1984 300D Won't Start
 

I was able to start my car as normal this morning, moved it to the front of my apt and turned it off. It is parked on a downward sloping hill. I went out about 10 minutes later and it won't start. Nothing, no crank, or anything like that. I'm not sure what the issue is.

New battery, new alternator, diesel fuel in the system.

Do the dash lights come on when you turn the key?

My first thought is the neutral-safety switch. Try rocking the car back and forth.

Yes, the dash lights do come on.

Neutral safety switch is a good guess. Try starting in neutral and/or wiggle the shift lever as you crank and see if that helps - it might.

Remember that you can easily (well, sort of easily) turn the key to "on", open the hood, and jump from the big 12volt cable at the starter to the little trigger terminal and crank the engine that way - it bypasses all the safety stuff. I know that the starter is a bit hard to reach down there (it's low on the passenger's side at the rear of the engine) but all you need is a length of wire with 'gator clips on either end. Clip the clip to the small terminal and touch the other end to the big 12volt terminal and the engine ought to crank.

Get back to us and tell us if either of these methods helped. If not, there are more things to try.

Dan

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/278529-84-300d-turbo-diesel-has-power-but-will-not-start-crank.html


Charlie

Despite the fact that it is a new battery and alternator, the battery could have a bad cell and not able to provide enough "grunt" to start the car even though all the lights work. I agree the neutral safety switch could be bad. Another easy thing to try is to simply jump the battery with another car and see what happens......

Mine quit last Sunday after church. Turned the key, radio on, but nothing. Well, I knew the battery was quite old, I think going on 8 years, so I put in a new battery. Everything seemed hunkydory. Wednesday I was out running around and 15 miles from home and "no crank" again. But I have a push button starter on mine to avoid using that trouble making switch all the time. Just turn the switch on, but I don't use the start position nor do I use the steering wheel lock. That is gone also. OK, so no start and in getting a little peed off, I held my starter button down for 4/5 seconds, pushing it on and off in disgust, when It suddenly got hot and started to smoke. Well that meant the solenoid was drawing a lot of power and was locked up. Well, I have other starters with solenoid on hand and installed it. So, just saying, don't overlook the solenoid on top of the starter. They do fail also.

It was the neutral safety switch. I greatly appreciate everyone’s input, it really helped me. Thank you!