White smoke upon starting;Now engine won't turn over after 2 turns of the key
 

If you lost a head gasket, you might have hydrolocked the engine. Oil should show in the coolant and/or coolant (peanut-butter) in the oil on the stick or under the valve-cover.

Just a guess.

Thanks Jeff.

Get a fully charged battery, check GP's/relay, then compression and leak down test before jumping to conclusions.

x2 Sounds like bad glow plugs to me.

Thanks guys.

About how long is the life of a new set of glow plugs? I had new GPs put in not more than a year ago. Does it vary?

Daniel

Does it turn over w/ the AC pulley?

Overcharging the battery is a foul smell, like burning tomatos, but separate from the smokey startup.

Hmm. Still somewhat of a novice, so I'm not sure about the meaning of turning w/ the A/C pulley.

As far as smell, it's rotten eggs which I'm sure can be linked to the radiator. Nasty dirty. I did a citric flush two years ago, block plug and all and thought I had thoroughly flushed the rust out of there but I apparently didn't. The reservoir tank is lined with maroonish gunk. Too lazy and busy to do it over again. My fault on that one.

Never heard of a radiator smelling like rotton eggs. On the other hand, battery acid can smell like rotten eggs.

Hydrolock was postulated. If it's locked, you won't be able to turn the motor over by putting a wrench on the a/c pulley and turning it clockwise only (cw as seen when looking from the front bumper to the rear).

Otherwise it sounds electrical. bad solenoid, battery or starter.

I'll bet the voltage regulator is messed up and the battery was overcharging. This will cause the rotten egg smell and the staring issues (battery will no longer hold a strong charge).

Thanks a lot people. I really appreciate the feedback. Off to Autozone to see if the battery is shot. Just bought the thing a few months ago.
I'll give a wrench to the pulley as well.

This is my first Benz and it's had quite a long history prior to me. Along the way I've learned much about the car and I plan on buying another when the time comes. Shoot, it might be now.

Daniel

I agree.

I've never burned a tomato, so I don't know what that smells like. Rotten eggs is sulphur, like from a battery full of sulphuric acid being overcharged. It's happened to me. A new battery and a $32 voltage regulator fixed that. Oh, and use a small zip tie to hold the brushes on the regulator down when you go to install it. It makes it much easier that way.