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Red battery message ( Visit workshop)
02-21-2011, 08:39 PM
#251
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E55 then E63, now back to an E55
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.
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.
RE: re-syncing ESP does that mean you turn wheel all the way right then all the way left - thats it?
and for windows & sunroof, open & close or whats the process?
thx
02-21-2011, 08:46 PM
#252
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E55 then E63, now back to an E55
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.
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.
sorry about all the questions my friend !
02-21-2011, 10:36 PM
#253
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03 E500 and Corvette
Remember you should only be charging a new battery once before installation.
After installation the car charging system will keep it charged unless the battery is failing.
05-08-2011, 12:00 AM
#255
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'12 Mustang 5.0, '89 Supra Turbo, C55,
I just replaced my aux. battery after rec'g the "visit workshop" with battery sign warning. Autozone has a Duralast CTX14-BS AGM battery. Fits perfect. $89.99. Dealer wanted $185. Need to add included nuts as the terminals on this battery are not the threaded type. Very easy to do. Add acid, charge, and install per instructions. I should have kept the terminal plastic protector from the original battery, but did not. 
. No biggie.
Special thanks to Vettdvr for his detailed descriptions on removal/installation and start-up instructions - I had no issues at all. and thelaserguy for the normalization of the windows and sunroof. (I could not get the sunroof to close one-touch, will investigate closer), but am very happy with the results. Both write-ups can be found in this thread.
Thank you all!!!!
. No biggie. Special thanks to Vettdvr for his detailed descriptions on removal/installation and start-up instructions - I had no issues at all. and thelaserguy for the normalization of the windows and sunroof. (I could not get the sunroof to close one-touch, will investigate closer), but am very happy with the results. Both write-ups can be found in this thread.
Thank you all!!!!
05-17-2011, 10:49 AM
#257
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e500 2004
Hi all,
I thought I would try to contribute back to this Forum/String. My comments are really for the people as stupid as I am, in case helpful to you!
1. My Battery/Visit Work shop light came on. I researched this forum/string, and decided to go get the Sears Diehard Gold 14 Battery (exact name on page 10 of this string, I believe). I wanted to avoid messing with acid filling, charging etc. The guys at Sears said that all of their batteries "were ready to go out of the box!" My auxillary is definetely the original from 2004, and at my last service they told me it needed to be replaced.
2. So I go to Sears, I get the battery for $79.99 (they waived the core charge of $10). But before I leave, I ask "are you sure I don't need to do anything to the battery first. They say nope. So I am sitting in my car next and decide to open the box before I pull away. Of course, as I suspected, there are plastic acid tubes in the box. I go back into the store and they say "that's just extra water." Then someone else says that I need to put that acid in, but I don't need to charge the battery or anything like that. Well, I'm a Finance guy, not a scientist, but none of this made sense to me. So I pull out the directions that I find in the bottom of the box. Of course again, the directions say you need to "charge" the battery after filling with the acid. So now I have to buy a charger ($30, but on sale for $24; I always wanted one anyway for my lawn tractor and for the old Porsche that I hope to one day own again in the future). So now I am up to $104.
3. Also, just an update of time needed to do this. You have to fill the battery with acid (takes one minute and the acid comes in the box) and then let the battery sit for one hour (to settle the acid, etc). Then you need to charge the battery for 2-4 hours and let it sit again. So it will take you a half of day pretty much doing nothing but waiting in order to get the battery ready for use.
4. My battery is charging now. But the physical removal and replacement looks simple. My only question now is that the terminals on the battery look different than the original battery, but the new battery came with a couple of screws and nuts. Someone else mentioned having to use the nuts with the stock Mercedes bolts earlier in this string, so I am hoping that I can indeed use the nuts that came with - and that I can avoid have to make a run to Home Depot for special German nuts. I'm sure we've all been there! I can see why the old rich guys simply pay triple to have the dealership do their repairs - convenience. Plus they get a nice coffee and Danish! But I take satisifaction in trying it myself.
