Originally Posted by 97 SL320

A few things on the accumulator.

There will be 2 threaded lines for pressure and a small hose for a vent to the tank.

Pull the small hose , turn on the pump and see if fuel continues to come out of the accumulator, if so the diaphragm is bad. Note, the other end of the small hose should go back to the fuel tank so be sure to crimp it off otherwise you will have a flood due to gravity.

The internal spring could fail but I'd call that rare.

Have you installed a fuel pressure gauge and watched it? If engine off fuel pressure stays up, you don't have an accumulator problem. Also, a temporary way around an accumulator that does not hold pressure is to manually run the fuel pump until you have pressure then try to start the car.