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.

__________________
“Whatever story you're telling, it will be more interesting if, at the end you add, "and then everything burst into flames.”
― Brian P. Cleary, You Oughta Know By Now

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

84 300D turbo diesel has power but will not start or crank!?


Charlie

__________________
there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

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......

__________________
2012 Mercedes ML350 Bluetec 102K (hers)
2005 Corvette 55K (fun car)
2002 VW Jetta TDI 238K (mine)
1998 Volvo S70 T5 Turbo 211K (kids)
1994 Ford F150 4WD 246K (firewood hauler)
1983 Mercedes 300D 384K (diesel commuter)

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.

__________________
Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!

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