1987 260e hard starting

[BigRichard72]

Help, I have a 1987 260e that runs excellent but has to crank 15-20 times before it starts? once started runs and idles great, and ideas, how do i check the over voltage protection relay i have been reading about and where is it on my car.

Thanks, Richard
MBCA Member

BigRichard72@home.com

[joel]

it is at the firewall behind your battery.
it is the relay with a 10A fuse on top of it. you may only need a new fuse. good luck.

[BigRichard72]

Pulled the relay and the fuse is good, any other things to check for, it just has to crank about 15 times to start then runs great.

Richard
MBCA Member

[5banger]

I believe that an OVP can still be bad even though the fuse is good (not source as much current as a new one.) The part has been revised as well; available at Partsshop. Confirm with Donnie/Steve. Best of luck, Andrew Seidel.

[BigRichard72]

Is there a way to test the OVP relay?

[5banger]

Search the threads--there are a few recent posts with good details (a 300e, I think.) The basic idea is to remove the air filter, look for the Electro-Hydraulic Actuator (black box, 2 pins, mounted to the firewall-side in my case), hook an ammeter in-line with the circuit, and measure current. I seem to remember it was ~20mA with the key-on-engine-off. In the case of my '89 2.6, it was actually the EHA itself that was worn out, but I needed an OVP in the case of my 2.3. Hope this helps--the other threads explain better, Andrew Seidel.