A surprisingly common problem in the utility tractor community is bad battery cables. In these cases the conductor fails (corrosion) under the insulation where it's not visible such that the cable (and the end terminals) still looks fine.
Mercedes content: These are Diesel tractors. > -----Original Message----- > From: Mercedes [mailto:mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com] On Behalf Of > WILTON via Mercedes > Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2014 8:14 PM > To: Dan Penoff; Mercedes Discussion List > Subject: Re: [MBZ] 1984 500SEL Surrender > > Speaking of starting reminds me: Coupla weeks ago, I had just made one > pass at curb across front yard with JD riding mower when painting crew > working on outside of the house pulled up to curb after lunch. I cut the > mower off to talk to the painters. Couple minutes later, when I tried to re- > start the mower, it only groaned once then nothing. Painters pushed mower > and me to within jumper cable distance of the battery in the '87 300D. > Mower still only groaned with jumper cables attached. SWMBO pushed > mower and me to the mower's parking place. > > Rain, heat, humidity, skeeters, procrastination and most anything kept me > from tackling the mower problem until this morning. Meanwhile, #1 son > came and cut grass once and I thought occasionally about how the family's > '37 Ford suddenly would not start one weekend in 1948 when I was 14 and > had taken the car on extended spins around and around the house many > times while my two brothers, who were the family drivers and "in charge" of > the car were on a weekend trip with a third brother. While I worried that my > brothers would accuse me of "breaking" the car, early Sunday afternoon a > cousin about the age of one of my "driver" brothers stopped by for a visit. > > The cousin asked me why the car was sitting in a strange position in the yard. > I told 'im I'd been driving it, and it would not start on Saturday afternoon > after I had taken a lunch break from my self-taught driving lessons. He got a > wrench, opened the hood ad asked me to "Try it now" while he tightened the > battery cables a bit. That's when I learned about loose and/or corroded > battery cables. > > Shonuff, 'removed the mower battery cables, cleaned the cable ends and the > battery terminals, reattached the cables and mower starts right up. > > Wilton > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Dan Penoff via Mercedes" <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > To: "Mercedes List" <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2014 7:01 PM > Subject: [MBZ] 1984 500SEL Surrender > > > > I'm thinking this guy is going to be back to me in a couple of weeks, > > ready to take $500 for this car.... > > > > I saw that he just updated the CL listing for it instead of creating a new > > listing. Not a bright idea, as it will stay way, way down the list and > > not be current. And he's asking $950, not $700 like he was earlier. > > > > http://tampa.craigslist.org/hdo/cto/4587368673.html > > > > "Car will start." > > > > Wow. That gives me a lot of confidence. I'll give him until after the > > Labor Day weekend. > > > > Dan > > _______________________________________ > > http://www.okiebenz.com > > > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > > All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those > > individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner > > has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor. > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those > individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no > control over the content of the messages of each contributor. _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor.
