Hello,

I'm hoping there are some relatively reasonable options with decent odds of success in fixing this issue (bullet pointed items I think are relevant are below).

The story:
I bought my son a 2005 Mercedes E500 for him to take with him to college this summer. It has mostly sat since purchase, I try to drive it a couple times a month; recently it sat for about 3 months. When I attempted to start it this morning two error messages came up - ESP Failure & ABS Failure; the car did not turn over and the engine fan ran on high (very loud). I had charged both the battery in the trunk and the one under the hood. Also, when I went to start it, I noticed the rear of the car was VERY low; a pump had turned on when I first went to get in the car and it initially said "Car Too Low" in red. That message has gone.

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Bullet Pointed Relevant(?) items:

* Car sat for 3 months, main battery was "dead" and wouldn't start car. I put it on a charger overnight and tried to start this morning (results below).

* Car rear suspension was low; this has happened before and it pumps up.

* When I pressed "unlock" the pump started to raise the rear of the car. I put in the main key and the clock started spinning very quickly in reverse. Steering wheel unlocked as normal. An error "Car Too Low - take to shop" (or something to that effect in red) came on then went away.

* Turning the key to the "start" position, an ESP Failure message in white came on followed shortly by an ABS Failure message in white. Then, the engine fan came on high (faster than I'd ever heard it before). Another message "Windshield Washer Fluid Low" came on (though I doubt this is relevant, it was on when I last drove it).

* I'm in Northern California and it's been super-wet here and it's parked outside.

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Steps I've taken after doing some searching here:

* Verified Charge of both batteries (both are 12.4v) though they were probably both empty/dead for awhile.

* Put the car in "Dyno" mode to ignore the ESP? No change.

* Did the whole definition of insane mom thing and tried it like 3-4 more times and got the same results

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Any suggestions would be appreciated; I have a couple months. I'm not super mechanical at all, but I was able to use a Volt-reader. I'd love it to be something like new batteries or a reset of something I can do myself versus having to buy a whole new ECU like some postings I've read.

Thank you so much!
Missy

 

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...desperate.html

This was just recently bumped to the 2nd page of the forum.

 

Since your car was parked for a long time, the rear suspension seemed to lose its air, since you started the car the pump 'filled' the rear shocks thus raising, it, if it happens more often the yours is blown and have to get an Arnott replacement 'lifetime warranty'

Windshield wiper fluid is self explanatory

Are you sure it's the fan? when you open this cars with SBC the brake pump starts, maybe you are hearing the sbc pump.

The clock is that it was out of time, you can set the time in the cluster settings.

 

Clock will reset itself if nav is set to gps for clock.

 

Thank you there were some good tips there, I read a lot of them prior but they were so eclectic I was hoping my specific details could narrow the possibilities. I'll post what I found next - I appreciate your help.


Yes, the rear suspension leaks slowly; the front suspension is all Arnott, but not the back - something to look in to soon or I'm sure I'll need a pump too.

Yes, the windshield fluid leaks out of the bottom grommet, I think my son can fix this one himself.

Yes, it was the main front fan; we could feel it but I also checked it too.

Thank you for the information on the clock, makes sense.


No Navigation on this car, but probably due to sitting too long / out of sync maybe (one battery may have been good the other died?). I do not think this is related other than the battery dying. Next post will be what I think I found.

 

Potential Issues Identified.

After reading many posts and different directions I started testing all the fuses I could find/reach (trunk, by rear battery and in engine bay). They all tested fine.

I tried the turning the wheel lock to lock but it was too hard to turn without the car running (for a lady like me anyhow). While I was trying that the fan stopped and then the car allowed me to start it fine. I'm not really sure what happened other than I was fiddling with the relays/fuses in the engine bay just before.

I let the car run and when I was getting ready to take it for a short drive it died before I put it in to gear and before I had a chance to turn it lock to lock. Of course, as soon as I had put the engine fuse covers back on and closed the hood.

I tried to start it several times again, turning ESP into the Dyno Mode like other posts said - no success. Let it cool, no success. (after adding washer fluid the error messages were just "ESP Diagnostic Unavailable" and "ABS Diagnostic Test Unavailable" (or something to those effects).

So, I opened the hood and the fuse box (drives side) - while the fan was running I started wiggling an tapping on the relays. When I tapped on Relay K (Says something like "Circuit 87 Relay, Chassis) the fan immediately stopped and I was able to start the vehicle again.

At this point, I'm still not 100% sure the issue or if it was a coincidence me tapping on that relay. I've put the box back together and it has started each time since (4 for 4). I probably should buy another "Kk" 87-Chassis Relay, I'm sure they're relatively affordable.

Other potential issues still could be battery (maybe running awhile gave it enough juice?). And, potentially the Brake Switch and i just got lucky not tapping that relay? Also, there's a chance the relay is good and whatever sends the signal to it is sketchy and me tapping on it just made it open (or close or whatever it does)??

I'll update y'all in case this helps someone else. Other opinions/thoughts on causes are welcome too.

Thank you!
Missy

 

Update, went to go fill it with gas tonight and would not start again (same ESP/ABS messaging and fan on high). Opened hood tapped relay, fan turned off and it started.

I am hoping it's just a sticky relay or maybe corroded terminals. I'll try again next weekend, I've 13 weeks to sort this out.

Missy

edited "good" to "hood"

 

is it starting or not starting? I"m confused..... I would put two new batteries in it. IF youre child is taking vehicle to school, i'd think you'd like to have his/her vehicle with good charged batteries especially if you had to charge existing ones to get vehicle started. Willing to bet you when you have two fresh batteries all your issues will go away for the most part until the next thing fails....

 

Hello, Thank you for your input. It charges fine; both batteries. It just sits for months at a time as it's a 4th vehicle and my son does not drive (yet). I could replace the batteries, but other than sitting for 3-4 months at a spell they're likely good. What I did was put them on two "Battery Tenders" over the weekend - hoping that was better than charging them every couple months.

I hear you on setting him up for success; we put new tires on the car and ensured the brakes were over 75%... probably wouldn't hurt to spend a few hundred dollars on some batteries, I'll do that before June - they'd just sit int he car if I did it this month =) Both batteries were reportedly replaced in the last 2 years (the date on the rear one is 2015, no date on the one in the trunk - both hold 12.4-12.7 when driven on a regular basis; the trunk one drops to 11.4-11.7 when sitting for months, the one under the hood stayed over 12v... I think the trunk one may drop due to the leaky rear shocks - I'll replace those by June).

Do you think current could be a reason the kK relay is not "tripping/activating" (or whatever the term is)?

 

I heard that. Not sure about your last question without inspecting vehicle. But typical protocol on diagnosing any electrical woe on mercedes is to have good charged batteries. A midtronics battery test will tell you exactly what condition the battery is in. Voltage drop during cranking (below 10.5 volts i think) will too send stuff into limp mode. I suggest purchasing batteries and when he does start driving vehicle install them so that way they aren't just sitting. GL