Simple Question
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 353
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From: New York
2001 C240
Simple Question
Hey fellas I just needed a question answered. Is it possible to completely kill the car buy putting the key in the ignition and pressing the open and close buttons together? The reason Iam asking is my uncle was using my car today and it was working fine and now I go to open the car and nothing works all the lights are out the key doesn't open the doors and the key goes no where when putting it in the ignition. Iam not sure what it could be buy my dad said he tried to put some gas in there and when trying to turn on the car he pressed the two buttons and the car turned off. Any comments will be appreciated.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 353
Likes: 0
From: New York
2001 C240
no its not the key the car was not responding at all the lights or nothing was working now I was trying different things and recently I got my battery changed and the dealer did not tighten the wires to the battery terminal the one side is loose and that was the problem .... now i get an esp error message that comes up i have to call up the dealer for that.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,848
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From: Orange County
2005 C Wagon (No snickering please!)
The key will still work to start the car even if the battery is removed. The EIS (electronic ignition system) supplies power to the key magnetically when you insert the key. This allows you to drive if the battries in the key go dead.
Pushing both buttons (lock, and unlock) will not harm anything. There will be no response from the car untill you push one button or the other. Dad and uncle are off the hook. A lose cable on the cars SLI (starting, lighting, and ignition) battery is probably the reason the car "failed to proceed." (It is only ordinary cars that break down.)
Now for some good news, and bad news. First the bad news. A loose battery cable can cause the voltage to stutter (for lack of a better word.) The sudden application and removal of battery voltage can cause large flyback pulses from inductive components in the electrical system. These pulses, though short in duration, can be hundreds of volts in amplitude. The car has a couple of computers that have all the high voltage protection of a rice paper door. They are the front and rear SAM. You may have one that is malfunctioning, hence the ESP warning, or it might just need to be properly "re-synced."
The good news is that Roadside can come and do it. If you just had a battery replaced at a Mercedes dealer they might do it under warranty. Call them and ask, can't hurt. If you ever need a SLI battery replaced, don't pay for labor at the dealer. Call Roadside, they will bring a proper battery, install it, and re-sync the computers, even out of warranty, and charge you only for the battery.
If the dealer is responsible for the loose cable, and a SAM is runined, they should pick up the tab, with free rental.
I hope you have a better day tommorrow.
Pushing both buttons (lock, and unlock) will not harm anything. There will be no response from the car untill you push one button or the other. Dad and uncle are off the hook. A lose cable on the cars SLI (starting, lighting, and ignition) battery is probably the reason the car "failed to proceed." (It is only ordinary cars that break down.)
Now for some good news, and bad news. First the bad news. A loose battery cable can cause the voltage to stutter (for lack of a better word.) The sudden application and removal of battery voltage can cause large flyback pulses from inductive components in the electrical system. These pulses, though short in duration, can be hundreds of volts in amplitude. The car has a couple of computers that have all the high voltage protection of a rice paper door. They are the front and rear SAM. You may have one that is malfunctioning, hence the ESP warning, or it might just need to be properly "re-synced."
The good news is that Roadside can come and do it. If you just had a battery replaced at a Mercedes dealer they might do it under warranty. Call them and ask, can't hurt. If you ever need a SLI battery replaced, don't pay for labor at the dealer. Call Roadside, they will bring a proper battery, install it, and re-sync the computers, even out of warranty, and charge you only for the battery.
If the dealer is responsible for the loose cable, and a SAM is runined, they should pick up the tab, with free rental.
I hope you have a better day tommorrow.
