captng1

Hello All,
I have a 1995 C280 and the anti theft system is messed up. No power to starter solenoid. No crank. Probably a bad relay. I am trying to disable or bypass the anti theft system. I was told the relay lived behind the drivers side kick panel but I removed it and don't see any relay. See attached photo. Can someone tell me where the relay is, or how to disable or bypass the anti theft system? Thank You,

Dirgesan

I believe your car uses the Drive Authorization System (DAS). If so, I'm sorry to say there are no relays you can just pull to bypass it. There should be an anti-theft control module, also called the Security Acquisition Module or SAM, on the left front side of the trunk, under the floor trim. You can try to inspect the connections on this, your ignition switch, and ECM for corroded or loose solder joints. Also check the wiring harness under the hood. Up through 1995, I believe, Mercedes used an engine wiring harness that decomposes over time. You can search the web for this; there's a ton of info about it. This might be your problem. If none of those work the only way I know to diagnose the system short of pulling out a voltmeter and checking all the voltages is to use either the dealer's STAR system or the Carsoft code readers. Carsoft sells hardware/software code readers for Mercedes. Their latest software is V12, but you can find version 7.4 clones on Ebay that should sell for about $60-80. I say should because these are getting hard to find. Carsoft sells their V12 system for around $200.
You probably don't want to hear this but Mercedes purposely designed DAS to not be easily bypassed, and I've never heard of anyone doing so.

captng1

Thank you for your reply Dirgesan. Much appreciated...

Dirgesan

I would really check your engine wiring harness under the hood. Mercedes used a 'green' wiring in your model which was supposed to decompose over time when the car was scrapped. The trouble is the wiring decomposed faster than expected when exposed to engine heat. Just move some of the wires around and see if the insulation falls off.
Mercedessource has a good video about this: