I took my car to a Mercedes mechanic, he told me all look good, but I needed to change GP ASAP- hard start.. So I did, a real pain in my ass!! Long story short the car won't start now at all! I was very careful with removal everything went back together fine! The fuse is fine. What did I do?

Do you still have the old style plugs with the squiggly metal resistors in between each plug?

Are you getting a glow plug light at all when you turn the key to the run position?

If you do still have the old style plugs and have not upgraded to the pencil conversion plugs, did you make sure your ground wire got reconnected at the end near the front of the engine?

And are you positive that you put the resistors and heat shields back exactly in the order as they were removed?

If the answer is yes to all of these questions then I begin to wonder if you got a bad plug. Some times they are bad out of the box. What brand did you use?

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The light on dash hasn't been turning in for while now, thought the new plugs would fix that. I'm not sure what resistors/ heat shield ?
I did drop the last nut and couldn't get to it, used a different one...the plugs are Bosch. Yes, old style plugs. I

Attachment 120556See the embedded pic and the attached pic (better) for how the plugs should look installed.

You did not respond on the ground wire.

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

Both The wires are good and in place. I checked the book and it's all back correctly. I even got the nut I dropped and put it in place. It just cranks,im charging the battery and I'm going to change fuel filter. I don't have any diesel to put in the filter can I use liqui moly diesel purge? Even if it's the relay it started before I changed GP it was just hard to start when cold or after sitting for few hours. Maybe I didn't get the plugs in tight enough?

Can you post some photos of the glow plug area?

Did you undo the hard injector lines to get to the glow plugs easier?

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I will try and post pic, I did not undo hard lines wish I had I was a pain in the ass took me 4 hours, with no victory:-( I checked and checked again. It's all in place. I'm charging the battery, I changed fuel filter(put diesel purge in it?)

Are your squiggly wires glowing red when the glow plugs are on. It's easiest to see at night. If they're not, then your glow plugs are not getting power. That's most likely your problem. You'll need to diagnose why. I'm guessing there's a bad glow plug or a bad fuse or misrouted wires.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

There is no power getting to the plugs at all. Mechanic looked at the fuse Thursday said it was good. Ground/ fuse wire in place. I was very careful re-installing, check book diagram. It all looks right..If one of the new plugs is bad how do I know which one it is? A few plugs were really hard to remove, could there be a build up of some kind inside interfering with the connection?

On the last plug- by the fuse- should the hard connecting wire be behind the spacer or grouped with the fuse wire right next to the nut?

I just realized the ceramic part of the spacer is cracked would this cause a problem, it the last 1 closest to the fuse ?

If there is no power getting to the plugs, you need to double-check the fuse on the firewall. If that is ok it may be the relay, which on that system is under the steering column.

The shop told you the relay was okay when the looked at the car?

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

No he didn't say the relay was ok, just the fuse. If the relay is bad, then it was bad yesterday before I changed the GP, I drove the car yesterday. Why would a bad relay cause the car not to start now?

There is 3 silver boxes( relay?)under the dash. 1 in the middle closest to the steering 1 to the left, one toward the engine? How do I know if it's working? If the fuse isn't cracked and looks good how do I check that?

The glow relay will be the largest silver box above your feet on the driver's side, underdash. It's either beside or attached to the steering column, I can't remember which.

If the relay is bad there is no power to the glowplugs.

Did you ever answer concerning the ground wire? If you did, I missed it.

I am not familiar with that style of relay, to tell you how to test it. When mine went bad I just replaced the entire setup with a manual glow relay conversion and later style plugs.

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22