I need to pick some brains quickly. '88 300E started to idle rough, coughing, sputtering, then the radio went out on its own, the ABS and SRS lights came on and the car stalled and coasted to its present resting place along side of the road. I attempted to start the car and there is no power, however, I have overhead lights. The Tachometer gauge started to swing wildly while all of this was happening. The car will start off of a jump, however, it will only run for approximately 2-4 minutes before stalling out again. Could this be the OVP? I tried to do a search, but the search function requires a 4 letter term to do a search. Any help would be greatly appreciated. If it is thought to be the ovp, how difficult is that repair?

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Eric
'88 300E
'00 Expedition
'86 Alfa Romeo Spider
'84 Harley Davidson FLH"X"
Special Edition
'70 FJ40 Land Cruiser (basket case)

Sounds like an alternator problem to me. The reason I say that is because you can jump start it and it runs a little while. If the alternator isn't charging the jump start will energize the battery just long enough to run a few minutes. You should have the battery charged and checked to make sure the battery itself is ok and check the alternator to see if it's charging properly.

I had an 86 Cavalier do that when the alternator died. Had just enough charging capacity to get me down the highway, but once I hit the city, things started going bonkers.

Mostly engine management systems started to go haywire, all sorts of indicator lights came on, etc.

I managed to limp it over to my favorite mechanic. By the time I got there, it completely died, and wouldn't restart.

Later that afternoon, new alternator installed, and I was off and running.

It's not the OVP, it's the alternator...

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

I had the same problem. It was the alternator. I always replace the alternator and battery together. It could be a tired battery that over-worked your alternator and killed it. In any case, replacing them both is cheap insurance that you've covered your charging system worries for a while...

Another note: in my case, the alternator tested good and I did not get a charging system warning light. It must have been partially working, but not enough to run the car and keep the battery charged. Good luck.