[CaprezMercedes]

My 260e sat for a day. Took it out this morning for a drive and on the way home the rpm gauge went crazy, the SRS light came on, the radio turned on and off continously and the blinkers stopped working. Made it home and turned off the car and now it is completely dead.

Is it the battery or the alternator?

 

[coldfoil]

You can easily check the battery with a voltmeter. When you say the car is dead, does it turn over? Please provide more details.

 

[CaprezMercedes]

Car does not turn over at all now. Started fine this morning and ran fine for most of the trip. Made one stop during trip and car started then. On drive home everything went crazy.

 

[coldfoil]

Check your battery first with a voltmeter, you should get around 13V. If it is low, charge it 100%. Once fully charged, try it again and if you get the car running, check battery voltage to make sure that it is charging. If not, you need to replace the alternator.

 

[Jayare]

Just to add a little to what's already been suggested. A fully charged battery should have 12+V showing on the meter. When the car is running, the meter should have a reading in the neighborhood of 13.6 - 13.8 volts. If not, then it can either be a bad alternator or more likely a bad voltage regulator. The voltage regulator is mounted on the back of the alternator and held in place by two phillips screws. A very, very easy DIY change. New ones can be had at NAPA for less than $40 or you can purchase on online from a number of sources for less. autohausaz.com and autopartsplace.com are two that I use and both offer superb service and selection.

Good Luck,

Jayare

 

[chinny4290]

OVP Relay?

 

[coldfoil]

Listen to Jayare...the MB GOD of western Florida. BTW Jayare....sorry about last year's World Series....we had a great party at downtown Philly.

 

[Jayare]

I imagine you all did have a fantastic party. It was a fun ride for both cities..

 

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ovp, nss, fuel pump relay, and voltage regulator

I put off a repair for too long by starting the car in neutral because of the neutral safety switch ... good interim solution, til it left my wife stranded : ( .

I believe that by starting in neutral too much I killed the OVP (also a repair postponed) which finally killed the car on the road. To troubleshoot, plugged in a spare OVP from a Junkyard and it fired right up. Ordered a new one from Autohausaz.com.

I also replaced the fuel pump relay.

Replacing the voltage regulator just to be sure.
Goes to show you that one thing leads to another.... a snowball turns into an avalanche. Anyway replaced all and she's back n the road. A word of warning to the wise.