'91 500SL - Intermittent ignition problem

[tedsl50091]

I own a '91 500SL and am experiencing intermittent ignition problem. The car normally starts up fine. But 3 times in past week have experienced the following : Startup fine...drive for about 30 minutes.....park for about 5 hours......turn the ignition key and all dash lights come on...the car will crank but will not start. It took about 7 tries the last time before the car started.

Full tank of gas, battery checked out and fully charged, heard the 'gurgling' sound front passenger side so fuel pump works......Another observation that might help....when I ut the key in start mode, there was quite a bit of clicking sounds and the displays on the radio would flicker on and off...

Any thoughts??? Thx

[tecqboy]

The ignition switch on this vehicle is notorious for this problem. Do a forum search on "ignition switch". Sometimes you can test this theory by moving the steering column up / down or in/out when the car won't start. Another long shot possibility is a temperature sensitive crank position pickup coil.

[tedsl50091]

Thx for the feedback...I'll give that a try the next time it happens and will post result.