I have determined that my high idle is caused by this relay being faulty. When I remove the relay the engine settles down to a normal idle. Question: Can I drive the car without the relay and not damage anything? I don't intend to but what would be the risk? It being Sat. morning I can't get one before next week at the earliest. Thanks for any opinions.
380 SE 195k

I think:

- you would not have any ABS
- your fuel pump relay might be unprotected

The reason the idle is going down when you take out the relay, is the relay powers up the fuel and idle control systems. You probably have a fault in the idle system somewhere.

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Benzmac:
Donnie Drummonds
1992 500E (very soon I hope :)
1981 280GE SWB
ASE CERTIFIED MASTER AUTO TECHNICIAN
SERVICE MANAGER FOR 14 BAY FACILITY
MERCEDES SPECIALIST 8 YRS
PARTNER IN MERCEDESSHOP.COM

Thanks guys, this situation becomes more perplexing every day. Now I'm leaning more to the idle control module as I originally was. I drove the car with the relay in and it ran perfectly. However it seems to run properly when it is hot as hell outside as it was today. I've noted the posts about re-soldering the contacts in the module and I suppose I will try to find another one to try. Thanks for all the useful info on this board. It is great!