E500 w211 Gages flickering Battery ABS SRS Shifting dash lights issue
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E500 2005
E500 w211 Gages flickering Battery ABS SRS Shifting dash lights issue
Hello everyone.
I have a video here:
My problem is described in the video but essentially I have some sort of an electrical issues. My gages go down and lights flicker, the check engine light was flashing until it stayed on, SRS, Cluster failure light, temp sensor light, fluids light, traction control light, suspension warning... the whole 9 yards.
I have a 2005 E500 with 141k miles. It drives really well when the car wants to work. Shifts good, engine sounds healthy, no problems. Then when the gages start to flicker and go berzerk, the transmission wont shift out of the current gear that its in, there is a loss of power, and if I turn the car off while the gages are not working, the car wont turn back on unless I try it 5-6 times. I tried flooring it once while I had this problem and the engine lost power, then it regained power and it puttered. My headlights were NOT flickering, the stereo works great, nav unit works great, interior lights work, reverse gear is fine, neautral, parking brake, horn. I checked relays by just pulling them out. Everything seems good. I checked rear trunk and under hood and driver side fuses... I mean WHAT IS GOING ON!!!
The main light that I get before anything happens is the BATTERY LIGHT as you will see in the video, that says to Visit Workshop. Then everything goes nuts. 14.4-14.7v on the rear main battery, and 12.6v on the secondary battery/aux bat. What else should I be looking for?
Jason THANKS EVERYONE!
I have a video here:
My problem is described in the video but essentially I have some sort of an electrical issues. My gages go down and lights flicker, the check engine light was flashing until it stayed on, SRS, Cluster failure light, temp sensor light, fluids light, traction control light, suspension warning... the whole 9 yards.
I have a 2005 E500 with 141k miles. It drives really well when the car wants to work. Shifts good, engine sounds healthy, no problems. Then when the gages start to flicker and go berzerk, the transmission wont shift out of the current gear that its in, there is a loss of power, and if I turn the car off while the gages are not working, the car wont turn back on unless I try it 5-6 times. I tried flooring it once while I had this problem and the engine lost power, then it regained power and it puttered. My headlights were NOT flickering, the stereo works great, nav unit works great, interior lights work, reverse gear is fine, neautral, parking brake, horn. I checked relays by just pulling them out. Everything seems good. I checked rear trunk and under hood and driver side fuses... I mean WHAT IS GOING ON!!!
The main light that I get before anything happens is the BATTERY LIGHT as you will see in the video, that says to Visit Workshop. Then everything goes nuts. 14.4-14.7v on the rear main battery, and 12.6v on the secondary battery/aux bat. What else should I be looking for?
Jason THANKS EVERYONE!
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From: Republic of Texas
'99 and '05 E55 AMG
First suspect is a bad main battery. 14.4-14.7 volts on a main battery is nuts. Engine off, good battery should be 12.2 (older) to 12.6 (newer). With engine running, bring up on the dash display the bus voltage, you should see 13.7 to 14.1 volts if the alternator is charging properly. You can search Youtube and find videos on how to bring up the bus voltage on the dash. Basically, key position one, scroll through menus to temperature or wrench, hit reset button on left side three times rapidly.
Second suspect is a failed alternator (I'm discounting a bad serpentine belt since the temperature is good and power steering works).
Thirds suspect is a failed/failing BCM.
You are aware your brakes are computer-controlled and require a functioning electrical system? Stop driving the car until you get this sorted out or you're going to piloting a 4000-pound missile with only emergency braking power.
Second suspect is a failed alternator (I'm discounting a bad serpentine belt since the temperature is good and power steering works).
Thirds suspect is a failed/failing BCM.
You are aware your brakes are computer-controlled and require a functioning electrical system? Stop driving the car until you get this sorted out or you're going to piloting a 4000-pound missile with only emergency braking power.
Last edited by bbirdwell; Dec 4, 2017 at 10:49 AM.
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E500
First suspect is a bad main battery. 14.4-14.7 volts on a main battery is nuts. Engine off, good battery should be 12.2 (older) to 12.6 (newer). With engine running, bring up on the dash display the bus voltage, you should see 13.7 to 14.1 volts if the alternator is charging properly. You can search Youtube and find videos on how to bring up the bus voltage on the dash. Basically, key position one, scroll through menus to temperature or wrench, hit reset button on left side three times rapidly.
Second suspect is a failed alternator (I'm discounting a bad serpentine belt since the temperature is good and power steering works).
Thirds suspect is a failed/failing BCM.
You are aware your brakes are computer-controlled and require a functioning electrical system? Stop driving the car until you get this sorted out or you're going to piloting a 4000-pound missile with only emergency braking power.
Second suspect is a failed alternator (I'm discounting a bad serpentine belt since the temperature is good and power steering works).
Thirds suspect is a failed/failing BCM.
You are aware your brakes are computer-controlled and require a functioning electrical system? Stop driving the car until you get this sorted out or you're going to piloting a 4000-pound missile with only emergency braking power.
thank you for your reply. I will let the shop know this after I hear what they think is wrong with it. You make a good point, though. The battery is charging a little high come to think about it. How, though, would you explain the transmission loses power and it won’t shift during these problems? Can a battery really do that much?
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 3,966
Likes: 1,315
From: Republic of Texas
'99 and '05 E55 AMG
Your transmission is computer controlled. The car is a distributed digital control system with approximately 32 digital modules communicating amongst themselves using a two-wire data bus. If the voltage levels are incorrect, the digital devices cannot communicate with each other.
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E500
So I got it back from the shop that had it for a week. Obviously I want to instinctively complain about how poor their “professional” service was but I’ll get right to it instead. After a week of diliberation, they replaced the battery stating that it has a bad “something.” It also read 14.7 volts. And from what I understand, that’s a little too high. It seemed to be fine. Then later today as I’m driving around, the problem came up again but only this time, I didn’t lose power over my transmission/engine. It seemed to be still functional. My check engine light, gas light and gages would go berserk. I’m thinking it’s either the voltage regulator or the BCM (battery control module). Any thoughts my fellow friends? I will be here until this gets resolved. Also, if you need any more information on my problem, I’d be happy to answer.
