2004-C230

I have a 2004 C230 (not the .5) that I bought, literally, four days ago.

On day 2 of the ownership, when I turned the ignition early morning it displayed an error message in red "Battery/Alternator Visit Workshop". The error disappeared when I started the car. The error did not appear on multiple rides in the car throughout the day.

On day 3 ... the error message did not show up in the morning. But it did when I turned the ignition on the way to lunch. I drove the car to the nearest AutoZone. They checked the battery and it registered a full charge. The error message did not appear for the rest of the day.

On day 4 (today) ... I turned the ignition in the morning ... and it gave multiple error messages ... Battery/Alternator ... Restraint System Service etc. etc. It settled on the Battery/Alternator error. This time the error stayed on when I started the car. About 10 minutes into the ride, the SRS indicator (bottom right corner) came on. It stayed on for 5 seconds and then the SRS indicator and the Battery/Alternator indicator disappeared. Everything back to normal for the rest of the ride to work.

Any suggestions. I did not expect to be spending on repairs this early.

mannysalsero

sounds like you have a faulty alternator...Pull the codes and have it checked.

pcy

+1. When you were at the AutoZone, you should've asked them to test the alternator as well. If you have a Digital Multimeter, test the voltage across the battery terminals while the car is running. It should read 14.X volts.
Below 14V reading means either the voltage regulator or the alternator itself is going south.

LILBENZ230

You can also use Dyno Mode to check the voltage with the car running. It'll likely be in the 13.5 range while at idle. My car charges at 14.1-14.2v while in motion, 13.5-13.6 at idle. It indeed sounds like a bad alternator.

Boom vang

reading through all the posts seems that us with 2004's all of a sudden are having the Batt/Alter Visit Workshop message.

My voltages checkout as per specs (12.9/13.9/14.22 - off/idle/@2000rpm) and have a brand new OEM battery. So do I live with the annoying pop up messages or spend the $300 to make it go away. Thinking that it must be some isolated diode in that crappy Valeo V-R. I buy a Made in Germany car and all the items that go south are Made in France.

WHY?? if I wanted Made in France car I would have bought a Renault or Peugeot

2004-C230

I am beginning to wonder if cold temperature has any bearing on this odd behavior. Its now sunny and slightly warmer and I don't see any errors. I rode it around and made multiple stops ... no problems.

Boom vang

I noticed the same thing and thought that I was going nuts as it really does not make sense. I get the errors including COOLENT Malfunction when it is really cold -10c. After driving around and restarting after a short stop at the mall the errors do not show up for the remainder of the trip. But sure enough the next day when it is 0c or lower the errors are back again

bigspender101

Im thinking the same thing about the cold weather. I think these cars are not built for super cold weather...Go figure! I guess what car is, really????

manny_fresh

+1 for the cold i was gone up north to the cottage and the car was outside in the cold and was not touched for 24hrs and this problem started for me once car was warm it was fine but i also recommend changing the voltage regulator for more peace of mind

BUT is the problemm tht all VR's malfunction in the cold?

Xhale707

When you see all those errors does the car start normally? or is it sluggish and does it have trouble starting?

It seems like the battery is being drained by something.

What you need to do is check the volts of the battery in the morning before you start the car. Write that down

Start the car check the volts again and write them down


Also check how old the battery is.

manny_fresh

Dont wanna jinx myself but the other day i was having this problem again usually my solution was to warm up the car even if alternator isnt working properly once warm turn the car off and jumpstart it and BAM fine

butttt this time that didnt work so after several attempts to fix this problem i got aggitated since i was getting late for work i took a big ol' wrench and not violently but not lightly either tapped the alternator and yes the warning did go away

pcy

tapping (or hitting) an alternator does not fix/solve anything.

Huh? To me it doesn't make sense to start the car, warm up the car, turn off the car, and then jump start the car. What does this sequence solve? Rather than this magician stuff, have the battery and alternator LOAD-TESTED.