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Mercedes A150 W169 Not Starting?

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Bhavick28

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May 31, 2017
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71
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Mercedes
Hi,

I tried starting my car yesterday after leaving it parked up for a couple of hours and the car was completely dead by that i mean i insert the key in and you hear a slight clicking sound but the engine doesn't turn over at all but all the lights on the dashboard are on. The starter motor was changed last year too. The car bump starts fine and it's a manual.

This has been an on going issue for sometime now, periodically the car use to stop starting but if i left the key out for a few minutes and then put it back it and then tried the car it would start fine.


Any ideas of what this could be please?
 
Well you have to check the battery,there should be around 12.5 v in the battery and when you start the car it should go to around 14v for a short time,may sure all the connections to the starter are tight and the battery earth to the body is good.
 
A few years ago my car did that for a couple of days, but only when engine was hot - took it right away to a trusted indie, replaced the starter motor with OEM part - problem gone.
 
GLK said:
A few years ago my car did that for a couple of days, but only when engine was hot - took it right away to a trusted indie, replaced the starter motor with OEM part - problem gone.
Click to expand...

How much were you charged for a replacement starter and was it a big job? I've heard the engine needs to dropped from the bottom?
 
Is there a way you can test the starter motor to see if if needs replacing?
 
Doesn't anyone like to help on this forum or is it a load of bo**ocks???
 
Doubt with comments like that you are likely to get anyone making an effort !
 
Have you looked at Bert Rowe's A class help / forum - brilliant and very detailed information and how to sort out problems, I had a 2002 A210 and it was a very good source of info for my local garage who worked on it
 
If your starter was replaced just last year , it is probably still under warranty. It is worth going back to the same place and asking them to fix it ; if the new starter has failed within a year , they should fix it at no cost to you .

If you need a new battery or something else , it will cost you whatever anyway .
 
Bhavick28 said:
yeah true but it takes comments like that to get any kind of reaction from anyone!
Click to expand...
Patience is a virtue . Anyway I have reported your inappropriate comment to moderators .



Please remember you are asking other members , not all of whom will run the same car as you , and not all of whom are technically knowledgeable, for assistance .

If you need your car fixed urgently, take it to a garage .

It is nice to be nice , especially when you are asking for help .
 
Hi,

Apologies for my rude language in my above post i was just angry, this car has been a money pit already, last time the timing chain tensioner needed replacing which cost an arm and a leg and there's a lot of other minor little faults here and there too however that was no excuse for the way i cursed on the forum so please accept my apologies. Just a little update i bump started the car today and took it for a little drive and not the turns over but it's very sluggish and it feels like the car has no power. Do you guys still reckon it's the starter, how easy is it to replace and can it be done from over the top or does part of the sub frame need to be dropped for access?

Thanks
 
Hi,
It would be useful to know the year of your 169, and what model number perhaps an A150 ? and when the battery was last replaced. How long have you owned this and what mileage is on it.
As per Smart 320.... Lofty's website is invaluable reading. Click on this .... bert Rowe, Lofty's homepage. W169 A-class Index page W169 components /repairs /service,
If it is a petrol then rear of engine needs to be lowered to get at the starter, if you have small hands it can be done from the top after removing lots of bits. there is some useful info here .... Replacing the starter motor without dropping the engine
I would find a friend with a good battery and try a new battery first before considering changing the starter. Battery is under the drivers side floor and easy access. Get yourself a meter so you can check the charging of the battery. As mentioned it needs to be up to 14 volts.
My o/h has an A150 and it has been pretty reliable for the last 100.000 miles apart from a few hiccups .

Steve.

Add .../.noticed afterwards title says A150 duh!!
 
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Bhavick28 said:
Hi,

Apologies for my rude language in my above post i was just angry, this car has been a money pit already, last time the timing chain tensioner needed replacing which cost an arm and a leg and there's a lot of other minor little faults here and there too however that was no excuse for the way i cursed on the forum so please accept my apologies. Just a little update i bump started the car today and took it for a little drive and not the turns over but it's very sluggish and it feels like the car has no power. Do you guys still reckon it's the starter, how easy is it to replace and can it be done from over the top or does part of the sub frame need to be dropped for access?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I also have a W169.

