tusabes

Hi there, i have a 2000 s430, the battery died and I cant get into the trunk or the car (dont have the blade key, i usually just use the remote).

Is there some power point outside the car or some way to get power to this thing to be able to open it?? Please help!!

Do I have to get a towtruck to open the door so I can get to a power point under the hood or inside the car to jump the battery?? Where are the power points to jump this car besides in the trunk?

Would calling MB roadside assistance be of any help?

LAWYER2

call MB roadside assistance they can tell you the best way to proceed. You will probably have to pay for a key to be cut

lammduy

You need to use the metal key to open the trunk.

tusabes

found out it was just a bad remote, not dead car battery,...

anyway Id still like to know how to jumpstart the car from a place OTHER than the battery in the trunk...most cars with trunk batteries have a jumpstart post in the engine compartment or inside the car??

Skylaw

Your S-Class doesn't have that. You need to get into the trunk. And, there can be risk of damage to electronics jump starting it.

The approved solution if you have a bad battery (or a flat tire) is to call MB Roadside Assistance at 800-222-0100 (in the U.S.). For the cost of the battery, they will come to your location and replace it for you. There is no service charge, no labor charge, and the service is good for as long as the car is on the road. Two days ago I had a bad battery replaced this way, at my home, in my '78 450SL. I am not the first owner (think I'm the third), and the car is about 28 years past warranty expiration; total cost was $154 for the new battery (S-Class batteries are much more expensive) - but no other charges. The price of the MB-branded battery, by the way, was equal to or less than any other brand of battery that was made for my car.

Roadside Assistance should be able to get into the trunk using your metal key - which simply switches the latch onto or off of the central locking system.

tusabes

thanks Skylaw... so the sclass battery costs more than the SL battery>? Arent they both the same long battery?

Fortunately I dont need one yet

Skylaw

They may be in the same size group (49) but not the same battery. Because my '05 is showing signs of a weakening battery, I priced those too - at around $289.

BTW - one sign of a weakening battery is strange electronic "glitches" popping up that go away after shutdown and restart, or actuating a switch. While driving on a 400 mile trip recently, I got an "ESP" warning light after turning up the volume on my radio (drawing more power). I stopped, shut down, re-started, and the light went out and stayed out without my touching the ESP switch on the dashboard. Later in the trip, waiting for passengers, I shut down the car, leaving the music on. The volume decreased slightly - not a lot, but noticeably. It came back up when I re-started. Not much doubt - that battery is beginning to go (it is 5 years old and I drive only a few days each week - a battery killer, as you'll be able to tell from the articles below).

The MB battery for the SL is lead-acid, with a silver/calcium coating on the plates. The MB S-Class battery, I am told, is an Absorptive Glass Mat (AGM) design. I don't know if it has spiral-wound plates.

I found http://batterystuff.com/knowledge-ba...=article&id=11 to be helpful in discussing battery technologies. http://batterystuff.com/knowledge-ba...n=article&id=5 gives a quick rundown on AGM vs Gel batteries. This article is also excellent, and explains the considerations in changing from one battery technology to another in your car: http://landiss.com/battery.htm - mainly, be sure your charging system is matched to the battery!

My dealer parts guy assured me that MB batteries are manufactured by MB in Germany. He said, however, that MB uses Interstate brand distributors to store and distribute batteries to MB dealers in the U.S. I believe that's a fable. Johnson Controls manufactures Interstate batteries (in fact, in the U.S. there are only 2 manufacturers - Johnson Controls and Exide - who make all the battery brands sold here). Johnson Controls also wholly owns Interstate, and manufactures batteries under the seller's specifications for other brands. My MB-branded battery is identical in appearance to an Interstate battery with the same CCA rating and size - except it has an MB sticker and part number. I am sure it was made by Johnson Controls for MB - whether in Germany or the U.S. - and is indeed sold to MB dealerships through Interstate Battery distributors. I would not have hesitated to install an Interstate branded battery in my SL. However, the price difference was zip, and MB Roadside Assistance made the whole proposition very attractive.

tusabes

thanks your info is awesome! I think i will stick with an $89 Autozone special when i need one though

chibenz

I had a bad battery and called MB road side assistance, they showed up checked the battery and said that battery is fine but they did quote me almost $200 for a new one. I listened to them thinking battery is fine and it could be something else but guess what after few days i got stranded because of the battery and car got into limp mode.Somehow I managed to make it home in second gear,replaced the battery myself but car did not come out of limp mode. Fianlly called dealer to reset the code and found out that i have to pay $190 just for diagnostic fee. So make sure take care of the weak battery before getting into any other mess.

Skylaw

Yes - many fault codes can only be cleared with a visit to a dealer. My '78 doesn't throw many, however.

