geo1400

Hi guys,

I'm going on leave for 6 weeks and i'm going to have to leave my car. I've got a 99 E55 and live in Dubai where temps are reaching over 100F everyday. I've already bought a good car cover but I want to know if there's anything I need to do, like disconnect battery?

Any advice would be great.

Cheers,

Geo

RichardM98

If you have electricity near where the car would be, you could look for a 'float' battery charger. This is a small charger designed to maintain 12.6v on a fully charged battery. They are cheap (usually). If you disconnect the battery (it'll probably be too low to start car if you don't), be sure you have security code for radio since you'll need to restore function.

geo1400

Don't have the radio code... Can I get that from the dealer?

So 6 weeks is too long to leave the battery hooked up?

Ozcan

Don't worry if your battery is new. 6 weeks is not a long time if you have a good battery. Usually batteries last up to 6 years. I just had to replace my ML-430 SUV battery a month ago. The battery was OEM and 8 years old!
Keep it in the shade!!!
(Since you have alots of Sun light, they also sell solar chargers which plugs in to the cigarette lighter)

Hirnbeiss

[QUOTE=geo1400;3013183]Don't have the radio code... Can I get that from the dealer?
QUOTE]

You can get the code from the dealer if it's the original radio or a dealer replacement. Otherwise you need to get the actual serial number off the radio by pulling it out, and then get the code using that (but I don't know if the dealer can help you there, usu. an audio shop or similar).

RichardM98

You may have the code and don't realize it. If you have an owners manual package, look for a small card (credit card size) with a 5 digit number. Also, look in the back pages of owners manual for a handwritten number.

Also if you have any service records from a dealer or authorized MB agent, look in the box near the middle of the page where misc. info is printed. If there is a 5 digit number with no label that is probably the code since service techs often need it.

Also, beware that entering the wrong code more than 3 times causes the radio to go into a wait mode of up to 24 hrs. This is all part of a theft prevention system.

Musikmann

I'm with Ozcan here. If your battery is good I don't think you need to disconnect it. If you were to leave it for much longer, I'd definitely recommend a float charger as RichardM98 suggested. I had never heard of a solar charger but that also sounds like a good idea for extended periods.

geo1400

Thanks guys,

The battery is just over a year old so it should be ok. I'm leaving it covered under a car cover, and where it's parked it'll probably see about 6-7 hours of sunlight a day. Which isn't great but that's all I got!

Thanks again.

01BlackE320

It will be fine, don't worry. 6 weeks isn't that long. Enjoy your trip

Ozcan

Inexpensive Solar Car Battery Chargers produce around 2 to 3 Watts of electrical energy. 15 Volts - 200 mA ( 0.2Amps ). This is enough for trickle charge, which keeps the battery fresh.
I found some on ebay for a $25 charger panel.
LINK 1: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...2BSI%26otn%3D4
LINK 2: http://cgi.ebay.com/12-Volt-Solar-Ba...QQcmdZViewItem

Musikmann

Thanks for the links Ozcan.

ohlord

quickest death to a battery ,even a one year old one is not having it charged,6 weeks in heat without a maintain charge is not good for long life.
If you have a VW dealer near you go see if they have a freebie solar charger.My vw dealer gives me any He has that people don't want and he gives them away free.
Generates about 12.75 volts on a sunny day,has suction cups to window mount and plugs into the lighter socket.Some models of mb don't have lighter sockets that back feed with the key out of the ignition so you hard wire a socket to the battery cable and route it to the rear deck.

hb tools has maint. chargers for 7bucks if you prefer a plug in over solar.

