spending $800+ for new original Bosch starter is the way to go,

on the other hand I exchange my STARTERS very year,

last time took me 40 min to change,( could see it on the clock that stoped)

I do have a lift in my home garage,


good luck,

Peachparts is showing genuine Bosch starters at around $233.00, reasonable.

I may go that route. It's a tough one. I'm tempted to keep this car a long time, OTOH I do need to be ready (emotionally ) in case it only makes it another 100K to the low 400s.

It's tempting to gamble with a low priced re-man, OTOH, being stuck in a remote spot with a starter that won't click back to life could easily be way more costly than some $125.

Pelican also has a Bosch 12 mo. guarantee unit for $205. One wonders what is different in the re-man from the 24 mo. $235 unit?

Road drama update:

I left it running much of the trip but shut it down maybe 5 times, two of which needed the solenoid tap to get going. My first group road trip in this car. I drove from the Bay Area to Eugene and back. Great car for such a trip. Major luxury for riders in the back. I rode in the back for while going up, had a good driver. Nice. Trip up I had 3 riders from Craigslist, going down had 4 - I'd already found a guy and then 3 Aussie college girls contacted me wanting to go from Ashland to SF. I told them the back seat was big. Fuel; going up $80, collected $90; going down $85, collected $140.

The Aussie girls were fun. Sorta socially green out in the world, sweet and funny though. And oh man, they really laughed at my jokes. Don't know how that works.

I dropped them off last at a youth hostel in SF. I had asked them for the cash in the middle of the trip, they said it's buried in the trunk. No worries. Later I remembered why I started collecting in the middle of the trip.

I've done similar in the past, dropping off people at a city address with poor parking and all sorts of people milling about. Pulling out handfuls of cash can attract the wrong sort of attention. I completely forgot about that, it happened maybe 7 years ago.

Anyway, just as I was pocketing the cash one of the roughest street urchins I'd seen in a long time inserted herself in the group - I'm guessing 40s - 50s, black, toothless female, about 5 feet tall, dressed in a really dirt sweat shirt. I gave the woman about 75 cents to hopefully get rid of her, no such luck, we say goodbye, they walk to the door and woman grabs the arm of one of them with some angry rant about 'I was going to give you $100 when I got it' .... just drunken drama. These women had no clue on how to deal with the woman. It wasn't far from a mugging.

I came up - cmac, urban taxi warrior - waving my arms - 'no, no, this ain't working,' got her distracted, the girls were lingering like 'we're going to get to the bottom of this' - I gestured and said 'take off', they finally went inside. Holy crap, I wasn't far from knocking the woman to the sidewalk the way she was clutching at me. I finally twisted her arm and put a bunch of small coins on the sidewalk and she turned her attention to that.

Fortunately I had some waterless cleaner in the trunk. And some water.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Strongly suggest that you renew the ground circuit contact at the passenger fender well (earlier post) prior to replacing the starter, etc. You may be pleasantly surprised.


My 439,xxx mile starter works great. Three to six starts a day year after year. These original gen II W126 Bosch starters are robust.

__________________

1986 300SDL 440,xxx

I wouldn't do anything in the immediate future. The starter in my 85TD was doing this intermittently for a couple of years but the last 4 or 5 years it's operated flawlessly. If you're worried buy a cheap used starter, confirm it works and put it in the trunk.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Good advice, good ideas. I'll work on the ground connection. And buy a functioning spare, install it, and then try to service the solenoid in the original as mentioned above. I found a DIY for a GM 6.2 diesel, sounds possible:

How to repair a starter solenoid - Diesel Place : Chevrolet and GMC Diesel Truck Forums

Maybe even a $90 reman would be a good spare.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I wouldn't mess with the solenoid yet since you don't know if the problem is caused by a sticking solenoid or by low voltage to the solenoid due to poor connections.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I'm wondering if I can rig a test to see how much voltage is getting to the solenoid while starting. Might be an interesting test/gauge.

Then clean contact and try it again.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I grew up replacing the brushes on starters. But if the solenoid was bad, we always bought another. Can you repair a solenoid?

Does anyone know the procedure for performing a starter draw test using simple hand tools and a volt meter? Thanks

I'm going to experiment. The positive prod to various elec fittings, the other grounded and have my buddy crank it. Or maybe rig an alligator clip connection.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

It is alleged that you can refresh them. Not sure.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

You can lay an inductive ammeter on the main starter cable to determine starter draw.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Or instructions here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LEMfgiAH0c

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

It can be done. BTDT. Normally the solenoid works fine, it is the contacts which is pulled by the solenoid is pitted. You can open it up ( difficult ) and examine the contacts. I replace the copper studs or add copper to the contacts. I solder the copper on. Sometimes you can just file down the studs ( if it still has a lot of copper ) and add a washer behind to lift it. It will work like new.

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Not MBZ nor A/C trained professional but a die-hard DIY and green engineer. Use the info at your own peril. Picked up 2 Infractions because of disagreements. NOW reversed.

W124 Keyless remote, PM for details. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-used-parts-sale-wanted/334620-fs-w124-chasis-keyless-remote-%2450-shipped.html

1 X 2006 CDI
1 x 87 300SDL
1 x 87 300D
1 x 87 300TDT wagon
1 x 83 300D
1 x 84 190D ( 5 sp ) - All R134 converted + keyless entry.