Can't use new Merc if left un-started for 7 days???

[cbenz]

Was reading a letter in a car mag today from a guy who had a new E Class. He'd left it for a week, tried to start it and no power anywhere, not even to alarm.

He saw his dealer who denied all knowledge of any known fault despite the guy saying he had heard it was a known fault in Europe.

Anybody know anything about this\had any experience of it?

 

[fuzzer]

Nope , we left both out W202 (old c class) and W210 (old E class) and W203 ( new mercedes) models for 3 weeks . Alarm on . came back no problems starting any of them.

If the battery is getting older , the alarm might drain it quicker. Depends on how old the car is . Battery should last 4-5 years.

 

[Kinky]

I've no problems whatsoever with mine - leaving it for ages.

In fact I have to confess how suprised I am how it starts first time perfectly.

K

 

[Steve_Perry]

I've left mine for upto a month with the alarm fully activated and not had a problem. The car started exactly the same as she does if left for one night.

S.

 

[RichardM]

I've left mine for 2 weeks without any problems.

 

[Maff]

The new E and SL have two batteries, one for starting and one for pretty much everything else. The 'aux' battery going flat is a 'normal' occurance, and usualy charges up within 15 mins of use.

It maybe worth doing a search as a few members in the electronics forum have had flat batteries before.

 

[marcos]

Was reading a letter in a car mag today from a guy who had a new E Class. He'd left it for a week, tried to start it and no power anywhere, not even to alarm.

Lucky boy, mine refuses to start after 2 days

 

[lotusmark2]

Slight off topic but saw some fun at the Mazda garage last weekend.
new RX8 had been shunted around the plot a few times and when the new owner came to pick the car up, it had flooded, not a big deal you would have thought.........
No way would it start, they ended up (after 2 hours) replacing the spark plugs with plugs that they had warmed in another car.
When asked what would have happened if it had happened on the "proud new owners" drive the responce was get the car towed and £200 for new plugs.

That lucky chappie with his spanking new car

 

[Paul Grainger]

I had (have) a similar problem with my CLK. I bought a fiesta to use over the winter months - after two weeks of non-use the Merc wouldn't start. Absolutely flat battery.
I did some tests - there is a constant 300mA drain on the battery that reduces to 40mA if the radio fuse is pulled.
I haven't investigated further yet (I have comand, cd changer, TV tuner all off that supply)

Has anyone else had this problem?

PS - perhaps this thread should be moved to electronics?

Paul G

 

[Satch]

Was reading a letter in a car mag today from a guy who had a new E Class. He'd left it for a week, tried to start it and no power anywhere, not even to alarm.

In December my W211 E320Cdi was left untouched by human hand for 8 days in the outdoor car park of an Alpine hotel. This was at an altitdude of 1900m and the nightime temperatures dropped to -22C.

Difficult to get into the thing because of snow & ice, but after a few seconds of only slightly sluggish churning it coughed into life.

So it varies a lot, which possibly may be down to iffy battery quality (they seem to be a lot less robust these days. No idea why) and linked with battery drain. I suppose if MB feel the need to install a backup battery, that indicates that they expect a certain current drain to occur to keep all the electronics alive. Maybe it depends on how many extra electronic gizmos you have fitted. I have none at all.

 

[Steve_Perry]

I had (have) a similar problem with my CLK. I bought a fiesta to use over the winter months - after two weeks of non-use the Merc wouldn't start. Absolutely flat battery.
I did some tests - there is a constant 300mA drain on the battery that reduces to 40mA if the radio fuse is pulled.
I haven't investigated further yet (I have comand, cd changer, TV tuner all off that supply)

Has anyone else had this problem?

PS - perhaps this thread should be moved to electronics?

Paul G

Didn't Craigyb get rid of his comand as it kept flattening his battery within the space of a day or two? I think the fault was traced to a faulty wiring harness for the TV. He's subsequently done a really neat looking PC carputer install.

S.

 

[OGiii]

I was regularly getting a "Battery protection warning" when starting up, but Car would start OK. Having left it for 2 days over the new year it was completely flat and I called out MB who started it and did some basic checks which showed no drain.

Turns out my Tracking system was the problem - at least I asssume it is becuase the firm modified a setting on which makes it go into sleep mode earlier than before and not had the problem since.

 

[craigyb]

Sounds like the same problem I had, but only with command installed.

Turns out it was the TV tuner harness still drawing power into the command system.

As most of you know by now, I got rid of the command and went with a PC.

Battery has been fine since.

Craig

 

[adam1]

It's good to have 2 batteries in the car. One as a backup, but dealer told me that the second one is primarily for the SBC (that funny noise(groan) we keep hearing now and then....had to explain to a friend it wasn't me...he believed me in the end.