Hey all, 1998 E300 turbo diesel, so amidst pulling my hair out trying to figure out why my key is not being recognized and left me stranded, I went to swap out the k40 relay with a known good one that I have just lying around...didn’t help the key/no start issue ... but looking around in the fuse box there seems to be diesel fuel (smell and touch) in the bottom of the k40 area fuse box. Anyone ever see this before? For a while we have also been noticing diesel smell in the cabin( when it was acting nicely and driving still)

Recently did extensive ac work and fully cleaned out the water drains, it has been raining, it doesn’t look like water or coolant, how the heck would diesel get over there into the fuse box?


Stumped. This car is acting very badly for me lately 😒