This sounds like a fuel supply problem.
Remove air cleaner and while turning the engine over, spray a little starting fluid in.
If it fires up then dies, a lack of fuel is the problem. Maybe a bad pump or something else, but a fuel problem.
It sounds like there may be a couple of issues here. If you don’t have any signs of power when you turn the key to ON or RUN then you need to check for power getting to the power distribution panel under the hood. Check and clean the battery connections also. If there is power getting to the panel then the ignition switch and wiring to it needs to be checked. There is a faulty connection somewhere.
Good. When was the last time the spark plugs and wires replaced? (If it happens to be a diesel, do let us know) When were the current air and fuel filters replaced?
When was the last time the plugs, plug wires, air and fuel filters been replaced?
Does it have a antitheft system installed? Factory or aftermarket?
I would bet you have a simple dead battery. It happens on old cars all the time. slow drain on the battery will casue the car to not start in about a week. Charge up the battery (or in this case perhaps have someone charge it for you), and you might just get away with a battery charge. If the batt keeps dying, you can put in a dead switch to keep the batt from draining.
Does this car have keys that are programmed?
Here is the reason I ask. When I worked for A GM dealership a customer called and said his brand new car wouldn’t start, we had it towed in and it started and ran just fine for us. We couldn’t duplicate the problem. He took the car and the very next day he called saying it wouldn’t start again, we towed it in and it started right up. We couldn’t duplicate the problem again.
The tech that was working on it thought of something,called the customer and asked him if he had another set of keys for the car. He did and he brought them in. The tech tried the extra set of keys and sure enough the car wouldn’t start.
Turns out the extra set of keys hadn’t been programmed for the car.
That’s why I ask about the keys. Do you use the same set of keys when the dealer had the car? I don’t even know if this car uses this type of key but my research shows an antitheft system and a ignition shutdown relay.
I have a 1992 300E and it doesn’t use programmed keys. I wonder if the ignition switch is bad.
this member "tarcaulk’ is nothing but a troll and visits this forum simply to stir up trouble, I treat him accordingly. The comment was not at all designed to make any one (even “tarcaulk”) feel bad but simply point out that he is a troll out to no good.
Anyone even remotely involved with automobiles over the past 30 years knows what “CIS” stands for when it is posted on an automotive forum. I don’t need to respond to his demands for proof that Mercedes really made cars that used CIS injection. He could certainly look it up before posting a challenge.
old, most of the people posting here are not “car people”, within your definition. if they were, why would they need to post here?
Why would they even need to post? even “car people” at times need to ask advice. This “tarcaulk” member did not say "could you please explain what you mean when you say the car is a “CIS car” and I interpet this to mean you believe the car was made in the former Soviet Union and I do not believe this is possible, you must mean something I am not aware of when you say "must be a CIS car’. He responded with a comment that only leads to a flame war, with is characteristic of a troll. If you really have a issue with the validity of information I post at least do an inital ‘google’ and see if you can find the answer before calling me out in a way that only reinforces the image that many internet forums have (one of rudeness and conflict), which is one that Car talk does its best not to get saddled with.
About my “moniker”. I picked “oldschool” not because I am old but because I feel I am in the last group of mechanics that was trained the old way. That way being learning the trade from other mechanics that you work with. When I started in auto mechanics the idea of going to school or taking as class (or classes) was pretty much unheard of. The old way to learn was from the mechanics you worked with.
Assuming the battery is good, jump battery power straight to the starting terminal on the starter solenoid to see if the engine turns over. If it turns over do the same thing with the key on, if it starts it is most likely an ignition switch problem. The power flow from the battery to the starter is not that complex. The problem must be present for a mechanic to identify the cause.
“The patient is perfectly healthy - he is just not breathing…”
Does the car have any type of anti-theft device? I would agree with the key theory,but according to a previous post, that car doesn’t have a programmed key.
Look for a weak relay or the small wire that engages the starter solenoid.Replace fuses in the starter cicuit and recheck battery and terminals. Check large ground wire from battery to engine attachment point and body ground.
Make sure positive wire is not loose at starter or battery. Check for any TSB {technical service bulletins} Also Google your problem, it could be a problem another owner with the same car has experienced.