Just replaced the aux battery in my e320. Used SearsDieHard Gold PowerSport Battery 14-BS (with exchange) $89.49. Perfect fit. However, the bolts from the M-B are smaller than the Sears threads. Used nuts to fit in the posts. Worked fine. Thanks to all for the info.

 

Took the old battery out following all the great instructions in this thread.

I would have never thought of unhooking the ground cable from the battery in the trunk, thanks for the info.

Got a battery that was an exact match in size and where the posts are located.

The fill procedure is very nice now. There is a ganged funnel that fills all of the openings on the top of the battery and the electrolyte is now divided into sections that each contain the right amount for each cell.

Just position the electrolyte on the funnel and smack it to puncture the seals and each cell is filled with the proper amount.

It hissed for a while and when the hissing stopped I put the cover on and sealed up the battery.

I charged it for about 1 1/2 hours on a 2 amp battery charger then replaced it.

I followed the instructions to turn on all the accessories, rear window defrost, AC fan on high, hazard lights etc for 2 minutes and cranked it up.

No red battery light, mission success!

I then turned the wheel all the way to the left and then all the way to the right and then killed the engine.

Then with the ignition on you pull up on the driver and passenger window controls for a second and you will hear a click as they reset. Run the sunroof all the way open and continue holding the switch for a second and you will hear another click and you are done.

Have a beer, or 2 you can afford it from the savings you just netted.

 

I was getting Low Battery errors and checked the forum.After reading this thread I had the car in for some other maitenance or. I had them check the Battery. ure enough Aux battery failing. Wanted to charge $300. Armed with the info on the board I passed. Piced up the Sears battery. Followed the procedures and no more battery issues. Thx everyone that contributed

 

Was having the red battery symbol and 'Visit Workshop' (How quaint, I'm sure the leather aproned white haired craftsmen there would have been glad to receive me)

Replaced with the Sears DieHard Gold AGR battery 14-BS, (on sale through 9/25/10 at $65 BTW). Perfect fit and no issues. Didnt disconnect the main battery, just made damn sure I didnt accidentaly ground the positive lead during the switch, so no messing about resetting stuff after.

Nothing new to add really, just wanted to express my thanks to the previous posters for making this so easy and saving me a bundle. $235 more towards my next car (which wont be a mercedes).

 

You're most welcome. I probably bought one of the last OEM's batteries. From the old battery (factory installed) I was able to trace it back to a factory in Italy. Then from Italy to dealers in US selling same battery. Then from the battery to a cross reference to US part numbers, and that's the story how you got the part numbers for Sears, Autozone and the Harley Davison MC battery plus others.

BTW,, this will also be MY LAST MERCEDES due to poor reliability.

 

Add me to the list of grateful people to all of those in this thread that did the legwork to save us hundreds.

Two days ago I got the red BATTERY - "Visit Workshop" in my IC. I checked voltage on rear battery and it was at 12.7V. Checked voltage on front battery, and it was at 8.5V!

Searched this thread and decided on the Autozone aux battery. I disconnected the (+) of the rear battery, removed the aux battery (manufacture date of 10/04) and away I went to Autozone. Unfortunately, they didn't stock it. As a matter of fact, didn't even show a matching part number in their system.

No problem, went across the street to Walmart and purchased the ES14-BS AGM battery. They didn't have this with the MAXX branding, as previously posted in this thread. They had other MAXX branded GSM batteries but not in 14-BS flavor. I looked at all the specs on the box, and they all matched up with my OEM battery. Then I pulled it out of the box and set it side by side with the OEM MB one, and I swear it's the EXACT same battery, but with a different sticker on it.

Purchased their $20.00 1.5V trickle charger, and away I went.

Got home, added the acid, per the instructions, and waited 30 minutes before sealing the battery. Before I hooked the trickle charger to it, I tested the voltage to be 12.4V. Put it on the trickle for 2 hours and re-checked it to be 13.1V. Great. Installed it, put a load on the battery by turning on the headlights, seat heaters, seat coolers, rear defrost, for two minutes as vettdvr suggested. Started her up, re-synched the windows, sunroof and active cornering bi-xenons and all is well.

Thanks again to all that participated in this thread and doing the legwork/homework to make this easy for me.

 

I am now being graced with this lovely "visit workshop" red battery symbol and have determined it is in fact the auxiliary battery. Does anyone know if this one would work from ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/UIX14...Q5fAccessories

or should I check with Autozone or Walmart and try to go another route? I'm working with a "real tight" budget. Thanks for all the help thus far!

 

I think mine came from NAPA. It was around $70. Just carry your old one with you (make sure it is what you need first) and someone can match it up with a new one. It is just a battery, I didn't see any need in spending a lot more money for the same thing with MB stamped on it.

jay

 

Hi there,

Many thanks you guys on this thread. Its most informative and helpful.

I have just changed both batteries on my w211 and still continue to get 1 malfunction with 'visit workshop' red warning. why is this still so..?

My heaters are not working, nor are my heated seats, rear windscreen heaters dont work, parking sensors dont work... i dont know what to do...

please help!

Thanks, Tripp

 

Make sure the aux battery is at full charge and holds a charge prior to installation.

 

Sorry to sound a bit dim, but how could i check that its holding charge? i do have a multimeter, do i check this while the car is running?

Its -4 degrees here in UK London and i cant take the kids in the car without any heating..

Could it be my alternator..? God that sounds expensive!

On start up everthing work for around 10 seconds then the heaters go off and and the other go off too.

