engine cuts out suddenly
 

I have a 1991 560 sec with 80,000 miles on it. The car is seldom used but is in tip top shape. The other day while driving on the highway, the engine just completly shut off. I tried starting it several times--it would start but die immediatly. After sitting several minutes, it started and drove without a problem. This has happened intermittenly several times now. I had a new distributor cap and rotor on hand so I changed them but the problem continues. I swapped out the OVP relay with aother one to no avail. It starts and will run just fine for long periods then suddenly shuts down. Any suggestions?

J.Chip

Never worked with that model, but consider a fuel pump or relay.

Or a fuel filter. I recently had this problem with my Honda. Start fine, run 5 miles and die. Let sit for couple minutes and start right back up. New fuel filter did the trick.

same symptoms I had about a year ago on my 560SEL. It would cut out intermittently. I traced it to fouled spark plugs. I replaced all spark plugs and never had the problem again.

not likely
 

Not likely a fouled plug. That may cause an intermittent stumble or miss but not a complete engine shutdown. Hard to imagine a gas filter causing the problem all at once and then clearing up. I would think the filter effect would be gradual. Could be the fuel pumps but how could I check an intermittent problem. Are there codes that can be read?

J.Chip

Coil wire?
 

I'm thinking your coil wire may be loose or corroded or both.
My 560sl does that occassionally and invariably the coil wire has worked a little loose and I'm too cheap to buy a new set of wires.

J. Boggs