In my '95 diesel with 225,000 miles coming back from bringing the dog to PT for his knees I decide to stop and buy some more dog food. I take the exit and notice my gas gauge, oil pressure gauge, temp gauge and tach are dead.

the only thing that works is the speedo. I figure that I blew a fuse for the dash and the speedo is mechanical.

well I decide to shut the car off instead of let it idle and it is dead upon coming back out. no juice to the starter - just this buzzing noise coming from the box behind the fuse box in the engine bay on the drivers side firewall.

I got it towed to my local garage so I couldn't look at it yet. is there a high voltage fuse back there that blew?

I love that the car still ran even with no electrical juice i'm kicking myself for shutting it off.

thanks!
Dave

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dtf
1994 E320 Wagon (Died @ 308,669 miles)
1995 E300 Diesel (228,000)
1999 E300 Turbodiesel ( died @ 255,000)
2006 Toyota Tundra SR5 AC 4X4 (115,000 miles) rusted frame - sold to chop shop
2011 Audi A4 Avant (165,000 miles) Seized engine - donated to Salvation Army
BMW 330 xi 6 speed manual (175,034 miles)
2014 E350 4Matic Wagon 128,000 miles
2018 Dodge Ram 21,000 miles

Probably a dead battery due to a bad voltage regulator.

Good luck!!!

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"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

It's gonna be a simple fix I'll tell u that

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My money is on a bad voltage regulator/alternator. You just simply ran out of electricity and because you have a fully mechanical diesel the engine would have kept on going.

It's a good idea to have a voltmeter/usb that plugs into your cigarette lighter. The battery warning light won't come on when the regulator goes.

This is the thread I started few months ago that covers it:

Battery light reliability

so...…...if I bring my portable battery pack like AAA has and the car starts then it is most likely the alternator and worn brushes?

if it doesn't start then most likely cause is blown voltage regulator?


thanks for the help! I love this car and it is my daily ride.

__________________
dtf
1994 E320 Wagon (Died @ 308,669 miles)
1995 E300 Diesel (228,000)
1999 E300 Turbodiesel ( died @ 255,000)
2006 Toyota Tundra SR5 AC 4X4 (115,000 miles) rusted frame - sold to chop shop
2011 Audi A4 Avant (165,000 miles) Seized engine - donated to Salvation Army
BMW 330 xi 6 speed manual (175,034 miles)
2014 E350 4Matic Wagon 128,000 miles
2018 Dodge Ram 21,000 miles

If it starts which it probably will...it still could be any of the three. It is usually the voltage regulator which includes the brushes as a unit. A DIY if you can find an online video or have a manual.

Good luck!!!

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"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

If the battery is that dead, a portable jump pack probably isn't gonna get it started. They can do a lot of amazing things, but cranking a high compression diesel with the glow plugs going isn't something they excel at. Consider taking another car and a set of heavy jumper cables. Charge the battery for a bit before you try cranking.

As said above, likely the regulator died or the brushes wore down in the alternator and ran the battery flat (or the battery is ancient and finally gave up). Once the engine is cranked, your car needs no other electricity for the engine to run and you to drive away. If you want lights, gauges, A/C, or electric windows, you need some juice in the battery (hence the suggestion to charge the battery for a little while off the booster vehicle).

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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!)

got it thanks. the battery is less than 2 years old and I know that doesn't mean squat!

i'll try the jump box b/c even if I can get it to turn over it may mean something. all is was getting was a buzzing noise from behind the fuse box.

the glow plugs gave up a long time ago. I just plug it in to the block heater all the time.

__________________
dtf
1994 E320 Wagon (Died @ 308,669 miles)
1995 E300 Diesel (228,000)
1999 E300 Turbodiesel ( died @ 255,000)
2006 Toyota Tundra SR5 AC 4X4 (115,000 miles) rusted frame - sold to chop shop
2011 Audi A4 Avant (165,000 miles) Seized engine - donated to Salvation Army
BMW 330 xi 6 speed manual (175,034 miles)
2014 E350 4Matic Wagon 128,000 miles
2018 Dodge Ram 21,000 miles

good thing it's summer time. It's still going to take some power to start but not as much.

I think it would take less effort to just replace the glow plugs rather than be plugging in the block heater all the time and you are limited as to where you can take the car.

I know that the glow plugs on the 606 are hard but come on

If the battery is flat dead, you're going to have to replace it anyway. Once a battery is deeply discharged, it's future life is cut short. So what I'd do is verify that the battery is dead, replace the battery, then start it up and take it to wherever you plan on working on it. VR or complete alternator would be next.

the glow plug harness disintegrated into pieces - the plugs were replaced about 6 months before the harness died...…...

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dtf
1994 E320 Wagon (Died @ 308,669 miles)
1995 E300 Diesel (228,000)
1999 E300 Turbodiesel ( died @ 255,000)
2006 Toyota Tundra SR5 AC 4X4 (115,000 miles) rusted frame - sold to chop shop
2011 Audi A4 Avant (165,000 miles) Seized engine - donated to Salvation Army
BMW 330 xi 6 speed manual (175,034 miles)
2014 E350 4Matic Wagon 128,000 miles
2018 Dodge Ram 21,000 miles

Just get a glow plug harness from a pick and pull. If you are fortunate to have one locally. Should cost little if funds are low.


There was good information on this thread as well. . The modern automotive battery really does not like to be heavily discharged in my experience. I have had occasions where they are pretty much toast after a few times.

Once I was on a long road trip, and while driving for hours the engine and electronics were just fine. But when we stopped for gas, it was all over. Speedometer would wiggle and nothing else. One guy tried to jump with no luck. Tow truck came to jump it and couldn’t until they ran up the engine and shorted the starter with a screwdriver.

Turned out it was a really bad internal short in the battery. It was consuming jumpstart power and couldn’t do anything. Swapping the battery solved everything.

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Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (113k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
1993 300SD (291k)
1993 300D 2.5T (338k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (265k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K)
1985 300D (233K)

got the car back just now and it's running fine - it was the #5 fuse that blew.

The fuse cover diagram says something about tachometer - sun roof - a few other things but it is a 25a fuse. the original one was 25 years old - the new ones I bought are deep blue - the old fuse barely had any color in it at all.

__________________
dtf
1994 E320 Wagon (Died @ 308,669 miles)
1995 E300 Diesel (228,000)
1999 E300 Turbodiesel ( died @ 255,000)
2006 Toyota Tundra SR5 AC 4X4 (115,000 miles) rusted frame - sold to chop shop
2011 Audi A4 Avant (165,000 miles) Seized engine - donated to Salvation Army
BMW 330 xi 6 speed manual (175,034 miles)
2014 E350 4Matic Wagon 128,000 miles
2018 Dodge Ram 21,000 miles

This got me to look at the wiring diagrams for W124s and here's what I found:

The pre-92 or 93 W124 diesels have no fuses or relays in the starter circuit.

power goes like this:

unfused battery -> ignition switch -> neutral safety switch (NSS) -> starter solenoid

on a 1995 diesel they added a K38 starter cut-out relay between the ignition switch and the NSS. That relay is controlled by the alarm module.

I didn't trace the wires any further but I think that it is possible that a blown fuse would cause a no-start on a 1995 diesel.


Early cars have a more robust system.