'97 S320 Intermittent starting Problem
 

My friend has a '97 S320 with 118K miles on it. The car is in immaculate condition and has been well taken care of. Several times in the past week he has started the car and driven it 5 to 15 miles, parked and gone into a store. Upon returning to the car the engine won't start. The starter won't turn over but all the accessories work such as radio, AC blower, etc. After the car sits for 30 to 40 minutes it will start up and run fine. He has had the battery and starter checked and both are good. The car currently is at a reputable indie MB shop and has been for several days and naturally the car works fine for them so they can't make any diagnosis. Anybody out there got any ideas on this one? Could the ignition key/tumbler be a possible problem?

Sound like the starter lockout relay is going bad. This is causing your intermittant problem. Tell them to replace that unit or use a jumper wire for the time being for testing purposes to see if that fixes the problem over time.

BenzTech said: Sounds like the starter lockout relay is going bad. This is causing your intermittant problem
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You nailed it!!! That was the problem. Thanks for you help.