Ignition short in wet weather

[jps300E]

My '87 300E will stall when hitting standing water on the road (not necessarily very deep) and after 15 to 20 seconds of cranking, will restart, albeit a bit rough. I don't see where any ignition-related wires are getting wet and it they were, why the ability to restart so quickly? The splash shield is new although some water is present on the top of the left fender well.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

[nglitz]

That's where the ignition module and coil are located. I'm driving my 260E in the rain today. Went out to look and there's no water inside the engine compartment on either fender. Engine heat would dry the water up pretty quickly. Is it possible there's another shield that's missing? Or a hole in the fender?

Check the integrity of all the insulation and connectors and maybe think about a little "dry-wire" spray. IIRC it has a plastic coating that might help.

Wetly,

[psfred]

Do you have the underbody panel(s) in place? If not, you could be shorting the alternator.

Otherwise, all the ignition wiring is up by the coil, front left side. Look for wire damage, on those cars the wiring should last forever, unlike the later ones with "self composting" boidegradable insulation.

I would also check behind the battery, since that is where all the relays are (fuel pump, OVP in paricular). A peek at the fuel pump wiring isn't out of order, either! There is supposed to be a splash pan back there, and if damaged you may be scooping up water on the pumps.

Peter