Well you eliminated a few things and you definitely did not waste your time or money. It sounds to me like there is no spark. I have read that one thing that causes no-starts on these cars is the crankshaft position sensor. It can go bad without setting a code to the computer so you will not get the Check Engine light for this every time. You could go ahead and replace the sensor, and they all eventually go bad, so it's not like you are throwing good money after bad. it is located in the back of the engine, on top of the bell housing of the transmission. It can be difficult to remove since it has been in there for 18 years or whatever. But that still might not be the problem.

Oh yeah you can get a Mityvac vacuum pump from AutoZone on their free tool loaner program.

Unless someone else here has another idea it might be best to take it to the indy, unless you have the time and the mental capital to mess with it and can afford to leave it parked until you can get to it. A No-Spark situation will eventually yield to patient logical troubleshooting (you) OR to someone who knows, by past experience, the things to look for on these cars (the indy).

Either way, please do report back here what you find so we can all benefit. Thanks!

Well I most definitely am getting a spark. I pulled one of the plugs and left it in the wire. Quite a nasty shock haha. I will be sure to wear rubber gloves next time.
I pulled three spark plugs and each was soaked in petrol?

How many miles are on your car anyway? Does it have a check engine light?

__________________
Prost!

I have a little over 133 thousand miles on the car. I have owned it since 105 thousand miles.
Never had a check engine light, ever. Also every light does work because they all light up at start up.

Even with the new fuel filter the engine cannot start. I got it to idle this morning for under a second and it then died.

You're at the mileage where things fail. At this stage you probably want to get a good diagnosis scan so that you aren't replacing things unnecessarily. I don't think you can rule out MAF, CPS, coils/plug wires/boots yet. 124 also had wiring harness problems, but I think that would give you more strange behavior at this point.

__________________
Prost!

Well seeing as there is a massive snowstorm heading for my area I do not think I will be able to have the car scanned until next week. The car will simply need to be towed wherever it is getting looked at because it obviously isn't moving anywhere under its own power.
Until then this thread is going to have to go on hold.
Thanks guys for all your help.
Dan

The harness is definitely a place I would stop and investigate! Do a search on it and see if there are others who have had this happen ....

I just acquired a beautiful '95 E320 wagon with 75K miles and I know from what I was told by a pre-purchase inspection by an independent MB dealership that the harness is showing some breaks and cracking and will need to be replaced for certain down the road. I'd seriously look into it my friend...

__________________
Dale

Try a new rotor and retest . the brown ring around the plugs is a indication of leakage , normally a thorough clean of the leads and the end caps suffices ,but with age the inside rubber at the connector end becomes conductive , symptoms
black plugs and a shaky idle , sluggish take off from idle .
mak

I just looked up the '91 and see that it is rotor/distributor and Jetronic (or similar), not the HFM and rotorless ignition of the '95. I think I would throw a rotor (like MAK suggests), distributor cap, and even a coil at it since they're comparatively cheap.

__________________
Prost!

I just replaced the rotor and distributor cap when I did the head gasket in the car. The car was somewhat sluggish on my trip to Philly, but it was loaded with 5 people and their luggage.

Lots of junk rotor and caps on the market. What brand did you use??

Duralast. Not Bosch. I should probably pull the cap and rotor and check it? They felt pretty solid when I installed them.
Like I said i am getting a spark; I shocked myself pretty badly last night checking if I did have a spark.

I haven't had a vehicle that needed a distributor cap in several years, but I can recall using Wells parts on a VW and Toyota that were in most of the auto parts stores and having lots of problems.

Once you thaw/dig out I would replace the crankshaft position sensor. As I experienced with my 91 300TE a year ago with a bad CPS you can still have spark albeit mistimed spark. After replacing the rotor and coil and even subbing in a known good EZL the car had spark but wouldn't start. It would occasionally backfire through the intake manifold when cranking which told me the spark timing was incorrect. After replacing the CPS the car started and ran properly. 19 years on this part is a long time. Mark

When I get the two feet of snow off my car I will pull the distributor cap and take a peek at that. I do not think it has anything to do with that however.
I will call up the Merc dealer by my place and see if they have a crankshaft position sensor. It's not like its a waste if it is not the source of the problem, its bound to fail at some point.

__________________
1991 Mercedes 300TE (Current Girlfriend )
1994 Mazda Miata