Ultraman

My 08 ML350 replaced a brand new Bosch battery including the auxiliary battery about a month ago. After a few week, the car could not start and I took it to a garage, they found out the alternator was not charging. The new alternator was replaced last week but yesterday, the car could not start again.

The guy from the garage told me that it may the hid kit draining the battery but I already disconnected after they replaced the new alternator. I took it back to the garage this morning, and the guy from the garage told me that the draining issue found out "maybe" the rear tail lights.

I was wondering the rear light bulbs already burnt out, how could the tail lamps were draining the battery.

Anyone knows why the battery keep draining if nothing is turn on when the car is parked? I have no alarm installed in the car.

Please help, thanks.

clvincent

on my GL the red button you push to close the tailgate had a short and was draining

took some time to track it down

they went through and pulled each fuse to see if it would stop the drain

at first they thought it was some other kind of electrical assembly that controls the hatch but replaced that part and it was still draining
pulled that switch and figured out that was the problem

Ultraman

Unfortunately, the car has no factory warranty anymore. If the garage needs to test each fuse individually, the cost of diagnosis will be rocket expensive.

clvincent

yes it does take an hour or so of diagnositics

but it is not that hard, you could do it i think

Ultraman

The car was repaired yesterday. The guy from the garage said that the drain issue was due to the cross-wiring from the headlights (no idea what he was talking about).

I unplugged the light bulbs sockets before taking the car to the garage and I assume there should not be any electricity running from the headlight wires.

The guys said that even the sockets were unplugged, the battery would still drain due to the cross-wiring of the headlight wiring (before the sockets' portion).

clvincent

glad it is fixed

there can be lots of battery draws on these cars and finding them is a pain

Ultraman

Thanks.

Hopefully, it is the main cause of the battery drain that they have found out and the car can survive for more than a couple of years.

I already spent more than $500 for the diagnosis due to this problem

chukwuka nwilo

I have a similar problem.. I think the tail gate is closing fine but some times it shows me on the dashboard that my tailgate is opened but my mechanic said it seems to be coming from the rear cam what should I do

chukwuka nwilo

I have a similar problem.. I think the tail gate is closing fine but some times it shows me on the dashboard that my tailgate is opened but my mechanic said it seems to be coming from the rear cam what should I do

clvincent

through all of my issues with the rear tailgate i never got a light saying it was open, not sure what to tell you

maybe it just needs adjusting....