ok i just put my 260e back together and when i try cranking it it wont crank and it starts to smell like burning wires and smokes does any one have a idea what it could be starter maybe? any sugestions would be apreciated

You mean you hit the starter and it won't turn over and you just hold the starter until things go up in smoke? Man you can't do that. Take it apart and find out why it won't crank. Maybe you left a screwdriver inside!

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Junqueyardjim
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You've got a short somewhere.

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check to see if engine turns over freely, you will get a dead short if you try to start it, your starter may be jammed

ok i think i do i plan on swapping the starter tomarrow to see i think it might be jamed when i turn the key all the lights turn off until i quiet turning the key the starter looks like it sucks trying to replace i will let you guys kno if anyone else has any sugestions let me kno

Disconnect the starter and turn the key to start. If all your lights still go out, the problem is not your starter.

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A.S.E Tech A1,A6,A7,A8 & MVAC 609 + EPA 608

Unless stated otherwise, any question I ask is about my greymarket 1985 380SEL.

ok swapped out the starter and thats not the issue the posative wire that goes from the posative battery terminal to the starter seams to be getting so hot that it starts smoking were it conects to the posative part of the starter any ideas what causes this im out of ideas its really weard it was cranking then i left it for 10 mins why i went to the store came back and this happend

Have you tried turning it by hand yet? It should turn relatively easy, if it's jammed then at least you know not to waste anymore time on the electrical side of it. If it's not jammed, you've already eliminated the starter as the culprit. You'll need to start tracing some wiring, but first just verify the motor can even turn. It's somewhat odd the way it came about, Hope you didn't drop something in it or forget a fastener or err on the timing chain tensioner or something when working on it!

If needed you could probably google a wiring diagram of the starter circuit for it, or maybe even find one here in the forum somewhere.

i for sure didnt drop anything inside and put everything back together how i took it off so the head did hit the tensoner but it apeared to be ok do you think if the tensoner was cracked then broke it would cause this maybe when cranking it? would that cause the strange smoking though?

It's a little hard to figure out what you're saying, even harder since you don't use periods or capital letters. All I can add here is the starter (or wiring to it) might overheat and smoke if the engine is jammed for some reason and the starter can't turn it - or - it might smoke if there is a short somewhere in the starter circuit.
Once again, I'd turn the motor (clockwise) by hand with a socket on the crankshaft and see if it can move freely so you can determine if the problem is mechanical or electrical.

BTW, as far as know, you can't hit the (chain?) tensioner with the head, I don't understand you there.

Sounds like you may have the starter wired in backwards...did you remove the starter at any point? If not you one way you can test to see if the starter is the problem is by bridging the solenoid with a pair of pliers. This will help you isolate whatever problem you are having if it is not mechanical.

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Sorry about the spelling. When i replaced my bad valve on the car when we were replacing the head we acidently hit the timing chain guide the "black plastic peice" when we were lining the head up to be tightened back down. There is a chance it could have cracked. Its kind of hard to explain, but if the timing guide did break could the timing chain skipped a tooth causing the engine to jame or would it still crank if that happened? i will also try turning the crank by had just dont have a big enough socket at the moment lol it kind of sucks i was happy id final be able to drive my baby then this happened it sucks

The chain guide rails are just that, guides. While they keep the chain from roaming and slapping around somewhat, they mostly provide a steady, even, lubricated and regulated path, especially as the rpm increases. On your headless motor, there will be a guide rail exposed on the right, which is a two-piece plastic (nylon?) channel. On the left side, the top of the chain tensioner rail is exposed. This I believe is aluminum with a plastic/nylon guide cast over it. You can definitely crack a guide rail, particularly an old brittle one. I guess you could crack or chip the plastic on a tensioner rail as well. While it's probably critical when the motor is running it's hard for me to see that a damaged/cracked guide could jam a motor and keep it from merely cranking or even idling.

On the other hand, if either were damaged/cracked, and the motor was cranking and consequently broke off a piece of plastic, depending how big it is I suppose it maybe could get caught in the crank gear or something. I think it's kind of unlikely it could jam things up. Starters are extremely strong and I'd think it would just chew a piece of plastic up. But I can't say it's impossible.
Causing it to skip a tooth might be more likely but even that seems a little tough to reckon. Even if it skipped a tooth the motor would still turn. If you skipped enough teeth, I don't know how many but the pistons would contact an opening valve and yes, the motor definitely would jam.

To have removed the head, you would've needed to turn the crank to set the timing marks. Where are those tools now? (27mm socket and a ratchet)

Perhaps that's the problem, the mechanical timing was incorrectly set, or not properly marked/maintained while working on it, and now it's locked up. If this is the case, you need to stop trying to use the starter before you bend more valves or damage a piston.

You must check it by hand before you proceed. If you find you can't budge it clockwise, try backing it up, but just a small amount - like a quarter turn or less. If it does back up gently turn it clockwise again, if it feels like it's hitting something and stopping you might have some disassembly to do.

Thanx i will try that the reason it was disasembled was when i bought the car a valve was bad there was a hole in it. Those sockets were rented. was on a tight budget when fixing that. Il go get one and try to crank it by hand if that doesnt work would the engine be seized up? I was just going to swap the motor, but for my price budget 800 bucks all i seen was motors that were over 200,000 miles. and my car only has 124,000 miles and for roughly 200 bucks i could fix my valve and save money and keep my lower miled engine looks like it wasnt that easy lol but i will try hand cranking.

ok turns out it was the chain it sliped off alot of teeth i took it over to my mechanic and he delivered the news so i will be taking off it apart and fixing it any advice would be apreciated thanx