I drove to work this morning without a hitch. At 3pm when I was leaving, crank, no start. WTF ?!?! I crank again. Nada. Third time I finally notice that there's no glow plug light. I go under the hood and trace the wires to a big black box on the drivers wheel well. I pop the cap off it and find this:

Looks to be a bi-metal strip that disintegrated. I laid a key across the terminals and I had the glow plug light for it's usual 3 seconds and she fired right up. Is that strip replaceable or am I looking at replacing the box/relay ?

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Sharing my partner's 2012 Forte 5dr SX til I find my next 123 or 126..
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Do I miss being a service advisor ???

Its just a fuse

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

So my foreign parts source should have that ?
I've never seens a fuse that was just a screwed-down piece of bi-metal..

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Sharing my partner's 2012 Forte 5dr SX til I find my next 123 or 126..
-
Do I miss being a service advisor ???

It must handle 80A.........so, it's a bit unconventional. They might have it in stock. The fuse gets brittle with age and finally fractures. If yours is burnt, then you might have another issue.

Looks to be original. I'll see if I can find it and replace just the fuse.
and see what happens.

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Sharing my partner's 2012 Forte 5dr SX til I find my next 123 or 126..
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Do I miss being a service advisor ???

At about a buck apiece, buy two and always carry one as a spare.

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Len
'59 220S Cabriolet-SOLD and living happily in Malta
'83 240D 351,500 miles original owner-SOLD
'88 560SL 41,000 miles - totaled and parted out
https://sites.google.com/site/mercedesstuff/home
'99 E300 turbo 227,500 miles
'03 SLK320 40,000 miles - gave to my daughter
'14 Smart electric coupe 28,500 miles
'14 Smart electric cabriolet 28,500 miles
'15 Smart electric coupe 28,000 miles

Take a look at motorcycles and atv's, Honda has used those since the 60's on their main power fuses. I imagine the other makers do the same. Now I'm curious, I wonder if they're the same rating as the one on my Goldwing...lol never thought about it...

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Chris
64 190D R.I.P.
80 240D W/617 engine -for sale
82 240D -for sale

That's all a fuse is anyway. A piece of metal that's carefully calibrated to burn itself in two and break a circuit if it gets to a certain temperature. The thinner the piece of metal, the faster it burns at a lower temperature. It's just a normal fuse without the plastic wrapper, look at your fusebox fuses, same thing.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

I bought one from Phil. Some of his stuff originates from New Jersey I believe. If you can't get it quickly locally you might want to check with him.

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1985 300D Turbo
"Evolution is God's way of giving upgrades" Francis Collins

Got 2 this morning from Foreign Auto in Pompton Lakes. Jim, one of the owners is a nice guy and knowledgeable when it comes to old Benz'. Two cost me $1.50 - parts store to parts store price. All is ONE with the universe.

While I was at it, I did a "Fuse Box Service".

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Sharing my partner's 2012 Forte 5dr SX til I find my next 123 or 126..
-
Do I miss being a service advisor ???

I'm very close to Morristown, so thanks for the info on the guy in Pompton Lakes.

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85' 300D No inspection, No registration fees, Cheap insurance
"If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're going to see some serious %$&^."