Hey Guys,

Having a strange problem with my 80 300SD. No problems starting all winter or spring, then early in summer I went out to drive it and the battery was dead. First thought was that I had left a door open or interior light on, so I charged the battery and it started, no prob. Went out two days later...dead.

The only thing I could think of was a dash rheostat replacement I had my indy do earlier in the spring, but no problems for months. Right after he put the new rheo in, the tach light flickered a couple of times and the radio did the same. Some kind of short from pulling the instrument cluster? It never flickered again, so I don't know if there is any correlation.

Had the car towed to the indy (mentioned the flicker) and he told me the battery was bad. Took the battery for exchange and was told it was fine. My indy is a certified MB guy and has always taken good care of me, so I argued and got a new battery. Put it in, went out a couple of days later....dead battery.

Sent it back to the shop....said the alt wasn't charging at idle. The alt we put in 1 1/2 years ago that had to be rebuilt twice. Out of warranty. Fine. Put in a new Bosch rebuilt alt and brought her home. Two days later....dead battery.

Charged battery again (disconnected when not running...that bracket is a b*&%ch ) and indy says to unplug the servo and see if it is the source of the problem. Otherwise, it might be the glowplug relay.

Left the battery connected tonight with servo unplugged. We'll see what morning brings.

Any ideas? I trust my indy, but I think he's missing something. His business has taken off and I don't know if he's paying attention. Also, anybody know of a thread with some "how-to" on servo replacement? Can't be too difficult!

Thanks!
Terry

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TClanton
1980 450SL 90K
1980 300SD 112K