I finally found k24 (convenience / comfort relay ) in the last square inch of my 1998 C230 that I hadn't stripped apart yet. Lo and behold the circuit board inside the relay had 8 out of 23 solder connections cracked (ring cracks). Will fix tomorrow and take pictures of the problem. I will try to post the pics. Thanks to everyone above and throughout the archives for helping to lower my aggravation quotient.

MattG
98 C230 first and last 55k miles