 

I think your car will start shutting down unnecessary systems as the battery charge is decreasing in order to conserve battery life during a failure situation. Set your volt meter on 20v DC. With the car running, place the red lead on the positive side of the battery and the black lead on the negative side of the battery. This will tell you how much voltage is going into the battery. If the alternator is working properly the voltage should read around 13.5v or so. If the alternator is not working at all the voltage will be below 12v. Also I have seen alternators that have failed and are putting out way too much voltage....say greater than 18v, which is not good either.

jay

 

I would expect the see the aux bat at around 12.6 V installed, engine off. The batt is isolated from other systems. If you have less than 12 it probably isn't holding a charge. Same info is good for main bat. 12.6 or more engine off and min somewhere around 13.2 or more engine running depending on the load you have on. If you have less that 13.2 I would suspect a alternator diode is failed not putting out enough amps, then you will have to check the charging system.

-4C or -4F?

 

Many thanks, JAY M & VETTDVR! You guys are ACE!

oh, it -4C here v-cold!!

I will go and do the test now and let you know my reults.

Thanks, Tripp

 

Hi Guys,

Just did a quick test on my batteries:

When engine off Aux battery displays 12.5v - When engine running displays 12.5v

When engine off Main baterry displays 11.5 - when engine running displays 10.9v

Im loosing serious power on a new battery i just instaled today!

Help! what do i do?

 

Time for alternator test. You could pull the main bat and fully charge it then test again. I suspect something in your charging system. Engine running has the fuel pumps computers etc running. Sounds like you charging system is failing. Take it for full load test and alternator test.

 

Cheer Vettdvr!

I will take it for that test.

Once again, many thanks for your help guys!

Tripp

 

VISIT WORKSHOP – BATTERY warning light

Just finished swapping out the Aux Bat on my 2005 E320 CDI and its simple, and doesn't have to be costly.

The auxiliary battery is basically a small motorcycle battery (type 14-BS AGM) with replacements available from most auto supply stores. If you go to Google and search for 14-BS AGM you get a number of responses. I got mine from AutoZone (CTX 14-BS) for $69.99, but its also available at Sears, WalMart, NAPA, and others at about the same price.

There’s been some discussion about whether or not these are really AGM batteries since you have to add acid – all the ones I looked at were. AGM stands for Adsorbing Glass Mat and all it means is that there are absorbent glass pads between the lead sheets which absorb the acid and prevent them from spilling in the case of an accident. They also claim a longer life and greater efficiency. The batteries are manufactured and distributed “dry” meaning you have to add the battery acid, (comes with the battery), and you have to charge them (the store where you bought it may do this for you, but don’t hold your breath.) When you add the acid, you leave it sit for an hour so the acid can be absorbed into the pads, put it on a charger for from 2 to 4 hours (depending on the type of charger), and you’re ready to go.

To remove and replace:

· Remove the cabin filter housing. The filter housing is positioned to the air intake on a series of posts and is fastened in the front with a single retaining nut, and in the back, snaps on both sides against the air intake housing.
o Remove retaining nut
o Lift the front of the housing to unsnap the housing from the air intake
o Lift the entire unit off the rear positioning posts
· Disconnect ground cable from main battery in the trunk to prevent inadvertent electrical shorts. (Also a good time to clean out your trunk.)
· Disconnect ground cable (negative) from aux battery.
· Disconnect positive cable from aux battery.
· Remove the nut from the battery hold-down clamp and lift it out of the way.
· Remove the old battery. Note the positive terminal cover and the negative terminal sleeve can be removed from the old battery (simply pry them off the old terminals with a screwdriver) and used on the new one. In addition to protecting the terminals, they are helpful to hold the terminal nuts in place while you are positioning the new battery.
· Put the new battery in its place (make sure the positive terminal is closest to the engine)
· Connect the new aux battery and main battery reversing the removal process.

Regarding normalization and/or synchronization according to my owners manual (see battery replacement) the only systems that you need to worry about are the ESP, power windows and sunroof. In my case, everything else - seats, radio, AC, etc. - are fine and retained their settings.

Process worked like a charm and except for the time required to prepare the new battery, the whole job took about 30 minutes.

 

I waited till my system fell asleep then replaced. Nothing needed reprogramming or resetting. What about the main battery? Will that need special programming after replacement?

 

I have the same experience with my 2004 SL 500. Most of the responses here point to the rear auxiliary battery; however, I used to get the "Electric consumers offline" message when the auxiliary was low. Then I started using a trickle charger on it (the car frequently isn't driven for several weeks). The trickle keeps the offline message from coming on, but - if the auxiliary is failing, why don't I get the offline message again? The car starts fine, no hesitation or any indication of a problem. If alternator or voltage regulator is bad, how does the car keep performing normally?

 

wow great info in here thx to vettedriver !!

 

A most gracious thank you. There are some that think I don't provide enough help on this site. So I thank you for noticing.

 

Gentleman -
once one starts getting the red battery message in dash, how long can you expect the aux battery (daily driven) to last....?

 

how many amps should the 12volt trickle charger be?
1.25 alright...?

and let me get this straight -
you fill the batt w acid, wait 30 mins to absorb into glass pads, then put on trickle charger for about 2 hours correct, then install ??

 

The aux battery is just a back up. If the main power system is normal you can go a long time with it in a failed mode.

Note the battery charged at 1.2 amps might need 14 + hrs to fully charge. IF I remember correctly it is a 14 amphr battery. So if 1.2 amps x 80% efficiency on charge means that you need at least 14+ hrs to fully charge it.

I would only charge a new one before installation. If it has been running for a while in the car, charging is won't do much good.