My 1994 E320 Wagon with 3.2L will not turn over unless buzzer is going off. When I turn my ignition on and get dash lights and buzzer then try to start, it will. But if I turn on ignition and get only dash lights with no buzzer car will not turn over. Sometimes I will get buzzer and it will turn over for a sec than stop. And when I turn ignition off and back on again, I don't get buzzer and will not turn over. If i leave it for few hours the buzzer will come back and it will turn over. Have had lots of starter go on me, but never seen one work with buzzer and not when no buzzer. I am going to pull off starter and have a look over the weekend.
My question is : Has anyone seen anything like this? Its the dead of winter here in Newfoundland and is hard to work on car in the bitter cold and snow. If it could be a relay or ignition I would rather try that first.
Thanks everyone for helping.

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83 300TD Sable 402K " Work Truck "
81 300SD Gray 240K " Loner Car "
04 E320 Blue 90K " My Winter rig "
07 BMW X5 4.4 118K " My Summer rig"
04 Jetta TDI Wagon 168K " Wifes "
08 Toyota FJ 109K " Wifes winter rig "
04 Jetta TDI 120K " Daughters Car "

Weird. The buzzer really shouldn't have ANY connection with power to the starter. The procedure to disable the buzzer involves removing it and basically screwing up the insides of it so it don't buzz no more. Since the buzzer is tied into the seat belt. What happens if you buckle up, and then try to start the car (technically there should be no buzzer in this situation).

But I think you should only get the buzzer when the engine is first started, not right when the key is turned over. The buzzer should go off when the key is turned over only if the door is open or something.

I would also check all your grounds. The starters on these cars are extremely robust and I've only ever seen maybe 1 fail, and never on any cars I've owned or worked on. It seems obvious there is an electrical short somewhere that is eating your starters and possibly causing this no crank situation.

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http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...-RESIZED-1.jpg
1991 300E - 212K and rising fast...

Im sure the buzzer and starter have nothing to do with each other, but is odd that the starter wont work unless the buzzer is working.
Forgot to add that there is not sign of drain when key is in starting pos. If the starter was gone it would dim dash lights showing a drain. And I also have never had the replace a starter in any of the Benz's I have had over the years. Will have a look at the grounds over the weekend.

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83 300TD Sable 402K " Work Truck "
81 300SD Gray 240K " Loner Car "
04 E320 Blue 90K " My Winter rig "
07 BMW X5 4.4 118K " My Summer rig"
04 Jetta TDI Wagon 168K " Wifes "
08 Toyota FJ 109K " Wifes winter rig "
04 Jetta TDI 120K " Daughters Car "

I suspect faulty ignition switch. How many keys/key fobs, etc you got hanging off'n the ignition?

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RM Smith
1988 560SL

"Where is it again that we are going, and why are we in this handbasket"?

neutral safety switch?

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Prost!

i second the neutral safety switch .... can bypass it temporarily from in the car (above the gas pedal)

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1994 E320, 145,000 miles

i don't think the neutral safety switch will make this behaviour but if the ignition switch were bad it sounds plausible. there are multiple contacts in the ignition switch and if one of them was intermittent this issue might happen. i don't think pulling the starter is warranted at the moment.

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punkinfair