2003 MB s500, won't crank. Battery fully charged, key turns, all accessories work.

 

Does it attempt to crank at all or just no movement? the Try jiggling around the gear shift. If you have a second key, try that one also.

 

I'm going through something similar. My issues was that the car would crank intermittently. Try cranking the car once and leave the key in the ON position(where all the dash lights are lit). Wait some time and see if it will start by itself.

Some other things you may want to check:
a) Starter relay
b) Does interior dome lights go dim when you crank?
c) Are there any noise you hear when you crank? Starter spinning, click, etc.
d) If you have a second set of key, try it. If not, check battery on current key. Replace battery if necessary.
e) Check gear shifter and make sure the lever did set on park last time you parked the car. Shift through the gears, especially between N and D. I am not sure if this issue would apply to the S500 but have heard it def does for the S600. Others can chime and and let you know if this does apply.
f) Problem with the EIS module. If everything else check out ok, then it could be that there is problem with EIS with is where the key goes in.

That's all I can think of.

I have a similar problem on my car where it wouldn't crank. I've replaced and checked everything else. The unique symptom on mine would be that when it didn't crank, I would have to leave the key in the ignition module for 20-40 minutes then it would start. Recently I replaced the starter. So far it has been starting every time for the last 5 days. Too early to tell if it's been resolved.

 

I had the same problem. Check the front passenger footwell fuse box. Mines blew and the stealership stole some of my money.

 

Hi, yeah tks for info, i checked the fusable links in passenger footwell all good.

 

Hi thanks yeah I tried moving the shifter around to all positions nothing the radiator fan comes on full speed I check the fusible links in the passenger footwell they were all good. The only thing I did recently was change the brake light switch and now this happened.

 

Fan going full speed and no comms with a code reader as per your other thread makes me think the ECU is not being powered up correctly.

The Engine management fuses are in the engine bay fuse boxes, have you checked those?

 

[QUOTE=Joshy;6838939]Fan going full speed and no comms with a code reader as per your other thread makes me think the ECU is not being powered up correctly.

The Engine management fuses are in the engine bay fuse boxes, have you checked those? Yes

 

Hi-ya double-check them with multimeter and then took them out checked all the fuse all good.

 

Did you pull up the passenger carpet , remove the metal plate and check the main power supply? These are the main fuses

 

Are there fuses under passenger footwell for the S600 as well?

 

Yes

 

I got a S430 2003 that did not want to crank, the fuse and relay as been checked and were good. the shifter would not come out of park, there was no status of gear in the cluster.

The scanner would say that 199 driver authorization = no
I got the transmission code and they were all communication related.

So, though the transmission plug was full of oil, then it was but that was not the problem.
Though the EIS was the problem, key was turning but the driver authorisation stay at no.

Then I bough a use shifter, EIS and ECU and swap, same result, I putted back old EIS , ECU and shifter. (by the way I did check the shifter lever inside and shifter was good.

I checked all fuse, every where, the one in the passenger foot well, rear trunk, passenger side, front left and front right.

Got all the sam out and verify that all component was not soak, checked for water trance in the right sam area. Checked the cicuit board of TCU in the right side front (passenger side) same result.

So, I got an oscilloscope and checked the can, I was very surprise how dirty the signal was. Not a square but all spike and so.

So, I disconnected the battery, and cut the white and green of EIS, Shifter, ECU and TCU

I ran communication from the EIS, directly to shifter and ECU, TCU.
Car started right away.

Then I traced back the wire, they get into the driver side foot well.
there was the interconnectin of all green and green white. water got to this place and all wire were corroded. I redid all connection with solder and insultation. I saw also anothe can (body can) interconnection that was also corroded there, I cut and redo all of them.

Now the S430 start and I get status gear in the cluster. I got lot's of stability.

Still need to find some little problem here and there but mainly the car is on is way to ride again.

