C180 Auto(W203) - Wont Start; No Dash Lights

[abmalhot]

I was travelling home last night and parked the car road side to pick up something on the way. When I came back to the car, I opened the car and inserted the key fob and tried turning it to switch on the car and suddenly dashboard lights went off, key wont turn, all electronics went dead - no horn, no in car lamps/lights, no hazard lights, no head lights, absolutely no display on instrument cluster. Central Locking stopped, could no longer lock / unlock the car using central locking.. It was a total blackout of everything.

I was searching for solutions to problem online but couldnt find anything, I wasnt sure if it was due to car being immobilized due to anti theft system or if it was due to some failed component or if it was aging key sensor(I just have one car key, so couldnt try another to isolate this)..

I kept struggling for a while and after reading some random posts on internet, I thought of disconnecting battery for a while to see if it helps.. The moment I touched the battery box to disconnect it, suddenly car lights came back on, along with dashboard lights. I went back in and tried starting the car and it started with instrument cluster showing ESP couldnt be activated due to a fault. I turned the engine off and it said 1 fault and showed the same ESP error. I tried starting again and this time no ESP error and it said "No Malfunction" on switching off this time, and I could just drive off without any issues after that.. Tried switching Off and On again several times but car worked well after that.

I am not sure what happened to the car momentarily and if I could run into such a problem again. Any suggestions or help is appreciated, If at all there is some real problem I would like it to be sorted out before the onset of winters..

Thanks,
Abhi

Car Details: 2002 C180(W203) Petrol, Auto - Avantgrande; 77K Miles done

 

[142 TPL]

Sounds like a dodgy battery connection or the battery itself

 

[jaymanek]

id go with loose connection somewhere.

 

[abmalhot]

Thanks for your responses.
I ran into the issue again but the sequence of events was bit different.. The lights got dimmed when I tried starting the car indicating the battery has no juice and then from dim to dead.
But then again I opened the hood and went on to battery and lights came on back as soon as I touched it, The lights came on brightly lit and then car started as if there was no issue which made me think battery isnt the issue.. It does seem to indicate a loose battery connection but I couldnt check it properly as it was quite dark, will check again tomorrow morning and post an update.

 

[abmalhot]

Another Observation:
I attempted another car start and it didnt start. This time lights in car were up and soon as i moved the fob to start, it made sound as if it is making attempts to turn the engine ON - like chhik chikk chikk(car light use to dim with every attempt) but engine never came on and panel showed all sort of errors - SRS, ESP, Break Fluid, system restrained.. and 2 faults when I took the key out. I then removed the key and inserted it back and it said no malfunction but on trying to switch it on again showed different different errors as above. I still havent checked for battery connections, will update on that tomorrow morning..

 

[mbzclk]

my money is on the battery or the battery connections.

a lose connection can cause this,

 

[abmalhot]

Thanks everybody, it indeed was a loose connection on negative terminal. I tighten it up and everything is back to normal.
Thanks again everybody for your inputs.

 

[Alban]

maybe some problem on your battery.
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Allobd2