Okay, going to resurrect this thread as it has no result and my car just so happens to be doing the same thing. The rest of the internet has no answer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhack
My 1997 E300 (137,000 miles) stalls while running normally. It can be on the highway at 50 mph, or a side street at 5 mph. The engine just stops. I coast to the side of the road and try to restart it. After several tries over a minute or two, it will start up and run perfectly. It will continue to run fine sometimes for several days, and sometimes for longer before stalling out again.
I notice when it won't restart that the preheat lamp will go out immediately (or not come on at all sometimes) instead of hesitating for a fraction of a second as it usually does with a warm engine when turning the key.
It seems to me that the problem must be in a circuit that controls the fuel and also the preheat, as the preheat indicator doesn't show proper glow plug operation when the car won't start. I can always tell when the engine is ready to run again when I turn the key and the preheat lamp comes on again.
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My case is 100% similar though it has gotten far more frequent as of late....meaning, every day, multiple times a day. The car would stall once every few weeks and when trying to restart, the glow indicator would NOT come on. After a few tries of the ignition, the glow light would come on and I could start. On my merry way I went. Every last piece of the fuel injection system is newer, the K40 is new, ignition is new, etc. K40 was replaced for other reasons with brand new....I have like 7 others I've tried and they all do the same thing as well.
I literally just took the car on a 5000 mile road trip (you can see those posts on the blog):
W210: DailyDiesel Takes Over The West? Part 1 ~ Artisan
W210: Daily Diesel Takes Over The West? Part Classic Center Visit ~ Artisan
W210: DailyDiesel Takes Over The West Part: Probably 3 ~ Artisan
Without a SINGLE stall. Not a single hiccup through the entire trip. Thank you Mercedes gods.
I have a Mercedes HHT at my disposal and it doesn't show anything wrong with the system from its checks. So.... great, I guess. I've traced every last wire in the engine bay in hopes I'd find a short somewhere that might've made contact from engine vibrations, no luck. I did find out my engine harness was manufactured in 2006, so that's nice.
Everything on the car behaves as normal when turning the key - it'll crank all day long, just won't start until the glow indicator comes on. Sometimes it'll take 2 turns of the key, sometimes it'll take 10 minutes of sitting there to get it going. I've given up driving the car for now as I don't feel like blocking the left turn lane anymore lol
I've put in an order for a new Shut Off Valve today, so I'll update this post when I put it on and take it for a spin. Then will follow up after a couple weeks if all seems well.