sunnymans

Last night my car decided not to start. All the lights and electronics work fine, headlights and radio work perfectly, so I don't think its my battery. When I turn the key, nothing happens, no sounds from the engine either. I tried a bunch of different things but I could not get it to start. Has this happened to anyone else?

I am about 100 miles away from my B service and have about 19000 miles on the car.

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks

drawde

No messages coming up? I had a Vehicle Inoperable message before, had to reflash the tune for it take I guess.

sunnymans

Yeah there were no messages that came up.

azlane

There are 2 batteries in the car, so maybe the starter battery is dead.

It may sound stupid, but also make sure it is in P. It happened to someone I know years ago...

sunnymans

Thanks! Ill check it when I get out of work. Where is the starter battery located?

azlane

One battery is in the trunk and a smaller one is under the hood.

sunnymans

Just tried jumping it following the instructions in the manual. Still won't start. Even let it sit there for 10 minutes. There is a ticking sound from the engine, it sounds like its trying to start but won't. Any other ideas? before I have to get it towed to a dealership

ATL_MB

Hope you get this sorted quickly. I had a similar problem with my wife's W203 -- although in her case, the car would usually start after sitting for 20-30 minutes and then not have a problem for 2-4 weeks. Ended up being a bad starter motor wiring harness. Took the dealer more than 6 months to figure it out (thank God for extended warranties). The problem is that there are so many things that can cause this. Before finally fixing it, the dealer (over 5-6 visits):

Replaced her keys
Reprogrammed ECU
Replaced transmission interlock switch
Replaced brake interlock switch
Reprogammed ECU again
Replaced starter (they claimed it was the first time they had ever replaced a MB starter)

And several other things that I am forgetting. My wife was about to go postal on her SA. (The dealer was actually quite good and as frustrated as we were.)

Interestingly, the car never threw a code.

ZephyrAMG

Please keep us posted as to the trouble shooting results...hope all is ok.

azlane

Any chance your auto theft alarm was set off? That happened to me one time when my wife opened the door through an opened window and set it off (neglected to tell me it happened). Car would not start and it was not possible to jump it either. The fix was to relock the car and unlock correctly.

Minuteman

Did you try using your spare key?
Also make sure it is in park (P), my girlfriend had this problem.

HIRO63

How about lock your car and open again? Do this couple of times. Sometime it works.

dacatz

the owners manual didn't say it has 2 batteries!

sunnymans

I ended up calling road side assistance and they sent a tech out. He tried everything he could, with both keys and still could not get it started. All the electronics work fine and even the fuel pump works but the engine doesn't start. SO they ended up towing it to the dealership.

I called today to find out if they had figured out what was wrong, but they have not even started to look at the problem. Interestingly enough the rep told me they were replacing my trunk lid because of a recall and will look at the starter problem tomorrow.

They also said they only offer a 24 hour loaner, but what if the car takes longer to fix? Would I get a loaner for that long or am I out of luck?

exdes

which dealer did you go?

NickZag

If it's ticking then your battery is REALLY dead and the vehicle your jumping it with doesn't have enough amps to start it. I'm not sure if you've seen the battery in your truck, but it's huge and with the compression being so high in the 6.3 it takes a lot of amps to turn it over.

ATL_MB

I seriously doubt its the battery - if it were, you would have some kind of warning message. And while they are not required to give you a loaner, it would be a massive failure on their part to not give you one for however long you need it, especially since the car is undrivable due to an apparent warranty claim. If they are out of loaners for some reason, they should rent you a car until they get a loaner back. Its a $65k+ car! Its not a Passat with C63 stickers on it, is it?

(My wife had a loaner for almost 2 weeks while they worked on her C240 Wagon.)

Also, are they replacing the trunk lid, or adjusting the trunk lid?

sunnymans

It's at HBL. They now think its the key and want me to bring by the spare key. But I already tried to start it with both keys when it wouldn't start in the first place. So I guess we will see.

As far as the trunk lid I don't remember if she said replace or fix, i would probably lean towards fix, but she said it was because of a recall which confused me off cause I can't find anything online about it.

mzporto

There's a recall on US-SPEC C63s about the trunk lid. Apparently, the lid would hit the bumper and cause some damage when you close it hard. So, they are replacing the trunk lid for one that doesn't damage the bumper. That's all. There's been some threads about it here. But it's no biggie.

Arclight338

YOUR C63 has 2 batteries? Funny, mine only has one.

Arclight338

Mine just had a service and they just re-adjust the stops using a tool to set the way the lid closes.

sunnymans

So, HBL has had my car for over two weeks now. I have no clue whats going on because they have not tried contacting me, and I have called them plenty of times leaving messages and they have yet to call back. And to make things even better, when they do call, its because someone backed into my car and dented the rear panel. Great! Now they are playing the blame game on the rental company....bad start to my day and still no news on why it won't start.

sunnymans

Well they got it to start, but I was told that the tech has not specified what was wrong with it yet. And now its in the body shop getting fixed. Has any body had this happen to them? I'm almost up for a service and am wondering if I should ask them for a free service for denting my car while it was being fixed.

Even Money

Just send a nastygram to MB USA about your experience, then go somewhere else. My guess is they wouldn't give you a free service, and even if they said they would, how could you trust 'em?

bushburninc63

that is why i'm scared to let the dealership touch my car. good luck with it.