Gilly,
I jumped my SL with my wife's ML and drove it at once to the dealer. They ran some tests including the resting current and the alternator, and concluded that it was my battery. My old battery had a date stamp of 11/95 on it. The total cost was $166. Now that I am on business in Austin for a week and the car is sitting in the garage again, guess I will find out if it was the battery that gave me all those griefs. Thanks again for all your input.

95 R129
98 W163