neek

Hi guys,

I took out and reconnected the battery, all of a sudden the car won't start? Lights are working no heater, window nothing and of-course the steering is locked.

To be exact, and correct me if I'm wrong. If this is a EIS issue, the key shouldn't be able to turn all the way?

Did I shorten some connections? Also it's not the starter fuse (6,7,9,27), all them are still good

Plutoe

Was the key in the EIS when you were paying around and you disconnected and connected the battery??

IGB

Do the dash warning lights come on when you turn the key to position 2? If yes then EIS is fine... If not and assuming this is accompanied by a dash message stating "Please Remove Key" (or words to that effect)... Then it may be EIS....

BUT, I would still suspect its your battery terminals... Hopefully you have a Battery Wire & Terminal brush... clean up your battery terminal and post, reconnect and tighten your battery terminals and try starting again...

neek

No, I don't think so.

neek

I've reading throughout this forum and it seems like this a normal thing for this class.
As for you question, when in position 2 nothing comes on and yes a message "Please remove your key from ignition" appears.

Another thing I'm wondering, after this is fixed. Is it something that can occur again?

This happened right after I disconnected the battery, which is stupid from my point of view. If ever I need to replace the battery, there's a chance that this will happen?

IGB

Define "normal"!

Because to me, normal would mean "expected", "ordinary"... Normal could also mean that "every C-class is expected to have"... and at least this far, this is far from the truth.

I posted about this in another related thread although I don't particularly remember the model years in question but I do think it was the 2008 thru the 2011 models, that Mercedes Benz sold in excess of 215,000 c-class vehicles during that time period. Now.... If we were to count the documented cases where someone filing a complaint with the NHTSA and/or posting about it on here or on another forum, I highly doubt that number will exceed 250 ESL/EIS failures. We an then calculate a failure rate of 250/215,000 = 0.00116 Or 0.116%.

I realize that to some, those numbers (particularly the 250 documented failures) aren't representative of the doom and gloom this means to them, so go ahead... Lets assume it is double the 250, i.e. 500... This would make the failure rate a whopping 0.00232 which equals 0.232%.

Still not enough? ... quadruple the 250... resulting in 1000 cases. 1000/215,000 = 0.00465 or 0.465%

Honestly, for all intents and purposes, a product whose failure rate is 0.4% is, by any measure, pretty reliable.

And so with regards to your describing this issue as "normal'? I think you are way off... The phrase I prefer to use Is; "this is not a common issue, its a "known issue"...

This means it isn't identifying your key which, potentially, can be ESL/EIS related... But it could also be caused by a bad/defective key.

If you really need someone to asnwer that for you, then yes, just like any other product out there, it does have the potential to fail... I don't know about "again", though... I mean, it sounds as if you are yet to have your cat diagnosed, and yet you are already certain about it being ESL/EIS related and are worried about it hepenning a second time!

Aside form a few members swearing that ESL/EIS is related tl a voltage drop, there is no evidence that the two are related in any way. This is just as speculative as the suggestion made by some that the DC Motor inside ESL, is cheap, small and desiged to fail... Or those have offered that the gears inside ESL need to be lubricated.

I don't know what the answers are. I try to not let the things rhat I cannot control, control me. At the present time, ESL failure is a mystery... And to sit here worrying about what will happen, when will it happen or why....

Good luck with your car problem... Let us know how it turns out.

neek

Okay, maybe normal isn't the right word, my bad.
I called MB for a quote, "under 2k" to fix everything (ESL/EIS)....so I Kijiji this and found a guy who can do it for $800(parts/labour).
Although going to MB might be a better choice, warranty?

btw. thanks for the quick reply

IGB

If you call a dealer and ask them to give you a quote on replacing ESL & EIS, guess what? They are going to give you a quote for replacing ESL & EIS...

Point is, you don't know what the actual reason it will not start. You don't know whether it is ESL alone, EIS alone or both EIS AND ESL. And the advantage of going to the dealer is that we know they have the proper equipment to not only properly diagnose these particular issues, but the proper equipment to recode and reprogram these replacement parts to work together.

So to assume that it is going to cost you $2,000 to repair, you'e not doing yourself any favors...

Kijiji? Seriously!!!!

Anyways... Its approximately $800 for parts, assuming it is both ESL & EIS... So chances are, this guy is not doing any OEM parts replacement. Instead, he is probably using emulators to mimic the functionality of EIS or ESL or both which really places this into s different category of discussion that I would care to avoid.

Besides, if this guy does not have a DAS XENTRY diagnostic system, then he is not properly diagnosing what the problem is nor is he capable of programming EIS or coding ESL if either needs to be replaced.

Good luck!

IGB

I am not really sure how that could negatively impact EIS/ESL performance or cause either to fail.

Think about this: you cannot jump start a car without having the key in EIS... And to assume that every jump start could cause EIS failure, we'd all be in deep trouble!

Carsy

But you can have the key completely removed when you connect the jumper leads to the receiver car terminals. That is when the initial voltage spike occurs.

Then insert the key & start.

As an aside in the 203 model a lot of SAMs were fried by jump starting.

IGB

Yes, you can have the key removed when connecting battery terminals, but how often does it really happen that way?

I mean, "remove key from ignition before connecting battery" is not a step that is part of any jump starting procedure. Or is It?

And yet there are no documented cases, no direct connection of EIS failing as a result of jump starting. Is there? Not for W203 models, nor for W204 models.

Besides, removing the key from EIS Does not really disconnect EIS from the car's electrical sysyem. It only removes the key. So how is removing the key going to protect EIS from that "voltage spike" you mentioned?

And by the way, that "voltage spike" you mentioned, its going to occur whether you are jump starting, connecting a replacement battery or even when battery first meets car at the factory.*

There is no denying that jump starting a battery is a huge risk that subjects any and all electronic parts in a vehicle to potential damage. But to assume or suggest a direct connection to EIS failure... is a bit of a stretch under the circumstances!

Carsy

My Friend, I just made 2 statements ,neither mentioned EIS failure.

I just pointed out to you that the key can be removed when connecting an external battery source.

You are being very defensive.

IGB

Defensive?

I thought this was a discussion forum. I offered an opinion... You countered, I elaborated as to why your two statements did not invalidate my opinion.

If that makes me defensive, so be it!

Carsy

You must be a lawyer