Thanks for this thread I changed the battery without going to the STEALERSHIP! Local Walmart does not have any, must have bought by MB owners because no bikers would change his battery this time of the year. I got mine from Sears. I went through the steps of filling and charging the new battery. I seriously doubt the stealership would spend 2 hours charging the battery. More than likely the MB battery come with the acid already inside since every MB model needs to be changed. Thanks again to all of you!

Merry Christmas, guys!

 

I needed the Aux Battery and didnt want to pay the $150 + 35 core fee. So i started shoping from AutoZone, Walmart, Sears & NAPA.. AAutoZone said it was a special order item and would take 2-3days. Walmart said they were out of stock. Sears was out of stocks & Napa said not carry it..

Every place i went to asked me for make and model of car and then said they didnt carry it but i already had all specs of the oem battery so i just want something with same specs.

After giving up looking for a cheap replacement - i ended up at the dealer and bought the oem benz battery. I did pay almost double but didnt have to put water in it and charge.. So i was so glad...

Im a happy man!!

 

I just bought and installed a etx-14 battery from Advance Auto that just fits into to my 2005 E320 just perfectly and appears to work ok. The only item that had to be adjusted was the OEM battery connection, had to flatten out the back section of the clamp.

 

Not to appear as being a complete IDIOT, but . .

I cannot locate the problem battery in my 'new-to-me' 2005 W-211 CDI.
I found the rear battery behind that panel on the passenger side in the trunk, but I do not think that is
the battery that is causing the 'visit workshop' message that appears every morning first thing.
After I drive my CDI for only a minute or less (?) I can shut it off and immediately restart
it and all the remainder of that day, there are no more messages!

So my dumb question is:

WHERE is that Problem Battery located that I need to change!

Just bought this wonderful machine from the original owner and it has been
doing this very same thing now for over three weeks and 1,500 miles.
In fact, I just spoke to the original owner yesterday, and he told me he saw it do that for the
very first time when he started it cold the morning I bought it and he brought it out of
his garage. Of course, he shut it off that time, and when we then went for a test drive,
it did not do that!

So I think it is high time I correct whatever is wrong, don't you?

Please tell me where I might find this 'second' troublesome battery?

Here are pictures of this CDI if the ad is still up:

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

What a wonderful machine, especially when compared to my 2010 VW Jetta Sportwagen
TDI which I sold for about the same money as was this MBZ CDI.

Again, will someone please direct me to where this troublesome battery is located.
Under what cover and where?

Thanks for all your help.

Nice to be able to know for sure what the problem is, and I know I can
fix it, thanks to the 278 messages here on this forum.

Many thanks.



Derrel H Green

 

The 2nd battery is on the passenger side under the hood an under the A/C filter box. You have to remove the a/c filter box to find the aux bat.

you can buy a new one from the dealer for big $$ or do a search on compatable models avialable locally.

 

Many thanks good Sir.

It had to be there, but why-oh-why is there a sticker on that filter cover that says "Battery-in-Trunk"?
Yes, the hugh main battery is in the trunk, but the one I needed to locate had to be there under that A/C filter cover.
There simply is no other place to put it under the hood!

On the small Fiamm battery are the numbers 44 04 so you just know that it's about time.
That figures, as the car was assembled in November, 2004 and first put in service in February, 2005.
Ther is no doubt in my mind that the battery is kaput(t). Don't you agree?

Anyhow, I am now off to see where and how much I can obtain a reasonable replacement for the kaput Fiamm (made in Italy!).
I guess seven years and 111K miles is long enough and far enough, correct?
No way will I go to the Stealership and pay what some here have paid.
When you are on Social Insecurity, you watch the pennies and the
dollars somehow just take care of themselves, don't you know?

So I will make a list and write down all those various part numbers listed here
and see what I can find!

Many thanks again for that exact location. After coming home from
breakfast, I pulled that cover off before I fired up the computer.
I do appreciate you telling me where to go!
There could not be any other location for it, at least under the hood.

BTW, did you know that the earlier diesels (1999) had the main (hugh) battery under the rear seat?
Guess the engineers use every space available that they can find.
I like the idea of how they were doing it with the W-211s as that does add the weight to the
rear far away from the front end. These W-211 CDIs appear to be nose heavy to me anyhow.

I wonder if the replacement battery I install will last for seven years?

Thanks for everything.



