it happened, but it never did. Yet another hallmark of an honest mechanic is one that only does what you ask them to do - nothing more, nothing less.
I don't know which wire and I don't know why, but I do know that if I change the state of that part of the wiring harness enough, it will go from no electricity to bright lights everywhere and instant start - so I'm hoping that's the source of the current (pardon the pun) problem. I do know that it's a solvable problem, and hopefully not too expensive.
I did watch Kent's latest video - very illuminating, :^) and gave me the "courage" I needed to go follow the harness myself and start looking for trouble.
I found the wiring block on the right side rail, but my wires aren't all the same colors as described. I do have two red wires coming in, but they are wired to the same screw/terminal? There was a larger yellow/white braided wire. Whatever the case, all the wires there looked in decent shape w/out unusual patina/aging, little corrosion.
However, for future reference, I DEFINITELY want to know how to hotwire/start this thing w/out a working ignition switch (of course I will still need working key to release steering lock) - so I will send some pics of my car with that wiring block cover exposed (when it's back) and ask if someone can spell it out so even I can do it :^)
Some new questions:
1). Is it possible to order replacement wiring harness components? i.e. like the set of wires going from the battery + terminal to the starter itself? Or is it better to bypass and wire with new, fabricated "patches" into the wiring harness?
2). Specifically, I also went through the glowplug harness connections. While all the terminals and glowplugs are shiny and new as they should be, the original harness is still in place and there may be exposed wires, the plastic coating is definitely cooked and most likely original. It looks like these five wires lead into a single plug on the left fender where the glow plug fuse is. Can I have this part of the wiring harness rebuilt, or can I buy it?
thx in advance, fingers crossed this was the problem and back to normal weirdness soon..
As above, thanks to all for your replies - and yes, I did try firmly shutting (but not slamming) all four doors, the trunk and the hood and all had zero effect once the car went "dead".
-Barton
--- In diesel_mercedes@yahoogroups.com, Alan Boucher <alstheone@...> wrote:
>
> On 1/28/2011 1:41 PM, bartonfiske wrote:
> >
> > 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...)
> >
> >
> Maybe you should try a different door.
>
