RyGuay

Ok, totally new to the forum, and not a car expert by any means. About a month ago, I bought a 1982 500 SEL. Grey market car.

It was a spontaneous buy from craigslist. Claimed that it only had 49,000 original miles, and upon inspection and a test drive it seemed to be in beautiful condition. No body damage, no rust, leather and dash are perfect. The mileage was suspect do to the fact that it said 50,144 miles when i drove it, but the odometer was not turning. oh, well i figured it was very clean and i loved the drive.

There was a slight issue with the idle while stopped, was idling high then would have a slight drop/ bump and it would pop right back up. So i brought it in and the mechanic worked on a bunch of stuff. Fuel distributor plugs etc. got the car back and it was driving nice.

3 days later it wouldn't start. wouldn't jump, so i got it towed back to the shop. they tried a new battery, new starter, and nothing was getting it to crank. They threw it on the rack and pulled the pan. Thought it was a rod bearing at first but then supposedly threw a camera in there, and they are telling me the "crank shaft main bearing is shot"... they are telling me the car is dead with out a new engine.

These are not Mercedes mechanics. So i thought i would throw it out to the online experts.. any advice. any merecedes tricks that would be causing this. The car was running super smooth, I'm not sure how over night the crank shaft could seize up making the car useless and DOA.

Tony Funches

BS. Total Rip Off ... check your Neutral Safety Switch; on the transmission exterior, drivers side, part costs around $40 ...

RyGuay

So Tony... Are you telling me this device could prevent the crank shaft from turning even when opened up underneath? Where it stands now, you can reach up in there and wrap a gripping type wrench around the shaft and it won't spin.

Ryan

Tony Funches

It's impossible to diagnose by way of blog post, but ... after 54 yrs of bustin' wrenches, I know the BS quoted TO you in the original post is a Blatant Rip Off ...
Are you saying the Oil Pan has been removed & somebody is putting a "Gripping"(?) wrench on the CRANKSHAFT, while it's still in the car? ... OMG ...
The function of the neutral safety switch is to interrupt the circuit to the starter unless the vehicle is in park or neutral.
With spark plugs in the cyl heads, compression & friction/drag would prevent mere mortals from turning the engine over without a socket on the crankshaft hub (@ front of motor) attached to a 1/2" breaker bar ... with the plugs removed, the effort required would be lessened sufficiently to still get a hernia!
I'm amazed that ANY "Shop" would "Try" new battery & starter without identifying them as culprits by means of any Harbor Freight $10 Multi-Meter FIRST!
A Main or Rod bearing seldom goes bad this suddenly without giving indications of a systemic problem 1st, & I haven't ever heard of a Benz motor losing it's bottom end with only 50,000 miles on the clock; my '88 560SEL is Still Singin' at 338,200 miles. So, there's THAT t'dance with ...
Again I inquire; WHERE are you & the vehicle? I know of a few HONEST shops in Denver, Grand Junction & Ft Collins Colorado, as well as Northern & Southern California. OTHER members of this forum can provide still more HONEST shops where they live, but NOBODY can do that until we have some idea where YOU are ...

RyGuay

I'm in North County San Diego.

And yes, the oil pan was pulled. The mechanic wrapped on of those wrenches with a chain around the end to the crank shaft to show me that it was seized.