kwhite130

This morning it was really cold in New York around 9 degrees .My car started to make a strange noise from the engine.I thought it was just the cold causing this but the "battery charge warning " came on . I call my local MB service tech and was asked if I saw the neg and pos symbols when I answered yes he seemed to get excited and started telling me about the alternator might be bad. On the way home with car the warning kept flashing battery charge, then the abs brakes warning came on, then the srs warning, and the asr warning came on and then the fss display went totally blank. Then the car must have went into the limp mode because the transmission felt like it was slipping but it got me home. Has anyone of you ever had an alternator go bad on you and is it covered under the starmark warranty.

mbtech208

Sounds like the alternator to me. It should be covered under Starmark, but I won't say for sure. I've seen some pretty common items fail that ended up not being covered by Starmark.

kwhite130

I charged the battery over night and the car started and it is driving just fine, however I still have the "battery charge" warning.

I was able to get an appointment this Wednesday at my local Benz dealer with a loaner to boot.

I wonder if charging the battery overnight and driving it to work until Wednesday will damage the battery or the car. What do you think?


1998 E320 Smoke Silver 62k
1999 Volvo S80 Gray 47k

mbtech208

Since you're going to be discharging and then recharging the battery every day, I'd highly recommend buying a new battery with the alternator.

michakaveli

I had ur same symptoms, most of them and figured it was the alternator, even the same conditions. But she came alive and works for now. I'll replace her anyway when it gets warmer.

kwhite130

My Benz went to the shop on Thursday. I really miss the car. The gave me a 2002 c320 loaner. Not a bad car but it's a far cry from my 98 e320. The service advisor call today and found a lundry list of thing wrong and said he's still not finished with the diagnostics. He mention getting starmark to cover the alternator,pully,tranny case,and a some other tranny related stuff.It sounds like he'll stick me for a new battery but that's ok as long as the warranty covers everything else. He mentioned a new seat rail for the popping noise,he wasn't sure if starmark will cover the seat rail. So far it looks like the Starmark warranty is one of the best warranty programs around. I'll let you know how it all turns out .

1998 E320 Smoke Silver 62k
1999 Volvo S80 Gray 47k
1987 Cadillac Eldorado Black 140k