Last time I started the car was a couple weeks ago and it worked fine, then I just tried to start it tonight and heard a "pop" and now the car has no electrical power at all. What should I check when I have time to work on it again? Its a relatively new battery and the interior lights were on until I tried to start it.

I'd start at the main battery connections. The negative cable connects directly to the body.

__________________
Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

The battery is fully charged and no fuses are blown. I will try cleaning the connection and see what happens, but I am 99% sure that something is physically broken that will have to be repaired before it will work again. It definitely made an audible noise and lost power instantly.

I had a similar experience with a 300 SD a few years ago and it was a corroded ground cable.

Worthy of mentioning - my SDL has an outboard electrical connection on the "+" cable secured by a nut. Make sure this is clean/tight. This had me going crazy a few years back.

__________________
BENZ THERE DONE THAThttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif
15 VW Passat TDI
00 E420
98 E300 DT
97 E420 Donor Car - NEED PARTS? PM ME!
97 S500
97 E300D
86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D
86 300SDL
(o\|/o)

So, I looked at it again today and got the worst possible result, I tried to start it and it worked perfectly normally. Unfortunately that means I am probably going to have to sell it, because I won't be able to use it for what I'd want to use it for if it just randomly dies occasionally.

Cars randomly die for a reason. Why nor follow the advice and fix it or take it to someone who can. Loss of all electrical power is battery cables until proven otherwise. I had a similar episode two weeks ago on a 64 Bonneville. Turned out to be a bad after market battery ground cable.

A complete failure of all electrical power in the car is going to be a main battery connection somewhere. Either at the posts or at their opposite termination. That's a total of 4 easy places to look. If you can't be bothered to check for looseness or poor connections and think that's a reason to sell the car, PLEASE do it. Someone who appreciates it will happily take it off your hands.

__________________
Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

Does "No Electrical Power" mean no hazards and headlights or no start and no dash lights etc?

The latter could be a bad ignition switch. Mine would not start randomly for that. Took me a while to diagnose because I had replaced the switch less than a year before.
Crappy replacement parts. &$*#%($

__________________
Greg Schwall

1983 300SD - 465,000 miles

You really need to take this to a good shop familiar with electrical repairs. The electrical system on this old of a car is very simple and worth an initial investigation.

Losing all power ( if this description is accurate ) narrows things down to just a few bits of wiring.

Lastly, old cars are not for you if this is a major problem making selling the only option. Do you have another newer very reliable car? Relying on an older car as your sole source of transport and not being able to repair it is a very dangerous / stressful path.

OP says interior lights went out when he heard the pop and lost power. Interior light circuits are always powered, rules out the key switch and points to a common power connection.

__________________
Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

Before selling the car of course I would do all the obvious things like check and clean the connections, etc and see if it consistently stays working. I don't think its something people would be lining up to buy though, it was for sale for $1200 for months before I bought it lol.

The previous owner said that the starter had failed and he was replacing it with a new autozone lifetime guaranteed one every couple months until one finally has lasted a while. The positive battery cable is NLA of course, so hopefully it isn't damaged.

I have another reasonably reliable car I can use, but I will have to be able to at least get this one to be reliable enough to drive to work sometime in the next few months for it to be worth keeping. I have had another w126 before and other than having to replace the injection pump because the governor failed it worked fine for what I needed, it was just too rusty to put a lot of money into.

The VatoZone "Lifetime Guaranteed" starter probably wasn't failing, it's probably rebuilt by the same clown that rebuilt the VatoZone special in my SDL. The solenoid will be PACKED with grease (it's supposed to be dry) so that after a couple months of use, the solenoid no longer pulls in all the way and fails to crank the engine.

FWIW, I cleaned the grease (seriously, it was like truck axle grease) out of mine nearly 2 years ago now and it's served daily driver duty without incident since.

__________________
Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

Not truck axle grease, it is Yak Fat. See first pic. ST Type Gen Heads

I've had that very picture posted on the wall in my office for years. Still makes me LOL!

__________________
Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)