Derrel

 

If you get a battery same physical size and gel cell it should last about the same time. I found the MB battery IS made in Italy.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I replaced mine a year and a half ago. 2003 to 2010 is not bad at all. I replaced mine with a Die Hard battery, I'm hoping to get at least 5 years, we'll see. My main battery is the original one as well. I'm starting to get signs of it starting to go bad :-(

 

It really helps to have a good friend who works in a parts department!

He called around for me and found yet another battery that I am sure will work.
We will find out tomorrow morning when I install it.

It is a . . .

CYCLE-TRON PLUS, made by INTERSTATE and ready to go , as it is fully activated
and already charged. It checks out at slightly over 12 volts.
'Factory Activated' is printed on the box.

It is an AGM version!

See:

http://www.interstatebatteries.com/c...x?dsNavigation
=Ns~product+Type%7C101%7C1%7C%2CN~38-2147384848-4282938552&Title
=Cycle-Tron+Plus+High+Performance+-+310+CCA+-+18+AH

I cannot believe what that battery is supposed to list for!

Part Number: FAYTX 14. The box has MFG# M7RH4S.

My friend sells me parts for 25 % off! Paid $66 plus $5.16 tax, a total of $71.16.

It's ready to go. I did not have to mess around pouring in acid as that was already
done and the plugs were already in place. I think it is almost fully charged,
at least with enough that I don't think I need to give it any more 'juice'.
Somewhere in the paper work, it is stated that to charge it, only 1.2 amps
is to be used, and my chargers' lowest setting is higher at 2 amperes.
So I will simply leave it alone and let the alternator give it whatever is needed.
For a month now, every morning when first started, I get the message
'visit workshop' and after running it for a minute or so, when shut off
and then restarted, everything is okay for the remainder of the day.

Will post later about how everything turns out after this battery is installed.



Derrel

 

As promised, here are the excellent results for my efforts to fix the 'visit workshop'
message that appeared every morning when first starting up this fine machine.

Thanks to everyone who added their comments and advise, it was really a simple piece of work and simple to be sure!
In fact, it is so simple, I cannot understand why anyone would go to any Stealership to have this simple task performed.
Ladies, you can also do this very easy job, but expect to have to get your nails done when you are finished.
With all the money you will save, you can afford to get an entire make-over.

Total costs involved were only slightly over $71. That's all. No Mas!

Someone way back in the more than 280 messages spoke of having to do all kinds or resets and steps
involving disconnecting various connections, but I DID NOT DO ANY OF THOSE STEPS.
I reasoned that doing all those things would not be necessary, and I turned out to be right.

All I did was, this morning, without even trying to start the car and without inserting the key,
disconnected the ground connection from the bad (original) Fiamm (kaput) battery.
I knew it was bad, and sure enough, when I checked it's voltage, it barely checked out
at over 10 volts, indicating that it had perhaps at least one completely dead cell.
Next, I disconnected the positive (red) cable from the other terminal and wrapped some
tape around the end of that cable connection just in case it should come in
contact with any metal object. Did not want any sparks fying!
I then carefully removed the dead (original) Fiamm battery and installed the new CYCLE-TRON PLUS,
made by INTERSTATE and reconnected first the plus (red) cable and lastly, the ground cable.
Got in the car and inserted the key and turned it to just before the cranking position, and guess what?
No visit workshop appeared for the first time since I bought the car December 17th.

What a good feeling to be able to do this EASY job and have everything turn out just fine.

Saving perhaps more than over $150 by not taking it to a dealer helps out too.

If this old duffer can do this easy job, anyone can do it for sure!

Thanks again for all your help. Remember, it is much much easier
to do than some of the comments here would have you believe.
This is a relatively simple job and not at all difficult. Believe me,
IT IS NOT DIFFICULT!
Do not hesitate to attempt to do this easy job, and gain satisfaction from knowing
that you did it properly and in the process, saved some real money!



Derrel

 

I have a 2004 E500. The visit workshop battery message came on this morning. Given that both batteries were original, I replaced both of them. I bought both batteries from the Mercedes dealer. Unfortunately, the message is still on. Do any of the recalls/service bulletins that you mentioned apply to the E500? At this point I will go to the dealer, but I'd like to go informed. Any assistance that you provide is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

I replaced both batteries, but the message is still there. Do the recalls/ service bulletins apply to 2004 E500. Thanks.

