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W164 no crank no start - Starting after reconnecting battery terminals
Hi All, Facing a weird issue with my ml 350 w164 2011 model. When I try to start the car a strange noice comes and then no crank sound.
Checked all fuse and relays. all look fine. Moment i removed negative terminal and connected back car started without any issues. Turned off again and try to start the car. No issues found. But again on next day same issue happen. no crank. Any idea whats going wrong. I tried to scan the vehicle when the car was down. Getting lots of CAN related messages. This been happening from past 2 months. Some time it will run till 1 month without any issues and suddenly same issue comes back. Need to reset the battery terminal to solve this. Please help. thanks in advance.
Those codes are unreadable . Delete all of those codes and carry the scanner with you, take it for a drive and as soon as there a problem, stop the car and check for codes in all modules.
Hi maj, I tried to delete the codes and crank the car. But no luck. Only battery terminal reset solves the issue. My battery is just 1 month old. But today when I checked battery drained completely. After starting the car am not getting any error logs. Is there aime earthing/ground issues? Because battery also drained completely. Alternator I checked it's working fine.
Reset was working before battery drain. Yesterday when i checked battery voltage was 10 and it was not cranking even after reset. I connected a scanner and in between that, battery got completely drained. I have given it for recharge now. It's 1 month old battery. I think earlier also crank was not happening due to low voltage. But I am not understanding how it got voltage & started when i reset the terminals earlier. Is it the battery drain issue we should investigate now?
I recharged the battery and connected back. First time the car got started and no errors shown. Locked the car and came back after 2 hours. This time car got started but after few seconds dashboard console started to show all error messages. Also the fan was running with a huge noice. I stopped the car after that no crank.
I recharged the battery and connected back. First time the car got started and no errors shown. Locked the car and came back after 2 hours. This time car got started but after few seconds dashboard console started to show all error messages. Also the fan was running with a huge noice. I stopped the car after that no crank.
please let us know what was the problem and fixed…
My mechanic is trying to Diagonize the issue. He checked all wirings and fuses and found that there is an issue with transmission control unit. Will be replacing it tomorrow. Will share more updates post that.
My mechanic is trying to Diagonize the issue. He checked all wirings and fuses and found that there is an issue with transmission control unit. Will be replacing it tomorrow. Will share more updates post that.
I am having same issue with ABS and ESP intermittent error pops up and after switching off car doesn't crank unless i reset battery wire.
My Mechanic checked with scanner (but not at the time of error) memory showed lots of fault. He cleared all then rechecked there was no error. He mentioned its EIS which is faulty and its common issue in w164 . Can you please confirm your output so far?
I am having same issue with ABS and ESP intermittent error pops up and after switching off car doesn't crank unless i reset battery wire.
My Mechanic checked with scanner (but not at the time of error) memory showed lots of fault. He cleared all then rechecked there was no error. He mentioned its EIS which is faulty and its common issue in w164 . Can you please confirm your output so far?
Sunny, Is this only ESP & ABS errors? For me it was showing almost all possible errors. SRS, ABS, AIrmatic etc. They come after car got started. Fan starts with a very loud noice with these errors blinking. It says drive to workshop with out changing gears & Vehicle not in position p errors also sometime. He is still diagnosing the issue. He is not sure that it's because of transmission module.
Are you getting Vehicle not in position p error? In my case all of this issues started with this error. 2 months back when I entered in to the car, I saw this message. But it got disappear after I removed the key and reinserted. That time starting problem was not there. But after 2 weeks when I was starting the car, car got started but with in seconds all errors starts blinking on console. From then this issue started.
Are you getting Vehicle not in position p error? In my case all of this issues started with this error. 2 months back when I entered in to the car, I saw this message. But it got disappear after I removed the key and reinserted. That time starting problem was not there. But after 2 weeks when I was starting the car, car got started but with in seconds all errors starts blinking on console. From then this issue started.
Yeah I received same SRS, ABS and ESP errors also red alert to drive to workshop without changing the gear. After switching off doesn't start but after resetting battery wire all works well for feew days. But if your car starts normally and errors appear then its something else. What errors are shown in Scanner? Did your Mechanic tried checking from Scanner? Even using faults in stored memory and clearing to rediagnose?
Yeah I received same SRS, ABS and ESP errors also red alert to drive to workshop without changing the gear. After switching off doesn't start but after resetting battery wire all works well for feew days. But if your car starts normally and errors appear then its something else. What errors are shown in Scanner? Did your Mechanic tried checking from Scanner? Even using faults in stored memory and clearing to rediagnose?
Mine also not starting. After resetting terminals it starts. But once u lock the car and try to start after 2-3 hours, some times car may starts and show all error messages. Once switched off then it wont start again till we detach battery terminal and reconnect. Some times before starting itself it shows error drive to workshop without changing geras, in key position 2 and no crank. I think we both are facing same issue. Attaching scanning reports
Last edited by adhithpg; Feb 11, 2022 at 04:03 AM.
