JRHolt

Hey everyone,

Wanted to share my experience with everyone on here to see if anyone has had a similar issue like mine. Sorry in advance for the long post but I really need some help here if anyone has any experience with this issue.

On Monday August 8th I was at work and during my lunch break I had the car washed and then stopped at In-N-Out for a quick bite to eat.

When I went out to start my car to return to work the car would not start.

Here are the exact symptoms:

Walked up to the car with the fob in my pocket, grabbed the door handle to open the door and it opened normally. So the fob was properly detected by the car.

I have keyless go so I depressed the brake pedal and pushed the button and nothing happened at all. I then noticed that non of the lights on the gauges on the instrument panel were lit up. The center information screen was working and the radio would work but that was about it. After depressing the start button a few more times I got the message "Key not detected", or something to that effect.

I removed the push button for the keyless go and inserted the key, still no reaction from the gauges at all. I turn the key several times and got nothing.

I tried both the keyless go and the key several times and kept getting the same results.

I finally had to call Mercedes-Benz Roadside Assistance. They sent a tech out and he tried to to jump start it to see if it was a low battery but got the same results that I did. When he realized that, he call for the tow truck and told the representative that it was obviously an electrical issue and the car need to be towed to the Dealership.

It was late in the day so they were not going to touch it until the next day. They asked me to drop off the other key for the car the next morning and I did just that.

The car is still at the Dealership and the service advisor told me that for the last three days the car starts normally with both keys and that there are no codes stored for any faults. Of course without any codes or being able to replicate the issue they are not going to replace anything.

Tomorrow is Friday and if they still cannot find anything I am going to go pick it up.

If there are any Mercedes service technicians on here that could help me research this issue I would greatly appreciate it.

With the research I have done it sounds like the likely culprit is either the Ignition Module or one of the fuse boxes but I am not sure if they could have faulted and not left a code.

I did find one Service Bulletin for a "No Start" condition but it only covered 2012 and 2013 W204: LI54-15-P057.

If anyone has any more information I would be very grateful

Thank you for your time

rohitC63

Mine did that last year, turns out to "jump start" the car you have to have it connected to another car for AT LEAST 5 minutes to get enough juice in the battery to start the monster.

JRHolt

rohitC63,

Thanks for the reply but there wasn't any apparent issue with low battery voltage. The next morning the car started just fine without any codes or issues

realjones88

Did they put the car on a trickle charger at the dealership? If the battery voltage was low juicing it back up would fix that and could be why they can't create the issue.

akmatic63

Hope you figure it out and its nothing major! i wonder if it was related to the wash and if water got on a sensor or anything...

JRHolt

Not that I am aware of. I will ask for more details when I speak to him tomorrow

I believe that if there was a low battery voltage detected that it would store a code. It did on my 2006 SLK55 so I would assume that it would on this car as well.

Thanks

JRHolt

Thanks me too Yea I was thinking about the water issue as well but it was like 105 degrees that day in Dallas so I would think it would have dried out.

Also thought about the heat as a possible issue and maybe when it cooled down it worked fine?

I hope we can figure this one out, I do not want to get stranded somewhere in the middle of the night

roadtalontsi

sounds like a steering lock. pretty unusual for a 2014. its usually a 08' 09' c-class problem.

gforc3

I've had this issue 4 times, steering lock and Eis need to be replaced. Last time they replaced my keys and the issue hasn't resurfaced yet... We will see.

JRHolt

Oh man!!! So there were not any fault codes on your car any of the 4 times it happened?? 😳

AmgSeahawker

Just worked on a car with same symptoms. No crank no start and no reaction from the cluster. Car had been towed in but by the time we got it the car was starting every time. Ended up being the EIS. Never had a code. Had to catch it in the act then performed EIS test and failed.

gforc3

There were codes I can upload a picture of one of the service records if you want later today

jmueller

This happened to me once. Tried to start the car with and without keyless go, and no luck. I ended up walking away for about 10 minutes and then walked back up within range and the car started no problem with keyless go. I thought it was just a hiccup and luckily it hasn't resurfaced.

gforc3

Don't wanna be the bearer of bad news but in my experience it will resurface eventually. Get it fixed asap before you get stuck somewhere

JRHolt

Thank you very much for the information. Would it be possible to contact you directly to get more detailed information on how you got it to repeat the fault?

Thanks

JRHolt

That sounds great! You can upload it here or just email it to me through the forum if you wish.

Thank you

JRHolt

Wish I had been that lucky. I was stuck in an IN-N-Out parking lot for about 3 hours until the tow truck finally showed up and the car never did respond until the next morning

AmgSeahawker

I really didn't do anything special just started the car several times thru out the day until the problem occurred.

finewayne

^
lucky man

VR38DETT

Not to derail the topic but mine did start a few times with no cluster reaction until a minute later. And that is an EIS issue?

JRHolt

Thanks! Hopefully if it happens again it will happen at home and I can connect my Xentry system and capture the failure code.

Maybe I should just bring the Xentry system with me everywhere I go

AmgSeahawker

If there is no codes You will have to go thru guided test of drive authorization in EIS control unit.

nobbyv

I have nothing to add other than good luck and I didn't know In-N-Out had made it to Texas.

JRHolt

Thank you for the guidance AmgSeahawker

507OverBiturbo

Hey, hope you get this figured out without issue - would be interested in hearing how it's resolved.