There is a lot more to checking a battery than checking its momentary voltage. See post #3 at http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w220...ttery-die.html for good info. It's a shame your roadside assist guy didn't use these steps.

It does pay to replace a weak battery sooner rather than later, as your experience shows.

Skylaw

And as long as it matches your charging system output, and has an adequate CCA rating, you should be just fine. With a trunk-mounted battery, you'll want it to be one of the "maintenance free" designs as well.

maliktoronto

I had the same problem. took me a while to figure out how to open the trunk if your battery is dead. this model mercedes does not have jump ports under the hood. if you keep trying diffrent stuff the car will go in safety mode and will not open the trunk even if you start the car. i tried everything posted online and only thing, the last option worked. jump start your car. how i did that when there are no jump ports?
1) under the front passanger side dash where you would have your feet is the carpet right? you can actually pull the carpet back from the top and you will see styrofoam insulation, behind the insulation there is an aluminum plate, unscrew the 3-4 bolts and you will get the positive terminal..... hook it up and start your car..... in my experience thats the only way to start your car... my trunk still did not open but atleast i started the car... now how to open the trunk once the car is started????
2) under the rear right passanger there is a floor light behind which is present the fuse box of the trunk, take the fuse out, i belive it is a 20 amp yellow fuse. take it out for about 5 mins, put it back in and then try to open the trunk.... trunk will then open....
this is what i did as my vallet key wasnt even working to open the trunk, i tried WD40 and a whole lot of other things, nothing worked, i guess this was the last option... hope this helps....

tusabes

hehe, I just had to pull the carpet back so I know exactly what you are talking about... the aluminum plate with the styrooam on top. Was pretty surprised to see that!

next time I will go there for the positive terminal.

maliktoronto

i was amazed when i saw it
bottom line is i wanted to put it out there so if anyone else has problems they could look it up!
i tried everything else and nothing worked except this !!!

tower

Is there any reason why you couldn't put the positive lead to the starter solenoid (not the starter side) when trying to power up the car? I'll admit to not trying it, but it might prove easier then dismantling the passenger side rug area. Is this connection point capable of handling starting the vehicle current loads?

I make it a point to ensure my blade key opens the door/trunk because of this exact concern. A can of lock lube is cheap insurance once a year to make sure this lock is kept free.

92300se

Good info! My battery died and the lock cylinder on the trunk isn't working. I got a battery charger hooked up to the port on the passenger side floor right now. Hopefully I can pop the trunk open after a while.

serkany

I have the some dead battery and unopened trunk problem. I am about to jump start from the cable under the passenger seat carpet... The question is how safe is this? Is if possible to damage kinda electrical parts of the 2003 S500 with this technique?
And is there a way you put the pictures of that place and/or information of how to and which cables should I use to jump start. Thank you in advance.

BryanW203

i would not jump start from the passenger foot well, just apply power so you can open the trunk, then jump from the battery!

tusabes

yeah do not jump start it using the passenger seat power point.

just connect a portable jump pack , then pop the trunk.

Its still not a good idea to jump start it even if you connect the cables directly to the battery. People have FRIED their ECUs doing it.

The safest way to charge the battery at that point is to take out the battery and charge it on a charger, then reinstall it

Dub_Ya

Fought with the trunk for well over a day with the exact same problem. And finally pulled out the damn manual. Turns out 2 things were wrong. 1) The fuse (rear passenger seat) was blown quick fix. 2) Turns out the entire time I was putting the key in the cylinder I was pushing and turning at the same time. Ended up cutting my fingers. But surprise surprise turning left and then pushing trunk opened right up, and was able to replace the battery

ronhankerson

I have a 2001 S 430 can't get into truck to charge battery valet key will not pop the
trunk going to try your method of charging the positive terminal under the dash on passenger side my question is what do I use to ground with?

S600Keith

Anything metal on the car will do. There will be a few places under the foot well after you remove the carpet and cover to place the negative near the positive terminal. Just don't do what Danutcha did on his and reverse the terminals and burn up the electrical system.

Keith

S600Keith

Would they still come to assist with a 12 y/o car? Isn't there a limit to how long they will come to your aid?

wallyp

If you spend $150 on service at a dealership, you will get two years (I think that it is two - might be one) of roadside assistance. Diagnostic cost doesn't count - darn!

Busta Riles

I let my car sit for 10 days in my garage without driving it...the battery was apparently weak. When i opened the door, the dash didn't even light up.

I think "no big deal. I'll just use the key to pop the trunk" NOPE...the lock cylinder is screwed too.

There is a power feed to the trunk that is easier than the footwell method. Fuse #42 in the under-hood fuse box runs right to the trunk. Remove the 20amp fuse and use a booster pack to send some power into the car. DO NOT TRY TO START THE ENGINE using this method! Just use it to pop the trunk and boost from the battery afterwards. Took me under a minute to get my car going using this method.