jturkel

i've been sick and havent gotten around to changing out the alternator yet, even though it is sitting in a box next to the car.

oddly enough, i havent had that undervoltage consumer defective error message for over a week until today. i think i'll get around to it this weekend

jturkel

OK!!!!!!!!!!!!

new alternator in! HOWEVER

HOWEVER

problem is NOT solved. got under voltage consumer message within 15 minutes of driving it after installing the new alternator. NOW what? new batter? check. new alternator? check. what am i missing here?.................OR perhaps is it going to take a while for the alternator to charge up my battery? is that why it is still low? but then why did i get that error message if its a new alternator and should be effectively charging up the battery?

:CONFUSED:

someone advise

jturkel

does anyone know where the main/major voltage grounds in the engine bay?

loungn14

Right by the battery, on the tower. What alternator did you get? The guys had gotten me one from a local parts store and threw it in and I still got the error. I then ordered the correct part and issues were fixed.

jturkel

i got the valeo unit you recommended from http://www.bimmerspecialist.com

this unit: http://www.bimmerspecialist.com/usa/...ils/1121540202

thats the correct one, right? maybe i have a loose wire or ground somewhere.

jturkel

do you know where the one from the alternator is? i didnt check while i was down there installing lol. ughhhhh

Beaker

Soo.. my issue came to a big halt today when my car idled out at 20km/h and rolled to a stop, on a busy road. doh.

Got mechanic over and we checked error codes and we worked out it's a faulty crank positioning ensor that isn't letting the car start/stay running. The battery is fine and it wants to turn over. Anyway, I tried a few times and finally it started over and I cancelled the tow truck?

Why was I in such a rush to get out? Well I was 10minutes from the top gear live arena show I was on my way to, and managed to make the second half! How ironic!

Anyway, same things happened when I went to go home, car wouldn't start but it would on say the 8th try .. so now I'm thinking it's just randomly positioning the sensor and it's luck I get it on the right spot.

Going to do some research so I'm not ripped off $$$ when I go see my mechanic tomorrow..

jturkel

so its the CPS, huh? and you were getting the "under voltage consumer defective" messages?

Beaker

The mobile mechanic got a CPS error code after looking twice (first time he only saw a exhaust temp error code - not something I think I should be too worried about? I'm surprised the IAT errors have gone).

To be honest, every time the warning came on I never got a full read out of it because I was more interested in making sure no one ran up the back of my car. I do remember the word "alternator" and "see mechanic" on the screen..

Either way, after reading some posts now it sounds exactly like a CPS fault. Is this due to just the KM's or do you think the mods could have had an impact? I noticed you have replaced yours as well?

Beaker

Two error codes I'm getting (wish i had a dashdaq or similar to know this earlier on...)

P2034 Faulty crankshaft position sensor detected at startup due to camshaft sensor, update software

P0335 Crankshaft Position Sensor A Circuit Malfunction (L5)

jturkel

hmm....well not sure if its my CPS....i know its not the batter and alternator. i suppose i could have a bad electrical connection somewhere, but not idea for sure. hopefully i'll be able to figure it out soon. i'm gonna have Hooley run his STAR diag on my car again and see what we come up with

hooleyboy

Turk I have STAR DAS. lets see if we can find the problem.

jturkel

another update


.....so hooked it up to STAR DAS......

the under voltage fault code was apparently only being seen at my driver's display. monitored the voltage (from the battery, not my gauge) for 15 minutes and it was consistently at 13.9V. With full A/C and lights, it was at 13.5V or so.

I am told that it could be a loose wire or bad connection to my driver's display, which would require taking that out and testing the 5 or 6 connections back there. This could somehow result in my getting a bad reading to my OBDII gauge. I'm going to tap the cigarette lighter and monitor the voltage through there to see if the OBDII is indeed giving me faulty readings as has been suggested. also, the starter could have a slight draw, but we didn't test.

on a side note, when you get a new alternator, does it usually have a break-in period? like....do new ones ever have a slight electrical smell?

Lenin

So, the driver's display is giving you the "undervoltage" message, the A/C display (or whatever it's name) and your DashDyno via OBD port are giving you the lower voltage reading? But reading directly from the battery is fine?
What kind of battery are you using? I know it's new but if it's not rated correctly, I'm sure you know what I'm about to say next. Just checking.

jturkel

display is saying undervoltage
the dashdyno readout is showing voltage all over the place (from 11.6-14.5). not necessarily lower than the other readouts, but it starts off high (14.5 or high 13s)...and the longer i drive it, the lower my voltage readout on my DashDyno is...and eventually it hits the 11s and i'll get a "under voltage consumer defective" message. it is occasionally/rarely slow to crank....which could lead one to think it could be a CPS...BUT this is after not driving it for a while (or when cold).

i havent checked the A/C menu yet...i'll have to check that one....which one is the voltage option again?

actually, i may have misspoken. so to clarify.....when he hooked up the STAR DAS on his laptop to my car (through OBDII), the STAR DAS was getting the perfect 13.9 and 13.6V readings. he previous ran a voltmeter on the battery and load tested both the battery and alternator and both passed with flying colors .

and when i refer to the fault code associated with that "under voltage consumer defective" thing, he says that he is only pulling it from that display...and not from anywhere else.....hmmm

i got the battery from him. he puts it in all of his MBs at his Indy MB Shop (called Autohaus of North Scottsdale). it is an Interstate Battery. MTP-93. 850 CCA and 1000 CA. i'm assuming thats ok....and i actually am not entirely sure i know what you're getting at.....i'm hoping you arent implying something is on the way out....like the SAM

TemjinX2

What you do mean by electrical smell? There shouldn't be any kind of smell after you install it. Is it the smell of burnt insulation?

You might have a exposed wire thats grounding out and burning the wire insulation or something. I would check all your wires.


This is a pic of my engine harness that's located directly under the intercooler.

i'm must've drove on a bad intercooler pump for too long or something because the heat from the intercooler burnt through the insulation of the engine harness and caused a exposed wire.

Thats my best guess in how the wire became exposed since there's nothing else in the engine valley.

There no fuses between the engine harness and the ecu so it didn't cause any blown fuses.

The entire harness is suppose to be wrapped...the heat ate through the wrapping.

I'm not saying this is whats happening to you, but something think about. If both the alternator and battery passed, you have a electrical short some where.

jturkel

like it just smelled like some kind of electrical burn? idk....like when you smell some kind of electrical device working hard.....like the alternator? my guy suggested it was the alternator's break in period and normal. i also heard a high pitched frequency coming from that area when i smelled that smell. not sure if it is the smell of burnt insulation. not sure what that smells like. maybe that is what i'm smelling? idk. the smell and noise went away when i turned off the a/c (which is was on full blast) and the headlights.

*****. i still think i have a short somewhere in there. i'm not fully sold on what he said yet. and i'm taking it on a two hr drive to tucson on thursday. ughh...

now, regarding the i/c pump.....i must bring this up...i havent yet.....

i'm at 90k. i've had 2 or 3 OEM I/C pumps (i think i'm on my 3rd). all replaced under warranty. a couple times, about a month or two ago, i HEARD a noise coming from near the I/C pump area. i was in the car and opened the windows and heard it. sounded like it was coming from that area.......i heard that noise a couple times over a period of a couple days, but havent heard it since. ....... now i'm not having the typical symptoms (i think) of a bad i/c pump.....i havent had moments of lag....of the s/c cutting in and out.....but that noise just came to mind when you mentioned the i/c pump going bad.....is it possible that the noise was my i/c pump failing? my temps dont seem too far from the norm....it is heating up here now, but it was cold i heard that noise....additionally, is there a way that i could test to see if the i/c pump is indeed failing? or some kind of electrical issue related to that?

....crap.

edit: or perhaps, could that "smell" and high pitch frequency be coming from my failed i/c pump? it is a different noise i heard today than i heard previously from what i think was the i/c pump.

and is it possible that the short is indeed some kind of circuit or wire behind my display? there are apparently 5 or so back there .

Lenin

I use Interstate MTP H8A. It's a little more weight, made Germany (if it means anything now days), has 900 CCA and is an AGM type (vs. flooded acid). See if your MB shop can lend you another battery. If they have an H8A (and not H8), even better. Check the intersate web site for reference. Look under AMG, not the C class. As far as this being your SAM module, I hope its not the case. It does sound like something that would travel over the CAN bus to everything that is listening but lets hope its just a bad battery.

jturkel

so you think it could be my battery is just bad? even though it passed the tests? is it just the wrong power/voltage output for the car? i know next to nothing about electronic stuff....sorry. TIA

TemjinX2

When i said when i replaced my intercooler. I meant the actual intercooler under the supercharger. The engine harness sits directly under that intercooler between the intercooler and where the engine forms that V shaped valley.

The noise your hearing can just be your emissions pump since its in the same spot as the intercooler pump.

jturkel

i know what you meant....but do you hear the emissions pump when its cold outside or when in park with the car on? i can't say i've ever heard it before...maybe besides just putting the key and turning it to the position prior to ignition....

regardless....i'll have to take a look then. i'm convinced you are right on my possibly having an "exposed wire thats grounding out and burning the wire insulation or something." Did you say you had a wire diagram in your thread? How long do you think it will take to check all the wires? I finally got myself a multimeter so i can do some electrical testing too.....could i find the wire that is shorting or perhaps could be burning with the insulation with that?

sry for all the questions.....this stress on top of waiting to hear back from medical schools.... i cant begin to explain how stressed out i am...and i was gonna originally drive to texas in this thing on thusrday, but i dont trust it to texas....sad i cant trust it right now

TemjinX2

All good man, you've helped a lot of members with your past input. Hopefully we can all get together and figure out the problem.


The emissions pump can be on both times. Usually in the mornings to heat up the cat faster and some times after you turn off the car its on for another 20seconds.

I just wanted to confirm you knew what i meant with the intercooler.

I would start by checking the OEM grounds first. You can probably PM splinter, since he usually has access to all the mercedes diagrams. Maybe check the wires from the alternator as well since you said you smelled that burnt smell after installing the alternator.

Tracking down electrical problems in these cars is such a Pain in the butt. I was never able to track down my esp problem.

Maybe check if there any shorts in the engine harness as well. If you downloaded the srt6 service manual from the cross fire forum, it has all the correct Ohm ratings for the wires.

jturkel

ok thanks. I PM'd Splinter. I do have that manual. i'll take a look through it. and yah, electrical problems on these cars are nightmares. i'll probably have one tonight. thanks again

jturkel

so it turns out it might be a bad voltage regulator.....yes i said it. yes i know it is an internal regulator. apparently, there was a service bulletin for this alternator and that it has a faulty internal regulator. so I went to the stealership and picked up an internal regulator.....yes i said it. you can actually apparently buy the internal regulators separately. i have it sitting in a box right now on my desk. hopefully this will resolve the problem. ughh..

thanks Hooley for your diagnostic skills (cough cough STAR DAS) and for checking alldata and service bulletins for me. hopefully this will be finally put to rest tomorrow.

TemjinX2

doesn't the voltage regular come with a new alternator though? Why would you need another one if you already have a new one from the new alternator?