housew

My new to me 2000 e55 now will not crank.

I've had on the road ~3 weeks and 1k miles, never had a starting problem until this Monday morning. I went to start it and it clicked. I put a jumper pack on the jump terminals under the hood and she fired right up. It was fine for the rest of the day (lunch break errands, drive home).
The next morning (yesterday) I checked the battery with my charger and it was 70%, I charged it since I was already there, statted great.on lunch break It didn't start (clicked) and I jumped it, but started right up after lunch, didn't start after work and needed a jump again.

I drove to a parts store, removed the battery, and had them test it. It tested good. I threw it back in, started,the car 3x in a row without issue, went to a store a mile away and it wouldn't start after. I jumped it, drove back to the store and replaced the battery.

After replacement it started fine, went to a friends house for a couple hours,and started fine there too.

Driving home about 35 miles into a 40 mile drive all (or most) of the dash lights flash and the motor turns off
I coast to local fire station and attempt to restart. Nothing happens, no click, no dimming of lights, nothing.

Other interesting findings that may help figure it out:
1) key still locks / unlocks doors just fine
2) my scan tool (which could always previously read codes) no longer can "no link"
3) battery is fully charged ( trickled on home charger after the event)
4) I only have 1 key so can't try a different one

housew

I'm thinking it's ignition related due to the scan tool not connecting, but could be a fuse/ relay in that circut.

Neutral safety switch? I did try to start it in neutral and it didn't change anything.

Cps? Shouldn't cause no crank

Key itself? Any idea what a key costs? I assume I need to get it from the stealership?

housew

I did search, I didnt find any others where the car shut off mid drive.

What's the immobilizer? Could that be an issue? Is it a real thing?

illest

I had something similar and it was one of the cables to the battery had a loose connection (not at the terminal). In the back passengers seat there is a little hole near the floor where you can access the negative battery cable the bolt in there was loose so the car would only start some of the time.

housew

I'll check it. Seems simple enough. I would think if that were the issue it would at least try though. Or arc and the lights would dim or stay off after.

I'll check either way, I'll take all the help / suggestions I can get.

housew

ive been reading about the key / EIS. It seems if the coil in the key goes the key won't turn in the lock at all correct? My key goes in no problem, turns to position 1 and 2 no problem, all lights come on, fans etc, and when I go to position 3 / start position nothing happens.


If the turning of the key means the key coil / EIS are functioning that's great, I can move on downstream to find the problem. Anyone have experience with a faulty key coil that can verify?

housew

So I was away on business and now am home, still no crank.

Some things I checked today....
1) battery connections, there were some smaller wires on the + terminals went really tight but are now. Not a connection I touched during replacement.
2) battery voltage, which was great at 12.7
3) every fuse I could find (engine bay, under rear seat, inside drivers door in dash.
4) ESS function:
A) it does not lock the column ever as far as I can tell, I can always turn the wheel even with the key out and no unlocking noise is made. I'm guessing someone's been in there before
B) all lights / radio still turn on and off with the key appropriately
C) still "no link" when I try to read the codes with my crapy actron reader. BUT it read and cleared codes prior to that no problem. It used to read codes with the key on and "no link" with the key off

Is the same feature that allows the key to turn the same that unlocks the column? So if the PO disabled that the EIS could be not recognizing the key but the key still turn? I probably need an EIS either way, but it was still weird how it happened.

housew

https://mbworld.org/forums/attachments/c-class-w203/216613d1313930326-key-unlocks-doors-but-wont-start-car-inductive-key-process.jpg

What about this?

With key in pos 2 my electric cooling fans are on. Car is bone cold since it hasn't started in 5 days so maybe my ect (engine coolant temp sensor) is wonky?

housew

so I played with the ESL (electronic steering lock) since it wasn't locking the steering wheel.


I found the fuse in the under the hood panel (fuse 9) and pulled it. With the fuse pulled I could not turn the key in the ignition at all. With the fuse back in I can turn the key to all positions.


What I think this tells me is that my EIS, ESL, and probably even the ECU if it cares, likes my key and thinks its fine.


So now I'm going to focus on other parts of the starting circuit.
ECU, coolant temp sensor, neutral safety switch, relays....


my gear range selector shows up on the display P,R,N,D,4,3,2,1. So it that knows what gear its in I'd doubt I have a neutral safety switch issue.


still doesn't explain my "no link" issue though

housew

Looks like this guy had a VERY similar issue, never figured it out, and sold the thing. Not what I'm looking forward to.


http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/sh...=105624&page=2


does the fan on mean the ECU is bad? If I knew where the ECU was I could find it and see if the connections to it are decent.


My fans are not on full blast by any means, but they are on when the key is in position 2 and the motor isn't running.


fun fun, I really only enjoyed the car for ~3 days in my month and a half of ownership. Its been broken most of the time

housew

I found das problem.











now WTF do I do. I'm guessing that's not repairable and replacing an ECU on a MB is sure to be a peach. What are my options?

housew

also why did it happen? something I did during the battery swap? why did it work for 3 starts and 45 miles before shutting off?

housew

anyone know what the different circuits of the ECU are?


any idea what circuit the burnt component(s) are in so I can test the other parts to make sure it doesn't happen again?


Any idea where this information could be found?

bbirdwell

There are a few companies that can provide you a replacement ECU. You will need to confirm what it is external to the ECU that shorted; it is possible the multiple jumps of the battery caused the failure.

www.ecmoutlet.com

www.beckmantechnologies.com

www.mercedesecm.com

The dealer can provide one but expect $1600 or more; different ECU based on VIN numbers.

PM me your email address.

housew

so I sent my ECU out to cartech electronics LTD in the UK. They basically took a different used unit and re-programed it to my car using some of the chips from my old ECU and sent it back for $500. Not super cheap but it got it done.


I installed it last night and the car started right up. I have it on a car trailer so its easier to move around so i'll take it off the trailer tonight and give it a real test drive.


I'm still concerned about why it happened. I've been reading and a bad ECU can cause battery drain (which I had), and jump starting (which I need to do due to battery drain) can cause a bad ECU. but something had to go first.

Anyone have an idea of how to test the coils? Seems most ECU failures on these gems come from jump starting OR coils so if I can rule them both out I'd feel better about it.

Plutoe

What position was the key in before\while the jump cables were attached??

housew

I'm 99% sure now that you want it to be out of the ignition entirely, and I do believe it was. BUT I did jumpstart it several times and chances are It might have been in position one or two once.


I didn't know to pay attention to that, really hasn't been a concern on any of my other whips.


If they normally fail being hooked up with the key on theres a good chance I did that.

Plutoe

Without an epiphany, you may have finely found the answer to your 11_11-15 post!!

housew

I think you're right. I've returned it to daily driver status and have several commutes under its belt already and no issues at all. Totally back in love with the car.