I have a 96’ E300D, 158K miles. Car runs great for the most part. However I just changed all 6 glow plugs yesterday, because I was having trouble starting the car and my glow plug light in the dash went away, causing the car not to crank and no ignition at all when the key was turned. After I replaced the glow plug and put the intake and manifold back the car did not crank the first time, but the second time it slowly started to crank. I let the car warm up for about 15 minutes and drove the car around the block came back to my driveway and shut the car off. Then I tried to turn it back on and no ignition when I turned the key or cranking. After turning the key about 15 to 20 more times the engine finally turned on for a second time. But I have not been able to turn the car on for a third time, at all.

Brief history, my car has always crank very strong and solid, however about 3 month ago I was using my prolonged cranking method to start the car and smoke and a burning smell was coming from the location of the starter area. From that point the cranking has been very weak, even though it still started.

I am wondering what the possible sources of the problem could be, or if anyone else has had this problem. I almost feel like it has to be starter, computer, or relay related.

Any ideas would be helpful.

Thank
Harold

96 E300D