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 .

Check the neutral-safety switch, left side of the transmission. Or the
shift linkage may be off its position. Does the back-up lights go on
when you shift to R?

katrinasmith wrote:

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-ning Tan wrote:

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
1987 300E