 

This document may also interest you, since you are new to the W211 series:
http://www.mercedestechstore.com/pdf...2011-29-02.pdf

Edit: It should also be noted that W211 vehicles from MY07- do not have the dual-battery system described in this document. This is in coordination with the model facelift, and discontinuation of the SBC Sensotronic Brake Control, in favour of the less complex, more conventional Adaptive Brake system. Because of the reduced complexity, certain components such as the battery control module, and auxiliary battery relay were combined in to the rear SAM, or eliminated entirely. A new battery amperage sensor was also introduced that is far more accurate in detecting current draw - this communicates with the rear SAM directly. Lastly, the consumer prioritization feature still exists during main bus undervolt conditions, but no messages are conveyed to the driver in the instrument cluster display.

 

On my e320, I replaced the battery and could not clear the code. Since everything was working properly, I was not too concerned. While I was gathering info on how to clear the codes, they cleared themselves. No problems since.........

Jay

 

Thank you for the document. This is one heck of an integrated system. I'll check the charge of the new mb auxilliary battery and see if the relay is getting activated during the initial energizing cycle upon start-up. After that, I guess it is time to go to the dealer, which is ok.

Also, how long did it take your car to clear itself of the warning message/code? Did it clear while sitting or after driving for a while?

I thank you both for your assistance.

UPDATE:

Just returned from MB dealer. They scanned the car for codes, cleared them and all is well $128.00 later. As I replaced both batteries, I'll never know which one triggered the fault code and the technician did not say. He did say that a recent software update is available that delays checking the batteries after start-up to prevent a nuisance code from triggering the warning message. He indicated that is what probably happened in my case. Unfortunately their internet link to Mercedes was not working and I will need to return to have the update installed if desired. I am pleased that the car is ok and while the codes might have cleared themselves in a few weeks time, it is my father's car and he would not take that chance. The cost to clear the codes and get rid of the message might be high, but his piece of mind makes it well worth it.

Thank you to everyone for all your assistance.

 

Why not just buy this bs-14 fitment aux battery? Ready to roll right out of the box, none of this acid filling and pre-charging business.

Thx guys. Couldn't find the answer in this great thread.

 

anyone?

 

What is your question?



Derrel

 

I'm asking why is everyone messing around with filling up a battery, waiting for an hour, and charging it... when you can ready to use?

I confused.

 

To be sure.

I asked myself that same question recently when I replaced my original Aux. battery dated 44-04.
I could not understand why anyone would go to all that trouble when they could already buy
a replacement battery that was ready right now out-of-the-box for installation.
My battey charger may indeed put out to much amperage and I
did not want to worry about over charging the new battery.
My friend found me an Interstate Cycle-Tron Plus 'factory activated' battery ready for installation.
FAYTX14 MFG # M7RH4S
No mess, no fuse, no charging and ready to be installed.
He got me a 'deal' and it cost me less than $72 including all taxes!

Feel like a bandit beating the dealer out of how much money?

Refer back to my messages numbers 284 and 285 above for all the details.



Derrel

 

Thanks Derrel, I knew I wasn't crazy.

 

Give it a little while, if the message still comes on then it is a charging problem. Check your alternator and make sure the piece that is removalble is in good condition because the leads will wear out causing insufficient charging.

Can anyone remind me on what that part is called?

 

Don't know off hand, but I will bet you that your answer can be found here:

http://www.mercedestechstore.com/pdf...2011-29-02.pdf

Perhaps what you are looking for is the Battery Control Module (N82)?

HTHs



Derrel

 

^Nah its a part of the alternator that can be removed.. Its actually called the voltage regulator and it wears out overtime causing a weak charge.

 

For the life of me I cannot understand a person's willingness to mess up the sophisticated electrical system in their W211 E class over a few dollars. Going to Walmart, Autozone, etc to buy a motorcycle battery, mixing up a "potion", adding it to the battery and then charging it overnight so you can save a few dollars is nuts. Oh yeah, lets not forget the brainiacs that think it's a good idea to modify the auxiallary battery cables to fit the junk battery they just bought.

Do not waste your time. You have two and only two good choices. 1. Go to the Mercedes Benz dealership, give them your VIN and buy the correct battery. 2. Buy the Interstate auxilliary battery mentioned above. (Interstate Cycle-Tron Plus 'factory activated' battery ready for installation. FAYTX14 MFG # M7RH4S)


As for the rear, primary battery, my cost at Mercedes was LESS than the cost for the Interstate battery.

Remember, you are driving a sophisticated, expensive automobile, not a corolla. Even if you bought it used for $15,000, you still need to service it like its a $50,000 car. Because it is. I save my money on the labor side of the repair and never skimp on parts.