mmgrad

Last week, took car in for A service (46mths, almost 50k miles)... everything checked out fine, battery was at 13.7v

So, driving yesterday com'n back from the airport headed towards work... 2 blocks away from work, and ABS error flashes... (i think stop lamp switch)... 5 seconds later, BAS error flashes... (i think stop lamp switch).... 5 seconds later, ESP error flashes.... (i think stop lamp switch).

usual fix would be to shutdown & restart... so i get to work, park and turn off car... turn key to restart, and the car doesn't start... YIKES... try it a few more times but no cigar... cabin lights start blinking and radio is jumpy. called roadside assistance and 3.5hrs later, the tech comes (by that time, the car is now starting just fine). he checks the battery, and it still registers 13.7v but replaces the battery anyways for precautionary measures.

new battery measures 14.08v... great, he's on his way and so am i.

today, running errands after work, and error comes on "Battery/Alternator - Visit Workshop"

since battery is new, alternator must be going out... could it be something else? anyone else have similar experience?

midget fidger

i had to replace the alternator before. the sign was that if you have the car running, shut it off and try to restart, it wouldn't start. it would turn a little, but shut off quickly. if you left it to cool down for a bit, it would start right back up like normal.

benzmodz

I wonder if it wouldnt also be useful to service the crankshaft sensor by replacing it.

midget fidger

hmm, not sure if the guy replaced that part too because it was a while ago. all i can remember is that the repair wasn't anything really expensive

str8ridin

It must have been your crankshaft position sensor. A bad one will give you the exact symptoms you just explained, mf.

midget fidger

oh shoot, it wasn't the alternator...it was the starter! would a bad starter have similar symptoms? if not then i have no idea haha

mmgrad

the first time it happened, i shut it off and couldn't restart. waited a few hrs and it started fine.

yesterday, the actual error message "Battery/Alternator - Visit Workshop" was displayed on the instrument cluster.

so given these symptoms, would it be safe to drive the 5 miles to the dealership, or have it towed?

gianfranc

i had the exact same symptoms as you before. i changed the battery first but then i got the "alternator/battery" error. i went to the dealer and it turns out my alternator was indeed faulty. think i drove more than 5 miles to my dealer. so should be safe

J Lucas

The last time I had something like that it was the crankshaft position sensor but i dont remember it giving me any error messages. It just shut off when the car got to about 90 degress F. When the car got back down to 80 then it would start up but if u tried to start it before that it wouldnt fire. I just dont remember any error messages.

str8ridin

Well, CP sensor won't make your lights go crazy, so you could table that solution for now. You got a new battery, eh? And the starting/stalling/lights flickering hasn't reoccured since the replacement?

If that's the case, it sounded like you had a loose connection on your battery becasue things flickered, but your battery still had juice. A bad alternator would drain the battery, which it did not in your case.

But now it sound like you may have fixed the issue before, but caused a new one ("Battery/Alternator" error). Or maybe not. It could be the starter. Don't you hate that kinda help?

SLVRBLT43K

I met you at the dealer. I had towed my car there because it would not start.It had a bad crankshaft position sensor . No error codes, the starter just turns and the car does not start.

mmgrad

great answer anyways, i dropped it off at my dealer, during which, the 3-5 mile drive, there was no error messages... advisor guesses it to be the alternator, but, what does he know... I'll hopefully find out later on today wat the cause is

on the brighter side of things, kinda... they gave me a new '06 C-Class, which the new interior is very nice indeed... but the 230 engine blows (no pun intended for such owners)... such lag... can't wait to get my CLK back....

toymr2trd

Hey Danny.... what ended up being the problem w/ your car. I actually had the ABS BAS ESP lights turn on me today.... got to work and turned off the car turned it back on and no malfunctions.... I did have to stop sort of hard but I didn't think it would affect it to the point where these lights would turn on.

If I get these lights to turn on again.... you guys think it's the stop lamp switch? If so, where the hell is that? Anybody have a DIY of that? or could tell me where to find that switch? Thanks

toymr2trd

by the way... nevermind... I just saw the DIY a few posts down.... THanks man

anyways... what was the turn out and how much did it run you?

J Lucas

By the way this post has saved me $200 for having to take my car to the mechanic to fix it. They were trying to charge me 160 + tax. I bought the part for $22 at Sovereign and installed it in 20 minz. STICKY~

mmgrad

sorry I didn't update the thread...

I got the car back after a day at the dealership... they found the alternator regulator was going bad, so they replaced that and all is well...

When I went in for the 50k mile Service A, they also replaced my left engine mount (i complained of a rough idle) because it was leaking... afterwards, the idle was smooth as silk... days later, i notice fair amount of jerk at idle, so while the car was there for the alternator issue, i had them look into it.

Turned out that cylinder #4 was misfiring or something... the coil & suppressor had to be changed, and now things feel better again...

Lucas, a post has been added to the DIY thread on how to fix the BAS/ESP/ABS error...

yuanja888

Danny how did the dealer find out that ur #4 cylinder is miss-firing? I have a pretty rough idle too and I also had my engine mount replaced before. Can you elaborate what they replaced? What's a suppressor?

mmgrad

not all too sure how they diagnosed it, perhaps they used a stethoscope type device to listen to the misfire or they were able to diagnose it using a computer....

this is what my paperwork said:
"electrical fault at cylinder #4 coil & suppressor(s), perform engine with DAS test, intermittent misfire at Cyl. #4, check valves, replace cylinder #4 coil & supressors, road test vehicle."