I think the electrical system on the 98 is in good shape. Battery was a bit weak this morning after having sat for 12 hours. I assume the trunk light was left on (since the trunk won't close all the way...in process of getting resolved). Could that little light left on the 12 hours result in weak cranking? I wouldn't have thought so, but who knows? I disconnected the light until I get the trunk fixed.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

The trunk light on the 210 has a timer. It'll shut off on its own after 20 or 30 min.

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CENSORED due to not family friendly words

Thanks...didn't know that.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Also the pin switch can be pulled out 1/4 inch when trunk is open to turn light off.

That one helps quite a lot in a picnic etc. same situation in the W124 too.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

It sounds like the plunger in the switch needs to be pulled out in order for the trunk lamp to go out… It doesn't sound like it shuts off automatically, at least not according to the manual. In the W211 it does.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

The plunger is a physical disconnect of the circuit.

The lamp does go out itself if left unattended, Its a built in safety feature to prevent battery drain. MB was not the only car to have this in the late 90s, my camry even has this. Same for the interior lamps, if you leave the door open for a very long time the dome lamps etc will go out themselves.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

My '97 trunk light does not go out automatically. The wife has proven this several times. Yes 12 hours of trunk light will noticeably drain down the battery.

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'97 E 300 D

After I disconnected the trunk lamp, I have had no recurring weak battery issues.

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

The W210 trunk light is a straight switched circuit. One of the very few things on this car that does not involve electronics.

The rear dome light receives unswitched (ckt. 30) power from the rear fuse block. The rear dome light then goes to the PSE pump, which controls the rear dome light by grounding the line.

A tap from the rear dome light circuit 30 goes to the trunk light bulb. This light is turned on only when grounded by the trunk lid switch. There is a line to the PSE pump between the bulb and the switch, but this is just to sense the trunk has been opened. This sensing line is only used to trigger the alarm and light up the LED in the trunk switch in the lower field control panel.

The PSE cannot control the trunk light so it does not have a timeout feature like all the other interior lights on the car.

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The OM 642/722.9 powered family
Still going strong
2014 ML350 Bluetec (wife's DD)
2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD)

both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023
2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles)
2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles)

1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh
1987 300TD sold to vstech

Thanks, Jay_Bob, for the clarification. Clearly our W210s don't have a trunk light time out...perhaps some later ones did.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

That is probably true. The first gen W210 had picked up some of the technology introduced in the W140. The W210 was the first mainstream MB with all the electronics and CAN bus.

Not sure about the facelifted (2000-up) 210 since that facelift also killed the diesel from the model range. So not a lot of folks on here have a post 99 W210.

The rear PSE pump was the forerunner of the current model (starting with the W211) rear SAM. Most likely your 211 has a fully controlled trunk light since it no doubt comes from the rear SAM.

__________________
The OM 642/722.9 powered family
Still going strong
2014 ML350 Bluetec (wife's DD)
2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD)

both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023
2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles)
2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles)

1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh
1987 300TD sold to vstech

All trunk lights go out eventually. All bleeding stops eventually.