Dema

Six week? I isn't enough time to get worry. E class has two batteries, one for electronics and another for start. My experience that only after 6 months a car starts showing simptomps that battery losing charge. 20-30 miles of freeway driving should return it back.

ohlord

does not have an aux battery.That is in later models.6 months and starting by jumping it and charging it is not only bad for the battery it is also death for the alternator.I don't know where you guys come up with some of your automotive knowledgeAn alternator trying to charge a dead battery is not what an alternator was intended to do,it will not charge the battery fully after 20-30 miles nor charge it fully after 2 days of driving,and a battery left 6 weeks or 6 months will never last its full potential life.unless properly maintained.
Trying to charge it with the alternator is a quick way into the parts place to pick up a new alternator.
ohlord

geo1400

Ok, so far no good.

Arrived back after 6 weeks and the bloody thing was completely dead! The remote key wouldn't even work. Manualy opened the car then (against most advice) tried jumping it. Gave me full power to my lights etc and was reading 13-14V on the volt meter, but wouldn't even crank the the engine.

Someone please help here cause i'm backwith my Wife and 1 month old baby with no car!!

Cheers

George

Ozcan

Sorry for what happened.
You either must have left something on when you left your car for 6 weeks or have a weak battery. (How old is your battery? I used my 2000 ML430 oem battery for 7 years!)
In any case I would replace it. OEM battery is about $130.00. Call Mercedes Benz, the road side help. They will replace your battery and won't charge you any labor.
Auto Zone also have exact replacement for around $85.00
Good luck

Figuero

Buy/borrow/rent an automatic battery charger say 15amp or so. Charge the battery all day or overnight. Make sure you check the fluid level first. If you get the car started make sure to have your battery load tested.
If it's shot I would use the MB road service to replace the battery. No labor charge.

01BlackE320

if your battery is older 3-4 years, get a new one. Dont risk your alternator trying to run with a bad battery.

Air Marshall Eldritch

Guys, I don't think he has an Autozone around the corner. You have to note his location before posting things like that.

I won't go more than 2 weeks without having someone run my car. Those alarm sensors and other power drains will kill even a brand new one for that period of time.

The BMW 750 has so many sensors, you could lose a battery in under one week, btw.

01BlackE320

Dubai is one of the most affluent cities in the middle east, and the world for that matter. Maybe no autozone but car batteries wont be a scarce commodity.

geo1400

Got 24hour recovery to come out and try to get the car started and diagnose a problem. He jumped it using a power pack as opposed to a running car, started first turn. He then told me the battery was dead.

So I drove round to my nearby petrol station where the guy replaced the battery with the exact same (new, obviously) and nothing, the reaction was the same as my battery. He then jumped it on another new battery, nothing.

So put my battery back in and said it must be a starting problem - take it to a proper garage. Now my car is stranded at a petrol station with no radio code and i'm getting BAS warnings on the display, oh and windscreen washer fluid top up needed...

So i'm gonna have to bite the bullet and get it carried to an indy tomorrow.

Any last suggestions?

Cheers

ohlord

you should have listened to me in the first place.
A.6 weeks is to long even for a good battery.
B.there is no aux battery.
C.Driving a car to charge it with a dead or drained battery can damage the alternator and will never charge a dead battery fully
D.Jumping a battery in the MB W210 with the DAS X system using a commercial boost type jumper can erase the rolling codes from the ststem and require reprogramming.
E.I hope it works out,a trickle charger would have been much easier.
F.Try jump starting it from the post in the underhood terminal,Did the service station check that the battery they installed was charged?To turn off the abs light you will need to turn your steering wheel all the way left to all the way right and back a few times to center the steering wheel angle sensor,that lost it's settings when the battery went dead.Along with the settings lost for the radio code the windows the sunroof etc.Resync everything is in your manual.

geo1400

I suppose I only listened to the aadvice I wanted to, as in, 6 weeks is fine. I'm having the car taken to a garage to get fixed. My new baby has put things in perspective - I don't have time to trial and error with the family car!!

Sadly, I think i'm going to fix it and sell it - I don't think i'm ready for a car like this, just yet...

Thanks for your help and i'll let you know of the outcome.

Cheers

Dema

If you could disconnect the battery for 6 weeks you got the same behavior after reconnection as bringing a new battery instead of a dead one.