124 200E Not starting advice needed to Troubleshoot

[Vinesh]

Hi guys im new to the forum and from South Africa. My dad’s 124 200 E was standing for around 2 years. The car started and drove fine before that. I had to move the car to my home around 600km away. After putting in a new battery the car just cranked and refused to start. I was able to confirm that there was spark I didn’t check for fuel. I had to get it transported to my house on a car carrier. I cleaned the plugs and bridged the fuel pump relay. The car started and I moved it into my garage. After a few months I tried to start it again to take it for a drive. As I drove around the block it kept on switching off. It would start up straight away go a few meters then switch of. I got it back to the garage. Then it refused to start at all. Just cranked. If I cycle the key about 4-5 times it starts up right away is able to rev up then dies after a few seconds. I heard one of the pumps were noisy which I changed as well as the fuel filter. This made no difference at all. Where can I start troubleshooting the starting problem? The car is in excellent condition and as a remembrance of my dad I would like to sort it out. I don’t have a lot of money to spend on mechanics and unnecessary spare parts so would like to be able to isolate the problem myself with some simple tests. Just as a side note bridging the fuel pump relay no longer allows the car to start like it initially did. My suspicion is that the fuel was bad and starting the car without clean fuel messed up a lot of other things. Any ideas or advice would be much appreciated.

 

[DREAMER NO2]

Did you remove the hot wire on the fuel pump relay ...this is for trial only and other damage will follow if its left in place .So replace the FPR asap or disconect it .