I have a 1988 300E mercedes and it won't start. I put a new starter in and still nothing. When I turn the key everything comes on (lights, radio etc) but the car ignition will not start. I was thinking it may be the kill- switch, but I don't know where it's located at. Can someone please give me an idea as to where to look for it, or a suggestion as to what could be wrong. It was starting perfectly .
The back-up lights do not come on when the car is in R. A light stays lit up on the dash indicating that. When you say left side of the transmission, do you mean left side if you're outside the car or left side if you're in the car. When I bought the car the shifts were off (like R would be where N is marked so they tighted it up and everything was fine after that.
Wan-n>Check the neutral-safety switch, left side of the transmission. Or the
Definitely on the safety switch by the tranny... It is physically on the tranny by the driver side... between the tranny shifting rod and the tranny itself... black.
In your case as you said gear shifter seems to be in wrong position... you need to have the two bushings replaced and realigned.
If it won't start in Park, try it with the gear selector placed in Neutral position. Try wiggling it in both Park and Neutral to see if the starter will engage. A bad Neutral safety switch will often fail in Park but still start in Neutral (for a while at least).
Pete Cowper
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