I have a 75 240D and the car has died on me. I was traveling to work and the car seemed like it ran out of fuel, I check all fluids and everything was fine, I tried to start it again and the starter wont even turn over, all I hear is this thunk. I was wondering, I had the starter out of the car already and laid a pair of pliers over the two posts on the starter and it spun great and I also had a load test and the starter was fine. Could this be the neutral safety switch wires being bad or the entire unit. Also, on the driver side, I found a green wire coming from the fuse box with a connector on the end going to a vacuum looking device just above the injector pump on the left side of the block, this wire was very loose and the wires were almost broken, I had only two strands holding it on right now, can I replace this?

Thanks again,

Mark

Lucky,

First, does you car the manual have the manual GP, shut off, run , starter knob that controls these functions. Does you car have auto trans?

If the engine quit while it was running, you probably don't have a starter problem. If it just ran out of fuel (either from lack of fuel or a plugged filter), the starter should crank the engine OK.

Here's a test to try: Turn on the headlights and try cranking the engine with the starter. If the headlights get much dimmer and the engine doesn't turn, the starter is trying to crank a stuck engine.

Have you tried to turn the engine by hand? Use a 27mm or 1 1/16 socket wrench and rachet on the vibration damper nut at the front end of the crankshaft and try to turn engine in a clockwise (facing front of engine) direction. If engine won't turn you have other mechanical problems inside the engine, not a starter problem.

P E H

Yes, I would be holding my breath until I ensured that the engine turns freely.

Best of luck,