A friend of mine just shipped me his 420SEL from Oakland to Phoenix to help him sell it here. The car has not had any starting problems and the shipper was able to start it and unload it off the truck today. I drove it the rest of the way home and parked it in my driveway, and now it won't start. Key all the way to start, idiot lights come on, I can hear the fuel pump buzzing, but absolutely no cranking at all. The battery is good, but tried jumping it anyway and still won't crank. Tried in neutral too, and no go. What the hell??? - Mike

run a jumper cable from the engine to the battery negative and then try cranking it to see if you have a bad engine ground.

if that doesn't help then try jumping the starter solenoid to starter positive to see if the problem is with the wiring in the car and not the starter

I tried jumpering the engine to the negative, and it didn’t work. I was going to push the car into the garage with the help of a friend, and I went to start it now and it works. The only difference between now and a few hours ago is the car got cold. I don’t know.

I know you tried it in neutral but it could still be the Neutral safety switch or a corroded plug that plugs into it

Its either a sticking starter solenoid, or a bad switch in the dash. Those are the two most likely culprits.

If it won't start again, smack the starter a few times with something...then try it.

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