I have a 88 300se and am restoring it. The car has been sitting for about 7 months and started fine. It however ran out gas and I had some trouble for awhile getting it started. After all that I went to put it in drive and the car completely shut off on me. Now when I turn the key the only thing that happens is that my lights work, and that annyoing buzzard. The motor wont even began to do anything, windows wont work, I get nothing. I've checked all the fuses, and they were fine. If anyone has gone through this or thinks they have an idea plz! let me know. Thanks.

Sounds like the battery is dead.

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Fred Hoelzle

The Battery was dead, but I still get nothing from the motor. It wont even began to turn at all.

Hi there,
Check to make sure the transmission lever is in Park or neutral. Actually, try jostling the shift lever back and forth in case the park/neutral switch is dirty. If that doesn't do it, open a door and see what happens to the dome light when you turn the key - if it goes out, check the battery connections - occasionally a battery connection will have enough resistance that it will fail to turn the starter, but will still allow enough current to flow that things like the dome light, radio, etc will still work.
If that doesn't do it, the starter is likely the culprit.

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Richard Wooldridge
'01 ML320
'82 300D 4.3L V6/T700R4 conversion
'82 380SL, '86 560SL engine/trans. installed
'79 450SL, digital servo update
'75 280C