1979 280ce How Jump Starter
 

Hello, I have a starting issue. I turn the key and nothing happens. No crank and no noise. I have 4 speed manual transmission. I had the battery checked and its all good.
Now I want to jump the starter to make sure I do not have a faulty starter. I read some posts about jumping the starter by connecting 2 of the terminal on the attached photo (most of the instructions were on Diesel w123s). Need help figuring out which two terminal I need to jump on the picture below from my car. ( I did try to hit the starter with a hammer to make sure I do not have a stuck motor)
Thx

Got a meter (and know how to use it)?

The purple wire there is the starter solenoid circuit. Not having seen the 123 up that close and personal lately, I am going to presume that the purple wire comes from the neutral safety switch to that block and then directly down to the starter.

Using a meter, first have somebody turn the key and try to start while you check that purple wire for voltage relative to ground. If you see the voltage go up to 12v while the key is turned and then back to 0 when you let go, then it's your starter.

If you don't see any change, then it's either the neutral safety switch hooked up to the shifter or it's the ignition switch itself.

-CTH
PS. A 280ce with a standard transmission is one car I'd love to own. I wish Santa could park one under my tree.

Thanks for the instructions. I do not have a voltmeter but its time for me to own one. I will buy one and test the voltage going to the starter.

Either get a 15$ one from Radio shack or splurge on the fancy meter at sears that also does tach and dwell. Last I saw it was closer to 60$. -CTH

So i tested the voltage on the purple wire and it jumps to 12v when the key is turned. So I guess the concludes that I have a bad starter. I will be buying one and replacing it. I will keep you posted on how that goes. Thanks again.

Update: I replaced the starter with a Bosch rebuilt starter. Everything is working now :) Thanks for the help