The coil was changed couple of years ago. Although I have ordered another one, in the meantime I tried the ignition coils from a 300E and a 1994 420SEL that is off my friend's cars. Same problem. The engine cranks but does not start. I checked the spark right at the wire going to the distributor cap, it seems week. The cranking voltage on the positive connection is 8-9 volts.

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Zorin

'88 Benz 420 SEL
'79 Porsche 911SC ('87 Carrera Engine)
'00 BMW 540 Sports Package
'99 Land Rover Discovery

86 300E - Manual (sold)
88 260E (sold)
84 944 (sold)

z:

The previous question about the primary voltage was to determine if that is the cause of a weak secondary spark. It is! At 8-9V. primary, expect a weak spark. In the second reply of this thread, it was suggested that you check the rotor position, vis-a-vis the crank position. Did you? Have you used a timing light to insure that the sparks are occurring at the correct point?