ferrariyellow44

So last night I had my car parked and turned it off, waiting for my son at the train station. After he gets in the car, the car wont start and the battery is dead. Literally didnt even have the lights/stereo on, nothing everything was powered off. The battery cranked the engine a little but didnt have enough in it to turn over the engine. So of course I didnt have jumper cables and no one around me did either so I called roadside assistance. (they were at my car in literally 15 mins, so awesome ) They tested the battery and said all is well and that possibly its the alternator. He jumps the battery and the car starts right up. Upon driving it home, I get a bright red "inoperable" signal on my guage cluster display and the car wont rev more than 2 grand and wont go over 20mph. Limp mode???

So I dropped the car off at the dealer last night and thats where it resides this morning. Any ideas as to what the hell happened????? I really dont want to get stranded again...

Thanks guys!

BenzE350

I'm guessing the engine control unit (ECU). Had this problem on my E350 last year.

ferrariyellow44

Oh ok, that would make sense. Never had anything this dramatic happen...quite scary!

ferrariyellow44

Turns out when the battery died, the drive by wire throttle needed to be reset. When power is taken from the car, on occasion, the throttle body needs to be re-programmed or it will only open 10% hence the "inoperable" message...still dont know why the battery died???

hyperion667

wow that is strange! glad you got it sorted out

ferrariyellow44

Yeah but they still have no idea why the battery died in the first place...so yeah it could easily happen again and the drive by wire will need to be re-programmed, again. Im just going to have them replace the battery, maybe its got a bad cell or something. Only 2 years old though!

ImInPA

Batteries can go bad. I recently replaced the battery on my motorcycle. It went dead about a week later. If they get dropped during shipping, this can dislodge and/or break the internals of the battery. In many modern cars, when the battery loses charge, many of the systems can reset or go into a "limp-home" mode. Hopefully, your ordeal is behind you now.

El Cid

The Best or Nothing

BudC

So can the owner reset the throttle or do you have to take it to the dealer?

Green E-300 DT

Which of your many cars did this?



DHG

telemakhos

I don't understand why MB designs parts like this. Programming information should be stored in non volatile memory.

Green E-300 DT

When I was down at the Lake this summer (Minaki Ontario - North of Kenora) I mistakenly left
my parking lights on. More than 48 hours later, my big (the rear) battery was so dead that the
doors would not unlock when I hit the key button on my key fob.

That battery was so dead that even with a jumper, it would not turn over and we had
to use the alternator via the jumpers to charge my battery for a short
while and then, and only then would it turn over and start.

The only things that had to be reprogrammed I did myself such as the tilting mirror on the passenger side
and the tilting steering wheel. My drive by wire was fine, and so were all
my radio stations settings.

BTW, I have a CDI and the battery was so discharged, that the dash
lights would not even glow let alone the glow plugs.

Learned my lesson to pay attention to the notice in the dash that states 'Close the Sunroof' or 'Your lights are on.'
Would have saved me a lot of trouble. I was more than 22 miles (35 kilometers) from Kenora and AAA service.

If it had not been for the nice person who runs that small lakeside business there at Gunn Lake, I would have had a long long wait!

So which models have to be taken back to the dealer to have the Command System reprogrammed when the battery is completely discharged?



DHG

newyorktoLA

LOL I guess the OP's 212 is nothing haha