Ok, hopefully soon I will just bolt the battery in and off I go with no red warning lights. Unless you hear back from me, it all went swimmingly!
Todd
I thought I would try to contribute back to this Forum/String. My comments are really for the people as stupid as I am, in case helpful to you!
1. My Battery/Visit Work shop light came on. I researched this forum/string, and decided to go get the Sears Diehard Gold 14 Battery (exact name on page 10 of this string, I believe). I wanted to avoid messing with acid filling, charging etc. The guys at Sears said that all of their batteries "were ready to go out of the box!" My auxillary is definetely the original from 2004, and at my last service they told me it needed to be replaced.
2. So I go to Sears, I get the battery for $79.99 (they waived the core charge of $10). But before I leave, I ask "are you sure I don't need to do anything to the battery first. They say nope. So I am sitting in my car next and decide to open the box before I pull away. Of course, as I suspected, there are plastic acid tubes in the box. I go back into the store and they say "that's just extra water." Then someone else says that I need to put that acid in, but I don't need to charge the battery or anything like that. Well, I'm a Finance guy, not a scientist, but none of this made sense to me. So I pull out the directions that I find in the bottom of the box. Of course again, the directions say you need to "charge" the battery after filling with the acid. So now I have to buy a charger ($30, but on sale for $24; I always wanted one anyway for my lawn tractor and for the old Porsche that I hope to one day own again in the future). So now I am up to $104.
3. Also, just an update of time needed to do this. You have to fill the battery with acid (takes one minute and the acid comes in the box) and then let the battery sit for one hour (to settle the acid, etc). Then you need to charge the battery for 2-4 hours and let it sit again. So it will take you a half of day pretty much doing nothing but waiting in order to get the battery ready for use.
4. My battery is charging now. But the physical removal and replacement looks simple. My only question now is that the terminals on the battery look different than the original battery, but the new battery came with a couple of screws and nuts. Someone else mentioned having to use the nuts with the stock Mercedes bolts earlier in this string, so I am hoping that I can indeed use the nuts that came with - and that I can avoid have to make a run to Home Depot for special German nuts. I'm sure we've all been there! I can see why the old rich guys simply pay triple to have the dealership do their repairs - convenience. Plus they get a nice coffee and Danish! But I take satisifaction in trying it myself.
Ok, hopefully soon I will just bolt the battery in and off I go with no red warning lights. Unless you hear back from me, it all went swimmingly!
Todd
05-17-2011, 05:36 PM
#258
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e500 2004
Ok, I am done. Everything was very easy. The nuts that came with the Sears battery were exactly the same set-up as the original Fiamm battery. You drop the nuts in the square battery terminal housings and bolt the bolts right back in (it will make sense once you see it).
My warning light is out also.
One other thing. I said that I was stupid to begin with, so I did not disconnect the main battery like you are supposed to. I decided to wrap the positive terminal in electrical tape, in case it hit metal by accident. That went fine, but when I was ratcheting the positive terminal down tight later, the end of the metal ratchet hit the negative terminal and a spark flew. So I was worried I had just fried the main battery. But luckily, it was only a quick tap of the metal and a quick spark. The car started right up with no problems. The safe way is obviously to diconnect the main battery first...
Oh, I noticed that my original Fiamm positive terminal was completely corroded, so maybe if I had simply cleaned it, it would have then been fine. But given the age of the battery, I was fine with replacing the battery.
I would rate this job a 1 difficulty out of 10. Maybe a little higher if you disconnected the main battery and then had to reset somethings afterwards, but I wouldn't know.
My warning light is out also.
One other thing. I said that I was stupid to begin with, so I did not disconnect the main battery like you are supposed to. I decided to wrap the positive terminal in electrical tape, in case it hit metal by accident. That went fine, but when I was ratcheting the positive terminal down tight later, the end of the metal ratchet hit the negative terminal and a spark flew. So I was worried I had just fried the main battery. But luckily, it was only a quick tap of the metal and a quick spark. The car started right up with no problems. The safe way is obviously to diconnect the main battery first...
