Steveo1966

I have a 2016 E250 that attempts to start (turn over). As I have not been travelling for business, it has been sitting in the garage for about 3 weeks, and it looks like it went mostly dead. I tried first with a booster pack, and then with cables from another car, connecting to the under hood posts (not the battery itself), and the when I press the keyless go button (foot off the brake) the ignition powers up as expected, and then when I depress the keyless go button again with foot on the brake, it starts to turn over but then stops immediately. If I keep holding the keyless go button, it will do this about 3 times in total and then shut off the ignition I believe and then I can repeat the entire sequence. I have a video of this sequence at this link : https://photos.app.*******/Ms6mhau5czL1SLXD7

Is it possible that I am just not getting enough power from either the booster pack (which was fully charged) or the vehicle being used to boost? I have my battery charger currently trickle charging the battery, but will wait a number of hours before trying again.

Has anyone seen this behavior? I do have a Scangauge ODBII unit as well as a generic ODBII adapter that I use along with Torque if there are any codes I should attempt to read from the vehicle?

Thanks in advance!

ccww

I have never had a dead battery on my 2015 E250 BT. However on my 2010 VW TDI Cup Edition Jetta if the battery went dead it would take about 30 minutes of charging from another running vehicle before it would crank properly.

Diesels are hard to crank and require a lot of power for the starter and the glow plugs, which are typically employed around starting in all temperatures for emissions reasons. So I think that it is quite likely that you just haven’t charged it up enough yet.

Arrie

If you are jumping the car from another car running and it won't crank properly you most likely have an issue with the starter. These starters go fast on cars with ECO STOP/START regardless of what MB says that they are extra robust. I believe it is the exact same starter as in cars just before the ECO STOP/START was introduced.

1965 Beto

Hey fellas, I ran into this post and Im having the same issue as Steveo. Mine is a 2014.

Steveo1966

Just an update on this, and good news!! and CCWW's earlier reply was right on the money. I was away a couple days and did not get back to this until a day ago. So, I decided to connect my battery charger, and fully charge the battery (while in the car) on the trickle / 2A setting of my charger, which I connected yesterday morning. I just tried to start it again this morning, and it started right away, and as per normal, so all is good - no codes or diagnostics, so the issue was only the battery. All in all, this is a very interesting learning experience, as I would never thought, that bringing power from a booster pack or jumper cables from another car, would NOT provide sufficient power to start the vehicle.

As an interesting side note, what do the roadside assistance guys do (including MB Roadside) if they are called out to a scenario where the car would need a boost to start?

ccww

Glad to hear that it all worked out!

I’ve never needed a jump from roadside assistance. I suppose I just assumed they’d use their truck if a booster pack wasn’t enough. Is that not the case?

Steveo1966

Good question, I have not used MB roadside assistance for anything either, let alone a jump -- perhaps someone else can comment on the Roadside assistance experience! Even with using their truck for a jump, per your original comments, it sounds like they made need to keep it connected for 30 or more min to sufficiently charge the battery??

Arrie

I experienced this on my 2010 E550. Car started having longer than normal cranks. First thing was to replace the battery that was about 6 or so years old. Did at the dealer and yes, at $400+ it was an expensive battery.

After about 1 1/2 - 2 months the problems with starting returned. Longer than normal cranks and sometimes it took two tries to get it running.

Checked the alternator and it was giving a good up to 14.7V charing voltage. Then went to get a new battery but this time from Autozone. I think it was about $200 or so. Kept the almost brand new MB battery as I was thinking this may not be a battery issue at all.

Sure enough after about 2 months my starting problems return and at this point I went to do what I had been reading about in this forum and was hoping this is not the case but after 3 batteries with a good alternator do the same thing I just had to believe it is the STARTER PROBLEM.

I replaced the starter and this fixed the problem. Have not had any starting issues since and this was now about a year and a half ago.

My E550 sits now very often for several weeks as I drive the S550 that I recently got. But I do drive it little bit and every time it has started without any hesitation after 3 or even 4 weeks sitting still.

If you run in the problems again in a few months time forget the battery, it is your starter that is causing the issue. The problem seems to be that the starter partially grounds itself during start sequence and robs your battery of power and if battery is not fully charged, which it will never be other than after using a charger, it will not have enough juice to get the car going.

Steveo1966

I appreciate the additional info on the starter, and will certainly keep an eye on things and good to be aware of in case of future problems. In my case, since all of this started with essentially a nearly dead battery (ignition would not even power up), and a full charge rectified things, I am inclined to think that was the root cause, as I have never experienced the longer than normal cranks that seemed to be the start of your saga. And fingers crossed that I do not in future!

cetialpha5

It might be a technique issue. I usually have everything hooked up for a minute or two before I even try. Having it hooked up for a few minutes lets the old battery charge and helps with the starting. A booster pack alone might not be enough to start the car, but a partially recharged battery plus the booster or the output from the cables of another car might do it. Also those roadside assistance guys typically use good cables, part of the problem could be undersized cables so it can't carry as much amperage as thicker cables. Also make sure the connections are solid.