c4004matic

Recently I had noticed that the much maligned auto stop feature was not engaging. I also noticed that the standby mode had a message that it could not be engaged due to low battery voltage. The car was otherwise working and starting perfectly. I decided to hook up the trickle charger overnight. Indeed the battery was short of juice. Everything is back to normal. Its easy to forget that these cars are never really off. I drive mostly short distances, otherwise, the car sits, in the winter, in a parking lot often at temps below 0F. I also travel every couple of mths thus the car can sit for a week or two. Caveat emptor keep an eye on your battery lest you get a nasty surprise when you least expect it.

Long Islander

Thanks but on a E400 wagon, while they put charging posts under the hood and tell you that in the manual, they hide where the battery actually is (somewhere in the cargo area), so you can't do anything with or to the battery itself.

c4004matic

You dont need access to the battery, you use the jumper contacts to trickle charge. Easy peasy!

ua549

Can trickle charging be done via the 12 vdc socket connection? It works on some vehicles and makes it much simpler to connect.

Bobby4919

I can tell you from experience that once the battery/batteries are dead and it won't take a jump, then the car is a brick. Gone are the days of popping the clutch while the car is rolling downhill.

I had an ignition switch problem which drained the batteries (SA said there are two) and had a heck of a time getting the car towed out of my driveway since we couldn't put the thing in neutral without any power.

Gone are the days of popping the clutch while the car is rolling downhill!

ua549

I had battery issues with my BMW but one could jump start it when the battery was so dead that the interior lights would not illuminate. A trickle charger just does not have enough oomph to power a starter. My 200 amp charger can jump start anything except (a big maybe) the new 48 volt system Mercedes is implementing.

c4004matic

Correct, a trickle charger cannot boost a battery. That what were trying to avoid