Oh, I noticed that my original Fiamm positive terminal was completely corroded, so maybe if I had simply cleaned it, it would have then been fine. But given the age of the battery, I was fine with replacing the battery.
I would rate this job a 1 difficulty out of 10. Maybe a little higher if you disconnected the main battery and then had to reset somethings afterwards, but I wouldn't know.
05-24-2011, 10:52 AM
#259
Super Member
My E500 has only 2 bat's I know of. One in trunk and one under hood under ac filter cover. This is the aux bat and I found a identical replacement at autozone for $69.00.
But $400 for plugs is pretty reasonable given you have 12 plugs at $10+ each and Labor at $110 / hr. sounds about straight up unless you DIY.
But $400 for plugs is pretty reasonable given you have 12 plugs at $10+ each and Labor at $110 / hr. sounds about straight up unless you DIY.
05-24-2011, 11:10 AM
#260
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03 E500 and Corvette
The E500 has 16 and I paid about $80 for OEM's Bosch and installed them myself. I did manage to break one of the plastic retaining clips on the coil wire and that cost me about $2.50 to replace. SO total DIY for 16 plugs was right at $85.00
I did inspect and reuse the origional wires. New wires will set you back a lot of $$ due to each wire being special cut for location.
I did inspect and reuse the origional wires. New wires will set you back a lot of $$ due to each wire being special cut for location.
05-24-2011, 11:27 AM
#261
Super Member
The E500 has 16 and I paid about $80 for OEM's Bosch and installed them myself. I did manage to break one of the plastic retaining clips on the coil wire and that cost me about $2.50 to replace. SO total DIY for 16 plugs was right at $85.00
I did inspect and reuse the origional wires. New wires will set you back a lot of $$ due to each wire being special cut for location.
I did inspect and reuse the origional wires. New wires will set you back a lot of $$ due to each wire being special cut for location.
So your telling me 2 spark plugs for each cylinder .so 16 wires? WOW!!
Do they sell the oem bosch ones at autozone? because i get a good discount there
05-24-2011, 12:13 PM
#262
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This is what I used Bosch 7422 and checking my records they were $7.95 each so my actual cost would be about $100 for the plugs. There are on this site procedures on how to change them with photos.
05-24-2011, 12:29 PM
#263
Super Member
will try to do over the weekend
06-25-2011, 06:51 PM
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E55 then E63, now back to an E55
FINALLY got around to doing this today...
worked like a charm. Didn't disconnect main battery, just wrapped pos. terminal on aux battery w electrical tape.
Thx guys!!
worked like a charm. Didn't disconnect main battery, just wrapped pos. terminal on aux battery w electrical tape.
Thx guys!!
07-11-2011, 06:53 PM
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2003 Mercedes E320
Ken
10-17-2011, 03:26 PM
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E320
Thanks for all of the great info in this thread. My wife's E320 was getting this warning and the dealer wanted $550 to replace both batteries. 
I picked up a main battery from O'Reily's for $169.99 and then ordered an aux battery from batterymart.com (ytx14-bs) for $55.95 shipped. The ytx14-bs comes pre-charged and ready to go. Both were perfect replacements and it took me about 30 minutes.
I picked up a main battery from O'Reily's for $169.99 and then ordered an aux battery from batterymart.com (ytx14-bs) for $55.95 shipped. The ytx14-bs comes pre-charged and ready to go. Both were perfect replacements and it took me about 30 minutes.
11-24-2011, 02:50 PM
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Just did this too. 68$ from Walmart. The Walmart battery did not come with the threaded terminals, so I used a hacksaw to snip the part of the metal terminal that had the thread from the bad OEM battery, to use it as the "nut".
Works like a champ!
Works like a champ!
11-25-2011, 06:36 PM
#271
Senior Member
11-28-2011, 04:42 PM
#274
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was it as simple as take one off and put other one on?
how did you charge yours? with what?
11-28-2011, 06:36 PM
#275
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My neighbor charged it for me. You may be able to have Sears charge it for you if you don't have one.
