Complete eletrical dropout on my E-320
 

Hey guys,

Tonight, after filling up at the gas station, my car wouldn't start. I noticed that there was no electrical power at all-- no dome light, nothing. After several tries with the ignition, power resumed and it started right up. The car was completely warmed up.

Tomorrow, when there's daylight, I'll check to see if either of the battery cables is loose.

Could the problem be anything else?

Thanks!

PS A couple months ago, when putting the gear into Park, all the dash and cente console lights began flashing erratically. This has happend a couple times, but not recently. Don't know if that's related or not.

No electrical power?
 

The same thing has happened to me three or four times in my '94 E320. I find it goes away if I wiggle or turn the fuses. High humidity like you have in Virginia can corrode them and interrupt contact. I've had the entire dashboard guages and lights "die" while the engine was running; then when I turn off the car, it won't restart. After replacing a burned-out fuse, I was good to go. For $2 or so, you can simply replace all the fuses once a year.

Of course, it could be a loose wire on the ignition switch, but I suspect that would create more of a recurring problem.

Well, you are talkng about car with the infamous wiring harness problems. Has it already been replaced?

Len

This is the car you bought from Engatwork, isn't it?

Len,

Yes the wire harness has been replaced.

Paul,

Yes, I bought the E-320 from engatwork. Well mantained car and he gave me a more than fair deal on it!

I'll check and replace the fuses to see if that helps.

It is very unlikely, not to say impossible, that ALL fuses bacame bad all at the same time. Look somewhere else.
To cause a total/complete electrical dropout, it is either a battery cable (pos or neg) or the main electrical wire going to the starter.