submitted for jude//car won't stay 'broke'

[janko]

the car in question is an 89 e300 with approximately 100k miles. recently
replaced the fuel pump relay. and this solved the then no start condition.
this saturday started the car and drove approximately 3 miles. suddenly it
stalled and would not start. battery spun the thing over nicely. just would
not start. towed the thing home. on monday went to put a trickle charge on
the battery to charge it up to max. before connecting the battery charger,
tried once more to start the thing. it started instantly and idled
beautifully. only thing done was addition of can of 'dry gas'. tank was
about 1/4 full. any idea as to what to do? friend who works on my car hates
it when things don't stay 'broke'. thank you. jude.

[nglitz]

Temerature related?

If the pumps are still running when it stalls, time to play with the ignition. You should be able to hear the pumps run when you turn the key on.

Caps,

[janko]

the fuel pump can be heard running. if the thing were still in its no start mode, i would be checking for gas and spark. but now that it is running i obviously have both. jude does not want to risk another towing. other than running it around the neighborhood so that if it fails i can tow by chain, what should i do?

[jude]

go buy her a new benz--comparable 300 diesel--and take the other one to the dump.

[halman2228]

Sometimes we don't address a possible cause because its too simple.

In a previous post, I wrote about my most embarassing repair in which I sought a solution to a "no start" condition. Seems my fuel level sender is not very accurate anymore - it read 1/4 full but was out of gas. i didn't fill it up assuming the gas gauge reading was correct.

You may have put just enough "dry gas" in to allow it to fire up?

With any luck, that might be your answer...

Regards,
Kevin