Last week I posted about a problem with my 1987 190E. The problem was when the key was out of the ignition the row of warning lights on the dash stayed on, which drained the battery. A few days ago my daughter (who has the car at college) phoned to tell me the problem was gone and the car was acting normally. I brought the car home yesterday (2.5 hours of driving with no problems). While checking things out today I observed that the dash lights come on when a small relay (located behind the battery) is energized. My question is: is it possible for this relay to become stuck in the closed position (which would explain the problem my daughter had last weekend) or is it more likely there is still an intermittent problem with the ignition switch? I tried mightily to make that switch fail today with no luck. Also, when this problem happened (a week ago) it was right after a heavy rain.

That problem would be with either the alternator or the electrical portion of the igntion switch.

__________________
MERCEDES Benz Master Guild Technician (6 TIMES)
ASE Master Technician
Mercedes Benz Star Technician (2 times)
44 years foreign automotive repair
27 Years M.B. Shop foreman (dealer)
MB technical information Specialist (15 years)
190E 2.3 16V ITS SCCA race car (sold)
1986 190E 2.3 16V 2.5 (sold)
Retired Moderator