Hey all,

While idling at a red light tonight, my engine suddenly died and now my car won’t start.

Battery seems fine, lights and windows work, radio works, tried jumping it to no avail.

I don’t think it’s the ESL either — the steering comes on and I’m not getting the “take key from ignition” notice.

I don’t hear any clicking or noise at all when trying to turn the ignition switch. It’s like it’s not even trying to turn over.

What do you guys think? Blown fuse? Bad sensor somewhere? Faulty starter? I read somewhere that it could even be bad gas... I had just put a little gas in prior to it dying. Would it be worth it to buy a gallon and see if that helps?

Thanks so much!

 

If the starter does not wind over adding extra fuel to the tank will not help it.
I think you need to get the scanner hocked up see what fault codes there are.

 

If you drive an automatic and it shut off on its own that would probably be a faulty fuel injector

 

Check for error codes. I had this happen on my infiniti when the starter was getting stuck. It wouldn't engage to crank. There was no clicking noise.

 

Sorry for the noob-ish question, but would one of those cheapie ODB2 scanners off Amazon suffice? I'm definitely pinching pennies right now lmao.

Also, kind of surprising, but I'm not getting a CEL. Would that have any significance here?

 

Quick update:

- OBD2 scanner gives no trouble codes or anything unusual

- Battery is a genuine MB part bought new in April this year. In the engineering menu, it says 11.7 V — it was at 12.0 a few days ago when the engine died. I took it to AutoZone, they said it was totally fine. Should I take their word for it?

I'm kind of terrified of this being the ESL... but again, no "take key from ignition" notice (unless I open the door with the key in), and the steering wheel can be turned (although pretty difficult) if I turn the power on. Is there any way I can test the starter or check for a faulty fuel injector?

Thanks guys

 

Hi,
To test the starter:
Jack up car
Remove the under tray
Use a 12V test light to check that power is supplied to the starter solenoid (small wire) when cranking (or key turned to the cranking position).

What you should see is if the starter has failed is the test light light up and engine not crank over.
If your test light does not light up when key in the crank position, test the test light to make sure it works if all good then there is some sort of electrical problem up stream from the starter.

Ps- charge up the battery anyway if you dont have a charger buy a Ctek 5 amp one.

 

11.7V is a very dead battery. Charge it and retry