ok, having read quite a few of the posts here, I see that Mercedes seem to have quite a bit of trouble with starting, which my 1989 260E is having. The engine turns over and occasionally it will fire & run for a few seconds, then dies. I made a point of listening near the trunk for a fuel pump pre-load, but have not heard that sound, so I suspect the relay could be failing. But I can't find the relay. Do you have a good schematic, some diagrams, and/or a troubleshooting guide?
The problem was intermittant, but now is consistent... no starting.

Help!

 

It should be one of these. The one by the battery is the easiest to check so I'd go there first.

N16/3 or N16/4
Right side of component compartment, behind battery
[IMG]local://upfiles/5574/ED58DEBA69974A1FBEC6663CF55D27DB.jpg[/IMG]





K27 is beneath right side of rear seat
[IMG]local://upfiles/5574/1E3F472403214D7CAA31F532A55DB27D.jpg[/IMG]


Hope this helps

 

If the car was actually stalling as well, I'd check out the Crankshaft Position Sensor too.

Crankshaft position sensor is located on the top of bell housing, behind oil filter (L5).
See Pic

Sorry for the crappy picture.

[IMG]local://upfiles/5574/78599A268FDC4B18B7C7BA49B3F6A8B0.jpg[/IMG]

 

Ok, thanks for the pictures, they truly were worth their thousand words. I accessed the relay behind the battery and rapped upon it with the handle of a screwdriver.
lo & behold IT STARTED!!!!! Yea!!!
Now, do I need to replace the relay and if so, how do I get it out? just pull or are there some hidden catches?

 

If you can get the cover off the relay (without jacking it up too bad) you should be able to inspect the solder joints. You might be able to resolder the joints and see if it fixes it. Just make sure to reseal it before installing it.

Quite a few of those had bad soldering joints resulting in the intermittent problems.

Might just pay to replace the relay though.

Should be straight forward to replace

Hope this helps.