turn the key and dash lights turn on, no power to starter - Benzworld.org - Mercedes-Benz Discussion Forum

bob richards · 01-10-2006, 11:28 AM

I have a 96' E300D and in the past 3 months I replaced the entire key and steering lock assembly. I used it to drive to and from work and it was fine. I go out that night and it acts like it would when you do not have the car in park which prevents you from starting the car. I moved the shifter in and out of park many times and nothing. Does anyone have any ideas?

zaphodsplanet · 01-10-2006, 06:42 PM

I'm not positive on this..... but it sounds like what happened with my 96 C280 a couple of times. This of course scared the hell out of me until I figured it out.

There were several times that I would pull the door handle right as I hit the unlock on the remote. For some reason this made the alarm system think someone had broken into the car. It would turn over but it wouldn't start.... I had activated the ignition kill function. I would arm and disarm the alarm again but wait until it was unlocked to open the damn door. Operator error I guess. After that it would start up right away.

If it's not turning over at all then I think there's either an issue with your starter or maybe the actual ignition switch. If you replaced the keyed portion w/o the electronics switch then you didn't fix the problem. If you have a keychain that weighs 15lbs stop doing that...:)...

Hope this helped... if not let us know when you get it all figured out.

Thanks,
Z

bob richards · 01-11-2006, 06:03 AM

Thanks for replying Z,

I replaced the ignition all the way down to the steering lock as I was having a ground problem with my dash lights. The starter is not even thinking of engaging so I really think it is something along the line of power never getting to the starter. I checked the battery and it is fully charged.

bob richards · 01-12-2006, 08:14 PM

Last night I thought I would just try starting the car. I got in, closed the door, put the seat belt on and turned the key. Glow plug light goes out and it starts! So I let it run for a while with the a/c on and rev it up a little and to get it up to tempurature. I turn it off and wait 10 minutes. Go out, close the door and do not put the seat belt on and the car starts.

I guess it was the alarm??

zaphodsplanet · 01-13-2006, 08:48 AM

Quote:

bob richards - 1/12/2006 9:14 PM

Last night I thought I would just try starting the car. I got in, closed the door, put the seat belt on and turned the key. Glow plug light goes out and it starts! So I let it run for a while with the a/c on and rev it up a little and to get it up to tempurature. I turn it off and wait 10 minutes. Go out, close the door and do not put the seat belt on and the car starts.

I guess it was the alarm??

Too Cool!!!!

I wonder if you were doing what I did. On my 96 C280 I would have my hand on the door handle and start to pull just as I hit the unlock/disarm button on the key. I did this three different times (usually I was in a rush). The first being the most traumatic for me. Never having a benz strand me like that just pissed me off. Took me a half hour to figure it out the first time....LOL. After that I would just not put my hand on the door handle till all doors were unlocked. Never happened again after that. Maybe you should try to see if you can get it to do it again.... just to make sure. It's kind of a cool feature though if someone were to break into the car and try to start it. They would be screwed w/o the key.

Take care,
z