When you say other faults what are they may be a clue to your issue or underlying electrical issue, I too had a lot of minor issues and car would not start, finally traced it back to a rear tailgate button that was causing lock to hang and drain battery.

When my battery went low, even though I could jump start car and battery was only 2 years old it produced all kinds of errors in car which can distract from the real issue

If was me I would start with basic electrical checks before spending anymore money

Tezz
 
Just a little update guys we took the car back to the garage that originally replaced the starter motor last year in November. The garage rang my dad up (it's his car) and they told him that waters been leaking down on to the starter motor and it's damaged it. From what my Dad told me briefly the garage said its coming from near the windscreen wipers and the word "scuttle" was used. They also claim that this is common problem on A150's however i am growing more and more skeptical about what this garage is telling us. Does anybody know what these guys are talking about?

The garage did say that it's an intermittent fault with the starter motor as sometimes the car starts fine however it is a bit sluggish before it starts up and sometimes the cars completely dead and it doesn't even turn over.

In response to what another user above asked about what other minor faults we have, one of them is when we fill up the car with petrol the needle doesn't always move. Recently the temperature gauge is going above 80 so we have to switch the fans on to dissipate some of the heat and then the temperature goes back down.

Our car is a 55 plate, A150 manual in case anyone's wondering.

Thanks Guys
 
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So garage are saying new starter motor lasted 8 months?

Yes you do have to keep the drains clear on scuttle and pollen filter box, usually effects heater or fills battery box full of water first, wet carpets ect and if left can get into electrics.

When you took car back did they run diagnostics on car using MB approved Star system?

So you have at least 3 electrical issues, are there anymore ?

Im not saying its not starter, but if it was me I would investigate all possibilities starting with simple checks on electrical systems, if anything is draining battery it won't turn starter once reaches a certain point. next time it don't start check battery voltage. when my battery go low caused issues all over the place on car

I would look at all earth and battery leads on car and engine

If you find a good independent MB INDI near you with star machine I would start there before replacing parts, def try and find a INDI that's specialist in MBs

as others have posted above, check out battery and electrics first, they may have replaced starter and even battery and never got to bottom of real issue.

when I was using car every day drain was low nought not to really stop car starting once covid came around and I was only using once a week then the problem became more apparent.


Tezz
 
I definitely want to check and make sure that the drains are clear on the scuttle first, what's the correct way of checking it please? Also is there anything in specific i should look out for when checking the pollen filter box? I think your right getting the car scanned with a star system is the best way to go as that would show us any fault codes and help us narrow down what could be causing this issue. Does anyone know of any good garages around the Oadby to Leicester area that would be willing to scan my car for any faults please?

The garage are saying that the starter motor has become damaged because water has been leaking down on to it from blockages in the scuttle, not sure how true that is as thegarage we have been dealing with is turning in to a nightmare so i am very skeptical about trusting anything they say at this point!

Thanks for your help on this so far i appreciate it.
 
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There is loads of how Toos on the W169 hear.

Lofty's homepage. A-class info, Mercedes Benz 'A' Class W168 W169, Holidays in Scotland, Home Wine making, Kittens to Cats', Solar panels PV, Canada Rockies, Orchids, .Alaska 2015, Solar Thermal, How to look after you Orchid plants,

Lofty's Homepage, Mercedes 'A' Class, Components, servicing, DIY , General information, Mechanical, Electrical, Hundreds of informative Photographs, Home Wine Making, House plants Orchids, Orchids, Benefits from Solar energy Holidays Canada & Scotland
www.aclassinfo.co.uk

also look at the W168 pages as well as a lot of the stuff is same or very similar on both cars,

Take a bit of time to have a read up on car.

This is page on drain holes and filter box, very common issue on Aclass

Bert Rowe, Lofty's homepage. A-class info W169, Activated carbon filter, Location Replace,

Lofty's Homepage, Mercedes-benz W169 'A' Class, Air conditioning Crbon filter replacement
www.aclassinfo.co.uk

Have you checked battery box for water and voltage when not starting ?

You can get a cheap multi meter of ebay, if you are going to look for a drain on battery a cheap clamp meter will be usefull.

But buy far getting car onto some sort of diagnostics best bet or find some one local with an Icarsoft


beware lot of fake Icarsofts out there for sale


Also if garage are saying is common issue on all A classes they would have cleaned it all out before fitting new starter ?

Tezz
 
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