Ok, this is the first one. Today, I was with my dad in the SD, and he turned the key to the preglow position, the light went off, and he turned the key. Nothing. At first, we thought we left the car in gear and that the safety feature was in action, but the shifter was in park, so he tried again. Turned the key, and it didn't even turn. So, I suggested he turn the key for a longer period of time. After holding the key for about two or three seconds, it began to crank and finally started. What's causing this delay in the time between the turning of the key and the cranking of the engine? Second, the passenger's side mirror is not moving. There's no noise coming from it when the switch is moved. Which one do you think is most likely the culprit, the motor, or the switch? The reason I ask is because I think that this may be a W126 specific problem and someone may have come across it before.
-Joe

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'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

On the W126 if you fail to start the first time you need to bring the key back to the 0 position to reset it. It talks about it in the manual. It happens to me every once in awhile, just turn it back to the first position and it will reset itself.

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1999 SL500
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With electrical devices, they normally function or they don't. So, I'm inclined to believe that you have made a bad contact in the ignition switch.

Try it several times. Does it repeat the "3 second" delay exactly? Does moving the key switch with some additional torque, or reduced torque make any difference? Can you affect the "3 second time" by changing the procedure with the key, in any way? It's a rather strange problem.

With regard to the mirror, attempt to run the switch in all four directions. Generally, the switch is not going to fail in all directions. If you get nothing, get a helper and attempt to "assist" the mirror when you move the switch. See if the assist will get the motor in the mirror to move. If it does not, the mirror is the most likely culprit, but, not definitive. You could easily check the voltage to the mirror if you remove the plug from the mounting arm.

H-town,

Usually the problem you described is caused by resistance on the contact surfaces. It could be either the contacts in the key switch, a wire connection to the solonoid or an open in the solonoid pick circuit. Its diffucult to find because as soon as you try to isolate the problem, the contact will work or the circuit will close and you can find nothing wrong.

It could also be the nuetral switch on the transmission. Try starting in nuetral if it doesn't start in park.

You will probably have to put up with it for a while until it gets bad enough so it doesn't work at all so you can diagnose the problem. Intermittant problems are usually the hardest to diagnose.

P E H

Had a few starters slow to energise over the years. Try heating primarily the solenoid with a blow dryer or leave car plugged in if delay is a constant. If after warm up starter energizes much faster then you know it pertains to the starter or imediate wiring. Before changing the starter or solenoid remove and clean all the starter conections just in case you have a strange oxide problem. Sometimes this type of problem is heat sensitive.

interesting problem. for 12 years at work we have a Volvo end loader that does the same thing. hold the key in the start position for 3 seconds and the starter will engage. has never changed over the years, never failed to start. but newbies think the batt is dead till we show them how to start it.
first time i've heard of this other than with this machine.
so, maybe if it continues to start, it's not a problem.

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H-town,

Barry is correct, it could also be the starter. The current from the key switch that goes thru the pick coil goes thru the starter to ground so if the starter has a high resistance in it, such as worn brushes, or a partially open winding, the solonoid will not work. The current from the key switch going thru the hold coil is not enough to move the solonoid.

In reference to above, when you turn the key switch, current is supposed to go thru both the pick coil and the hold coil in the solonoid. The combined magnetic force of the 2 coils is enough to move the solonoid to make the electrical connection to the starter and push the pinion gear into the ring gear. At this time, the pick coil is shunted out but the hold coil is strong enough to hold the solonoid in the crank position until the key is released.

Connect a volt meter to the connection at the solonoid from the key switch. It should always read ~12 volts when ever the key is turned. If it doesn't, your problem is most likely in the key switch or neutral switch.

P E H

My guess is that the ingition switch or possibly the whole assembly is bad. I ended up having to replace my assembly because the shaft that turned the electrical switch was cracked into several pieces. The tumbler wouldn't turn the switch far enough since the shaft was twisted and cracked. You may want to tear it apart and inspect it.