Mine also not starting. After resetting terminals it starts. But once u lock the car and try to start after 2-3 hours, some times car may starts and show all error messages. Once switched off then it wont start again till we detach battery terminal and reconnect. Some times before starting itself it shows error drive to workshop without changing geras, in key position 2 and no crank. I think we both are facing same issue. Attaching scanning reports
Yeah these are exactly same error i received. Now from the codes it definitely is EIS fault. Yesterday I showed EIS to the expert and he said its not broken but something is not working. So he needs to replace EIS and check again.
Yeah these are exactly same error i received. Now from the codes it definitely is EIS fault. Yesterday I showed EIS to the expert and he said its not broken but something is not working. So he needs to replace EIS and check again.
Okay. Now my mechanic is saying issue is with the ISM module which need to be replaced. He scanned and checked all electrical lines & confirmed this. But I still not sure how its working once we reset terminals. As per him, vehicle not in position p and Drive to workshop with out changing gears are common symptoms of ISM failure. Let me know update from your mechanic
Okay. Now my mechanic is saying issue is with the ISM module which need to be replaced. He scanned and checked all electrical lines & confirmed this. But I still not sure how its working once we reset terminals. As per him, vehicle not in position p and Drive to workshop with out changing gears are common symptoms of ISM failure. Let me know update from your mechanic
He unable to find out the root cause. So I gave the vehicle in another garage to check. Started the car with resetting battery terminals and drive the vehicle to garage, around 20kms. If ISM is faulty then gears won't shift. But here there is no issue while driving the car. Seems like a can bus communication issue to me. Let the new garage person check this and then we can come to a conclusion. In your case also if EIS is failed then how come its switching on after resetting terminals? Did u ask this to your mechanic?
He unable to find out the root cause. So I gave the vehicle in another garage to check. Started the car with resetting battery terminals and drive the vehicle to garage, around 20kms. If ISM is faulty then gears won't shift. But here there is no issue while driving the car. Seems like a can bus communication issue to me. Let the new garage person check this and then we can come to a conclusion. In your case also if EIS is failed then how come its switching on after resetting terminals? Did u ask this to your mechanic?
I have searched and read on line that Mercedes EIS has problem with intermittent failures.
I think some electronic components ( resistor, diode, cap..etc. ) of EIS getting bad or soldier’s joints not in good contact after long period of time caused intermittent failure to communicate with CGW, ECU….
and even the little sensor inside the EIS was interfered/blocked with dust caused intermittent reading the key.
I have had this issue, and suspected the EIS myself.
I've had broken power supply / cold-soldered wires break or get flaky on Other module before too, and repaired it myself.
But before you dive into fishing the module out, do you have a spare key?
If you have a 2nd key that you know at least has worked before - try using it before other diagnostic measures.
If you don't have a spare key, bite the bullet and get one form dealership - if you were to take car there, it's the first thing they would ask you.
For them, a known-good key is part of the diagnostic process and it's the cheapest component they can assure.
Your key fob battery may be going bad, or the coil in side the fob may be getting bad. Or,..
But $350 is a lot less than $1000 for EIS.
I also found another trick which may help when the EIS is not recognizing the key:
- Turn key back off and remove
- Unlock the doors
- Lock the doors again
- Retry starting the car.
I think cycling the locks resets the security module, or at least some aspect of the security routine..?
He unable to find out the root cause. So I gave the vehicle in another garage to check. Started the car with resetting battery terminals and drive the vehicle to garage, around 20kms. If ISM is faulty then gears won't shift. But here there is no issue while driving the car. Seems like a can bus communication issue to me. Let the new garage person check this and then we can come to a conclusion. In your case also if EIS is failed then how come its switching on after resetting terminals? Did u ask this to your mechanic?
Adhithpg did you able to get any diagnosis of fault?
I showed this to another garage and he said its EIS for sure and in market it's not available. Whenever EIS will be available he will call me to change it. I am kind of stuck and now this error appears everyday. Mechanic said its intermittent because sometimes ECU recognize and sometimes CAN bus doesn't communicate with TCM that's why cannot change gear when error appears.
Also he said there is EIS diode issue like Emily mentioned.
Last edited by SunnyDub; Feb 21, 2022 at 02:33 AM.
Adhithpg, I missed the initial bit with odd noise before no-start condition.
From my recollection EIS/key issue was silent, but it's supposed to unlock the steering column as well so perhaps might not be silent.
The issue I had didn't occur when the car was overnight cold, would only happen after the dash area was warmed up.
If there is actually the internal power fault in the EIS, here is post on DIY: https://mbworld.org/forums/m-class-w...ml#post6742020
, if anyone's in that deep. I found the thread informative. But again, for me a new key was the ticket.
Hi All, Facing a weird issue with my ml 350 w164 2011 model. When I try to start the car a strange noice comes and then no crank sound.
Checked all fuse and relays. all look fine. Moment i removed negative terminal and connected back car started without any issues. Turned off again and try to start the car. No issues found. But again on next day same issue happen. no crank. Any idea whats going wrong. I tried to scan the vehicle when the car was down. Getting lots of CAN related messages. This been happening from past 2 months. Some time it will run till 1 month without any issues and suddenly same issue comes back. Need to reset the battery terminal to solve this. Please help. thanks in advance.
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W164 no crank no start - Starting after reconnecting battery terminals
