Malsor13

Hello everyone. Thanks for your help.

I have a 2001 c240 with roughly 188k miles on it. Replaced the battery back in January but over the summer the battery died for some reason and will only work with a jump start. But problem was the battery didn't recharge and now only works with a jump first. I don't use the car much so just recently brought it in to the dealer thinking it was a warranty issue for a bad battery. Now the dealer is telling me that the battery isn't at fault but it's the instrument cluster and hvac that are drawing energy from the battery and killing it. Obviously the price tag for that repair is a whopping 2 grand which I'm not going to pay. I hope someone here may have some advice or suggestions. Maybe there's another cause or solution to the problem? Thanks

TruTaing

Is your cluster remaining on after you remove the key and lock the doors? I recently had this issue with my car, but the cluster would stay on and drain my battery over night, so I was forced to remove the fuse on my cluster when I parked at night. I did this a few times and it magically reset and fixed itself. Give this a shot. This was the advice I was given from another forum member who went through the same issue. You just have to monitor if the cluster STAYS off after you've locked the car.

Otherwise, this maybe an issue caused by your passenger control module - attempt to unplug the passenger seat sensor from under the seat.

Good luck.

samaritrey

Do you have electric seats? If so unplug the connectors going to the control module they are known to cause this issue and if they are the issue you can add a relay to the power to them and fix it for pocket change. Also as said already lock the car and see if cluster stays on after 30 or so seconds I believe. If it stays one for minutes then obviously that's and issue.

danev6972

Had the same problem. Mine was the teleaid. Don't waste your time guessing like I did Try checking the fuses one by one for battery drain. Plenty on instructions on youtube. Good luck.

Malsor13

Thanks for the tip. I'm getting the car back today as I was out of town for a few days. I'll give it a shot and see what happens

Rabih SABBAH

hello i have the same problem, my Instrument cluster was always on after i lock my car, i searched a lot in some forums and found that if i remove the fuse it will reset it self. i did that and after few days it works. the instrument cluster turn off after i lock my car but the battery remain to die. after that i removed the direct battery wire going to the instrument cluster. the problem was fixed and now the Instrument cluster doesn't turn on only if i turn the engine on, but i must to reprogram the setting in the instrument cluster like the clock and other setting. if there is anything i can do in the instrument cluster to fix this issue, like a diode or resistor or any ic that i can replace? if anyone can help in this issue i will be thankful.