GDawgC220

So a few days ago, my dad calls me up and says the ML won't start. Okay, I'm thinking the battery is 8 years old, still original...gotta be the battery. He says no lights, etc. I get there, indeed, no lights or anything. I hook up the jumper cables to my car and I get power in the ML now. But it won't crank, not even trying to crank. It just makes clicking noises. I'm thinking, that is strange, it should at least crank but not turn over.

Did some searching this morning and found others have had the same issue and a new battery fixed it. I head to Autozone and pick the proper one up and put it in. Starts right up, yay! But the BAS/ESP light stays on, which is normal I've read. Okay, fine. Now here is where it gets strange...

While in park or neutral at idle, I hit the gas pedal, NO RESPONSE. I floor it, nothing, seems dead. At times, it will rev up by itself just slightly, very slightly. Up and down, up and down. Then it'll go back to normal idle. I put it in drive/reverse and hit the gas, nothing. I take it around the block, going only about 10mph, as that's the quickest it'll go in drive without any gas input. Once it gets to about 12-13mph, the car will hit the gas itself very slightly, so it creates a back and forth jerking motion, as if I myself were hitting the gas pedal every second. Once I hit the brakes to slow it down back to 10mph, smooth again, just putts along.

Any idea as to what could be causing this strange issue? MAF? Not throwing a CEL. Even if it were the MAF, I should still be able to have gas pedal funtionality. I even manually pull on the throttle cable under the hood and get nothing. Limp mode? Any other ideas?

Thanks!

PaulX608

Not sure about the gas pedal issue, but I know from when our ML430s battery went there were a bunch of things that had to be reset. That's why I let Roadside Assistance bring me a battery. I think I paid $140 for the battery, but the labor was free and the technician reset everything that needed to be reset. Good luck to you.

GDawgC220

Thanks. I had my dad turn the wheel to the left then right to try and reset the BAS/ESP light (as stated in the manual) but still on. Next was to have him pull the ground cable and let the car "reset" overnight and plug it back in the morning to see if things reset and works again.

sosh

Its quite possible that with the jumping and/or the battery change that you fried something. Do not think that you will be able to get this fixed yourself as it will require a Star Diagnostic system. Hopefully it is not something expensive like the engine control module or the AAM. Perhaps the key was on when the vehicle was jumped or the battery installed. Thats a no no!!

Darkmann

I agree with Paul - certain things have to be reset after battery replacement and I'm sure you're missing some.

Now for some admonishing: Why in the world would you want to do this anyway? Seems like a lot of us still don't understand that roadside assistance is lifetime with the truck!!! and it costs a ton less to have roadside take care of the issue rather than tow the truck in. If I were you I'll call roadside and explain what the problem is. They'll get you going in no time. Hope it all works out fine,...sooon.

GDawgC220

Fixed! I e-mailed my old service adviser who opened his own independent MB shop and told him what happened. He said sometimes after replacing the battery, the adaptive throttle needs to be reset:

Stick in key to "on" position, right before starting the car
Leave it in for about 5 minutes

That did the trick, reset the throttle and everything seems to be fine now. Just an FYI for those who have or may encounter this in the future

C23098Peter

Thanks a million GDawgC220. Because you went all the way to find a fix for the erratic idling on your dad's ML, I fixed my C230 1998 on which I had the alternator rebuilded. I tried the 5 minutes to ON position and voila, runs great. Thanks again, you are my star of the day.

GDawgC220

Nice! I'm glad I was able to help someone out with the info

davethebenzman

YOU ARE THE MAN. and just for you the # to the benz road side is 1-800-222-0100. but didnt know of the reset with the abs lights. thanks.

Mike's ML

This is NOT SO!
I used Road Side Assistance for my 98ML and paid about $120 for a battery when still under warranty. Several years later, and out of warranty, the same RSA dealer charged me $230 for a new battery. After calls to the RSA dealer, Mercedes RSA center and my dealer I found out that RSA is only free for a battery "Jump Start" (Not a battery replacement), gas and tire change. The RSA dealers are allowed to charge a service fee and labor for all other calls including a Battery replacement. And lets face it, changing a battery is not rocket science. I even changed the radio code myself when the battery was replaced (No other settings required in a 98ML). The next time I need a battery I am going to change it myself.
So if you do call Mercedes RSA make sure you ask what the charges will be before accepting the service. Many members on this forum have claimed they only paid for the battery. Although the battery cost them $150. Last time I checked a battery at the dealer went for about $108 to $120. My dealer told me they charge about $110 for the battery and $25 for the RSA install. That's reasonable but the dealer responding to my dead battery absolutely screwed me and there was nothing I could do. The screwing stealer's name was INSKIP in Rhode Island.

Thanks for the tip on the adaptive throttle reset procedure. That could come in really handy.
Mike

GDawgC220

Ah yes, I forgot about that. Road side does charge for a replacement battery when your original battery does not hold a charge anymore. MB Batteries are quite pricey as well.

No problem about the tip! I hope it helps some people out when needed.

rjangML

Killed the 98 ML Key Fob with Jump Starting!
Heads up to 163 and maybe others who are jump starting a ML – the battery on the ’98 ML packed up (exactly 6 years to the month for the 2nd OEM battery). I was able to get the car started with the portable power pack, and made it over to the local gas station where it refused to restart. When I tried to jump start it at the local gas station (thanks to the ML55 owner who tried to assist), the engine fired, then died. Tried a few more times and the same thing – would fire, and run for 2 seconds – no throttle response.
Installed a new OEM battery, and the engine would fire, run for 2 seconds and die – no throttle response and it seemed like a fuel delivery problem. After searching the posts without success save for a suggestion to “reset the adaptive throttle” – tried that and still no throttle response. Called MB Roadside Assistance and Mike the service tech advised that the Key Fob was fried and I would have to order the replacement from Germany. Fortunately I had the spare key along and sure enough, as soon as I used that one the engine started and ran fine.
So the long and the short – be very careful when jump starting the car. I think I might have left the key in the ignition on ONE of the attempts to jump start the stalled car, and perhaps that caused a voltage spike that killed the remote key fob. Strange thing is that I can still use it to lock, unlock the car – it’s just that the “key” in the ignition will not keep the car running. The other key works fine.
Anybody ever figure out a way to REPAIR the damaged key fob and restore it for use?

merzilla

thank you so much for posting this!! i couldnt believe it when it actually worked

bkadzako

Thank you very much!!!!

DrX

If future readers are going to take the advice in this thread, they can save time by turning ignition on (key to position 2, all lights on cluster come on, don't start the engine) for 2 minutes at least, then off (position 0) for 10 seconds at least. The engine can then be started.

ahernanh

Its great this trick, i try fix the problem with another tips and unfortunately don't works for me.

I want to thank you again for this solution C23098Peter

Diego.mer.r129

Thanks a lot! Yesterday happened the same thing in my 99 SL 500 m113 engine, the battery got totally death and when i replaced, gas pedal death, it was a nightmare but thanks this forum I fix it, thank you all people who discuss about this, have a good week you all