Just bought a nice 97 E320 in great condition except it won't crank for $350. New tires and nice rims were worth the $350... Gave my old 97 E320 to my son who has beaten the crap out of it (never give a kid a car, make him/her pay for it ). I have a 2000 E320 and a 2006 E350. I have had a 98 E320 and LOVE the 97 because of the inline 6 and actually prefer the W210 over my 211... Much more room in back and great handling. Mostly, I have become a good lil DIY guy, so I find these pretty cheap and keep em or sale em. The 97 compared to all other w210's e-class are much easier to work on (more space) than the V6...

Now on to my problem. Bought the car, had it towed home. At the womans house I bought the car from I jumped it to see if it would crank and it did but no start. She or her husband had jumped a solid purple to a purple/wht wire in the cars PCM, I think just to show it would crank. I asked her what had happened to it? She stated it just stopped working one day. FOB key NEVER worked with car, she just used Valet (flat key) all the time.

Rear view Mirror was missing and replace with some cheap one, but I'm aware that it's an important piece of equipment to have, and bought one at the junk yard today. Will install tomorrow. Since my son still has my old 97 e320 (exact same car except for color) I started wire chasing and found the jump in the PCM...Disconnected it, car will no longer even crank when I disconnect BS jump. All positions on the ignition work as they should. It's just when I get to start position (position 3) no crank! The only problem with the car when I checked at her house, was a P0743... But no CEL.

But after doing some extensive research, this has nothing to do with no crank. I traded my sons CPS and swapped mine with his, his car cranks and starts just fine. Mine is still a no go...So it's not the CPS (at least not the sensor itself. Swapped PCM module again it works in his car,so it's not that.

HELP! What could it be? Again no crank but when wires are jumped starter works and cranks the engine but won't start... ANY IDEAS or thoughts would be deeply appreciated. Nothing in position 3...
PS:Also swapped out N65 Module, my sons worked with mine in it, mine didn't work with his... Also put his his rear view mirror in mine but since no working FOB can't test it (green and red lights on base of RVM)

 

Okay, okay, hahahaha...lol.... Well guess what? I got it up and running Yes, that's right, you won't find it laying at the bottom of the ocean just yet. The problem was 2 fold.

#1) Was looking underneath car at the starter just to see if all wiring was correct. Saw a male pug just laying unconnected on top of the huge ground wire that goes from starter to under footwell. Hard to see where it was suppose to go. So I shove my hand up there to feel around (like my first date) and VIOLA, I feel the female connector. So I plugs em in... Later AFTER I connected, I learned it was the CSPS wiring.Not at the sensor but in the rear above and behind the starter... But still NO CRANK...

#2) So I read this article http://bogbit.com/mercedes-e320-wont...switch-bypass/ and did as instructed, EXCEPT I jumpered these wires at the PCM module NOT by the ignition switch under drivers footwell. I tried this a few days ago and now know why the car was jumpered there when she sold it to me... So to let the buyer know it at least would crank! So, it starts and runs for $350.00 Needs a NSS and a few minor things but for a 97 it's in immaculate shape, interior no rips or tears, headliner perfect! Black on Black, some small hard to notice dings here and there, BUT...

So instead of seeing Pop's in Long Island, I just might flip it to him...lmao
Thanks for the humor, I sincerely needed it!

 

Success, you revived a terminal patient.

 

From the day you buy a new car and drive it off the lot, it is terminal, lol! All my Mercedes have outlasted many of my friends new cars. Got to start seeing the glass half full right? After starting the car and running it it is stuck in the limp mode. P0743 error. I think this may be the reason why it wouldn't crank... Any thoughts?

 

P0743 Torque Converter Clutch (TCC) Solenoid Circuit Electrical
That would explain transmission limp mode, but should not affect engine starting.
Most likely replacing electric plate will be in order.
As much as I hate to say it -You need SD for future work.

 

Just bought a new conductor plate, took old one out (hey, I'm getting pretty good at this..lol) Ordered with filter, gasket and plug for $80.. I have 4 benz's at the moment (including my sons), a 2006 E350, 2-1997 E320's (my fav's) and 1-2000 E320. I love the straight inline 6's best. Easy to work on and lots of room.

That being said, what would a SD cost me? I assume it means "Star Diagnostic"?

Thanks for the input...I'd be lost without these forums and their members. Kudos to YouTube also

 

The $200 Chinese SD clones are getting better and better reviews (early software was flooded with worms), but if your indy resets the codes cheap, that will work as well.
I loved I6 in diesel as well.
Right now waiting for motor mounts to arrive and the job on V6 Bluetec looks like potential for a whole day or 2.
Still newer V6 offer way better performance.

 

Kajtek, I just read something pretty cool on this PDF( http://www.all-trans.by/assets/site/...es/722.6.1.pdf ) Page 18 Figure 17 it states the following:

The Park/Neutral Contact is located in, and part of,
the electrical conductor plate with the plunger
protruding, as shown in Figure 17. Its purpose is to
transfer information to the TCM as to when the
selector lever is in the "P" or "N" positions. When in
"P" or "N" the P/N contact is acuated by the inside
detent plate. The permanent magnet is moved away
from the dry-reed contact. The dry-reed contact is
opened, and the TCM receives an electrical signal that
will close the signal to the starter circuit. Cut-Away
of the P/N Contact is shown in Figure 17.

So.... Me looking for a neutral safety switch was stupid, because there ISN'T ONE on the side of the tranny near the shifter on the inside of the car? After reading this, could this be why my starter wouldn't crank? Why I had to jump the wire just to see if it would crank? Seems to me that the starter will NOT engage at all with a P0743 condition! The starter circuit will remain OPEN and never crank the car! WOW! No wonder... We are all under the assumption that these earlier W210's will still crank up with a P0743 error, but they won't. Your thoughts on this?

PS: You are right about the V6's much more power! Good luck on your project! Waiting id the hardest part...lol
PSS: I need a motor mount on my 2000 E320... The one near the A/C compressor.. Let me know how hard this is to do... Seems so tight in there...

 

1997 was a year of lot of changes on MB, so it would help posting the pictures so we know precisely what item you have.
I never had to work on it, but neutral switch on 5-sp is incorporated into shifting switch board.
Fact is that with lack of producer support, lot of electronic modules on those cars are replaced without much of troubleshooting.
That leads to minimal knowledge how those things really interlock.
I know one W210 owner, who is trying to fix electronic glitch in his ignition module for 3 years and after thousands of $$ spend at dealer and several indies the car still doesn't run.

 

PO743 will NOT prevent the starting - if is a tranny code which for your year which "often" can be a somewhat simple fix:

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w210...ode-p0743.html

Yes - a bad NSS could be the culprit - and could be the reason for the wire/hack.

 

fabbrisd, You may be right, can you please tell me where the NSS is? Is it on the shifter or near it? Electrical on a plate near or in the shifter. Sorry for sounding so ignorant on this, but I am new to this problem, I have had so many E320's and never had this issue on a one of them. When I took apart the valve body there was a chunk of metal which looked like a copper piece of a solenoid broke off and was just laying there. You know, the two contacts? One seemed like it was broke off a previous solenoid, as I checked all the solenoids and they all showed correct resistance and had the contacts intact. Either way I will see what happens when I get the new plate and clear the P0743 error code. THANK YOU for all your help, I need all I can get...lol

 

What kind (model) would you recommend that won't break the bank?

 

I've been surviving without SD, nor DAS.
Sooner or later I will have to buy one, but researching scanner for MB is whole can of worms.