 

Water damage in the footwell is the cause of almost all electrical problems in the w220

 

Just curious, how can you prevent water damage from occurring on these cars? I keep hearing about the waffle grille under the hood getting filled with water and flooding the passenger footwell destroying the electronics, but I never heard of how to prevent this from happening or if there is any maintenance to do in order to make sure it never happens? Thanks.

 

Keep the drain in the bottom of that reservoir clean , or just drill a hole through the plastic so it can't possibly fill with water

 

I am a newbie to this Forum - have a 2000 S500 which displayed similar issues as originally stated "non-crank" with everything else seems to be working. Mine came with a set of 3 keys (2 electronic, and 1 valet (?) ). I swapped and used the other key, and the car started. I since have changed the batteries on the keys annually and so far so good. Hopefully it's not the electronics in the ignition system.

 

I've had some intermittent issues:
Wouldn't turnover at all - felt like dead battery and it started fine with a jumpstart. Drove for 10 mins to work (probably not long enough) - had to jump again a few hours later and took it to Les Schwab to have the battery checked and they said it was fine. Let it run for a while and it was back to normal - no more issues.


4 weeks later (yesterday) same thing happened. Radio and everything was fine but barely a cough when I tried to turn it over. Jumped it, ran it and now it seems fine again.


What's my issue?
HELP, please
Dan

 

Sounds like a weak battery - still strong enough for the radio etc but not strong enough to start the car

 

Danielco - Not sure what type of battery your E350 requires. You may be still be under warranty being a 2010 model? If not, I might suggest replacing the battery with an AGM battery which is what my S500 requires. Costs a little more than regular but I think it's stable for the requirements of your car. I purchased mine from local Advance Auto shop and have had the battery for 2 years with no starting issues. Hope this helps.

 

Danielco, I had a similar problem a few years ago. The battery tested OK. However, it would charge and a few days later, the same problem. Had it retested and finally they realized it had a dead cell. Battery was replaced at no cost to me. Use coupon code TR30 at Advance Auto and you will get 30% of the cost of the battery. Maximum savings of $50.

Just for the record, I have no affiliation whatsoever with Advance Auto other than buying car parts from them.

 

Thanks all. It did indeed appear to test fine but subsequent diagnostics once it was removed indicated it had some bad joojoo. Had it replaced and all appears well...for now !

 

I purchased a 2000 s430 from a doctor for a very good price. He seem honest and advised that he had no crank problems and his mechanic changed the rear SAM. Showed me the paperwork and old part. It ran about 2 wks then started the no crank again. He purchased a new car and let the one I purchased sit in drive way (idk how long).

Now, I'm working on it. Purchased new battery. Dash lights work, air blows, but radio does not come on. Checked the rear SAM, looks good. Did multimeter check of fuses in trunk, passenger foot well and under hood. Fuse block seems to good at all wires. Got it to crank a couple of times, but then nothing. I've tried to jump at fuel relay between 30 and 87 but nothing. I'm not getting voltage at any of the outputs where fuel relay plugs.

This is a nice car and I hope we can get it running.

 

get a matched set of key , eis, shifter and ecu from the same donor car . They sell on eBay for about $350 for the set . They must all be matched from the same car or else they don't work

if it solves your problem , great! If not, you can resell on eBay as there is high demand for those parts

 

Thanks tusabe. I will get on that today.

But, let me ask you and the community, because I had a few dead fuses and points that should be live (have voltage) I've looked at the fuse wiring diagram/schematics and traced from the battery to the starter relay and there are a few wires that should be live when the switch is on and are not at the fuse plug location. Do you think its advisable to narrow down the short first before ordering a part that may or may not solve my issue? My key turns, the shifter position is noted on the dash console. The spare key doesn't turn in the ignition though even after changing the batteries. I'll have to have that one reprogram once I get the car fixed.

If it doesn't rain today, I'll spend time again testing for voltage per the schematic and then if that doesn't pan out, I will take your advice. and order.