W211 Can I test starter wile still in car? No crank
 

Have a 2004 E320. No crank. Or even click from starter solenoid.

New main battery and small auxiliary battery up front is working and charged.
Power to starter relay
Power to starter wires under carpet in pass foot well.
Keys seam to work Fine locking/unlocking and turningredients on ignition
All fuses look good
Power to dash and everything works.
No messages on dash

Is there anyway of jumping starter solenoid?
Really don't want to take out starter to test.

Its the same as checking on the later W210 with the smart key which has a flick start function meaning you just turn the key to start and leave it and the starter will start cranking till the engine fires.

The way I test it is on the main big K40 relay junction on the old W210 model, there is a thick purple/white wire which is the starter solenoid trigger wire. If you supply 12V +ve to this wire the starter will begin cranking the engine regardless of ignition switch position.

You will need to find this wire in your car as yours is different - or just look up how to do compression test on your engine, the service manual tells you to use that thick purple wire to crank the engine so it doesnt actually fire.

On ocassion, on my 05 E320, especially with high ambient conditions, I have to move the shift lever over to the right slightly while in park to get it to start. I've actually replaced the shifter mechanism and that did not make any difference.

Had a look for the purple / white wire. could only find a little one. Its in the front drivers fuse box right?

also can somebody put me onto a link showing me how to crank engine over for doing compression test in a w211
thanks. jay

Why are you doing a compression test?

I looked up some fuse box diagrams. On your car in the underhood fuse box there is a small rectangle relay that is the starter relay and is known to flake out over time or develop dirty contacts.

Its the one next to the big 40A fuse.

remove and clean it then retest. test the relay too with some jumper wires and a test lamp. One leg of that relay will go directly to the starter solenoid. You can energize that to see if the starter spins.

Not doing a compression test just trying to spin over the starter motor while still in the car and not use ignition system. I'm trying to see if the starters my issue or if its something else

Remove the relay and try a different one with no success. I used a test light in the starter relay socket. There are two hot sockets and two dead ones. So I can take a jumper in between a hot and cold socket and she should spin over or at least give me click ?

the relay has 4 pins.
85-86
30-87

the 85-86 are the coil points (small contacts)

the 30-87 do the high current transfer - one of these is hot, the other pin goes to the starter motor to spin in when powered up. Do not short the smaller contact pins to the large one to test as it can damage the EIS or ECU due to the amp pull of the starter solenoid.

If you dont get it to spin the starter is bad,

To confirm this test, you can test power at the starter solenoid terminal - if you get 12V +ve at the starter solenoid and no starter action, its probably toasted or worn out. (usually MB starters are very long life)

you can do voltage drop tests to the starter to eliminate corroded wiring issues.

Look up voltage drop test on youtube to understand how to do it. The starter circuit is the same usual as you find on all cars, MB have intercepted it with a relay.

The starter relay marked as " L " in the pic only has the numbers 1,2,3,5 on the bottom. In the above post im told the relay has 4 pins.
85-86-30-87.
Is that from a different model? Mine is a 2004 W211 E320.
Is Socket " L " my starter relay?
The Socket Labeled " L " has two hot 12Volt with Key in " ON " position but only one of the other two has a active ground. I also tried the activate that ground by turning vehicle to start position. Going to try and put power direct to starter in next few days.