2003 bone stock S600.

I’ve had the battery disconnected for months. Charged the battery and reinstalled. Upon connecting the negative terminal, the wipers start moving and the hvac fan is blowing in the rear. I put the key in the ignition - it will turn - but there is zero response. I replaced the batteries in the fob - no change.

Is there a secondary battery that also needs to be charged/replaced? Anything obvious I’m overlooking? The car started and ran fine when I disconnected the battery several months ago…

 

The key fob batteries will never affect starting. common misconception that everybody thinks the key fob batteries have anything to do with starting. They do not. There are multiple possible reasons why your car is not starting. But the fact that the key will turn in the ignition means there is sufficient voltage to the key. But sufficient voltage to the key does not necessarily mean sufficient voltage to start. An older battery can Be strong enough to operate all the electronic accessories, but not strong enough to crank the car. That would be my first step. A brand new battery. Not one that’s been on a charger. In fact, sitting on a charger can often cook and kill a battery. Try a brand new battery. That’s the first step. Next possibility is There was just no authorization for the. Starting sequence by the computer. It could be the alarm siren located in your left fender. It could also be one of the main Prefuse blocks. There are several fuses, which could be preventing the car from starting, some of them are under the passenger floorboard. There’s one in the side of the dashboard. There are some in the trunk.

 

Tusabes

Thanks for the response. The key fob was indeed dead (no red led which reappeared once I changed the batteries), but your comments are well taken.

My wife’s BMW has the same battery as the S600 - it’s an easy swap that I’ll do tomorrow and report back.

 

The keyfob battery only controls the remote control trunk/door lock functionality , not the starting . The starting does not require a fob battery at all

in fact the key can have no battery in it and will still start the car , assuming you don’t otherwise have a problem with your car

 

Okay, so I feel like an idiot. I replaced the battery and the car started just fine. Thanks Tusabes for pointing out the obvious.

I have a number of malfunctions showing but I was tied up with another project today and will have to get to that another day.

 

The malfunctions are likely all related to low-voltage. Put in a brand new battery then clear the codes and see what comes back. Because of the voltage transformer and coil packs, The s600 needs an extremely strong battery, even more so than other W-2 20s with the V8. So Go get a brand new battery, don’t put any type of used battery in this car. And you need to drive it at least once a week. To keep it from getting low-voltage from sitting.

 

I replaced the battery. Upon initial start I had multiple malfunctions, but as the car idled some went away. Ultimately I was still left with a bit of a laundry list:
- display defective - visit workshop
- distronic - visit workshop
- ESP - visit workshop
- coolant

I also have an ABS light and an SRS light.
The passenger side mirror won’t unfold.

The car was sitting a long time and is also running rough.

I have a cheapo code reader and will try that to see if I can clear the code and will see which reappear. Will also see if I can find a fuse for the passenger mirror (driver side works fine).

Appreciate any/all comments/suggestions.

 

A cheapo obd2 code reader cannot clear the engine code n and the Non-emission systems codes. Cheap OBD two readers only clear emissions codes nothing else.

You have engine and body system codes that require Mercedes specific scanner. You need at least a Foxwell NT 510 or NT 530 those are about the cheapest code readers that will clear these Mercedes codes.

 

Tusabes

Yeah, I figured that was the case. I have a good Creator reader for my wife’s BMW, but nothing for the MB. I looked online - the readers are $150-200.

Other than plunking down $200, or bringing it somewhere - is there any other way to reset the codes? If not, I’ll have to spring for the reader. I looked for used readers on eBay and didn’t find much.

Also - I have surgery tomorrow and I’m expecting a long recovery - so it could be 3-4 weeks before I can pick this thread up again.

Thanks for your help so far.

 

The white autel ap200 can do it for $49 you need to connect it up to a smart phone . I prefer standalone scanners that don’t need a phone to connect as there is often connection /registration difficulty for novice users

 

So…. After a few weeks I ordered/rec’d the autel scanner. It’s not plug and play, and it’s a little slow, but I was able to get it to work fine.

upon initial scan there were 71 faults. Yikes! I used the quick-erase and rescanned, and was left with about a dozen faults and I still have multiple malfunctions, most notably:

Presafe inactive
BAS
SRS dash light
ABS dash light
Coolant
display defective

Not much different than before I attempted to clear the codes. the pass mirror is also “stuck” in the retracted position.

The battery is brand new. Before abandoning the car in the driveway (for many months) it had an ABC error and a problem with the trunk locking mechanism.

I printed the Autel report. it shows the following faults:

ME-SFI 2.7.1 Motor Electronics
P2095 - no connection to the component ‘G2 Generator (P0620).

AB - Airbag
902F - fault in communication with the control module’N112 (telecom control module) or a wire fault exists

ESA-FL- Electric seat adjustment front left
B1006-005 - no normalization of the head restraint adjustment.

PSE - pneumatic system equipment
B1440-13. The operating time of the trunk lid internal button is exceeded.

AAC-Automatic Air Conditioning
Event B1054. Fault in CAN communication with the control module DCM-FR (right front control module)
Event B1075 - fault in CAN comm with the control module right front SAM (signal acquisition and actuation module)

OCP - overhead control panel
B106B - the signal from control module Left front reversible emergency tensioning retractor (ETR/GUS) and/or (same) has an invalid value.
B1066 - SR/SHD - tilting/sliding sunroof not normalized.

So - from the list above only the first fault (motor electronics) and the AB error seem relevant to all of the malfunctions that are appearing.

Any advice on what is/is not real and how to proceed from here?

oh - and the CEL light has disappeared - at least temporarily - but the car is running like it’s firing on only 6 cylinders.

 

Your coil or voltage transformer at the center top of engine are bad . V12icpack.com will rent both of these to you (with a core charge ) for troubleshooting. If they fix your problem you can keep them installed . If they don’t fix your problem you return them Justbpaying the rental fee.

i would rent all 3 (2 coil packs and voltage transformer ). First try the voltage transformer as it’s a 5 minute install . If that fixes your problem keep it and return the rental coils .

If it doesn’t fix your problem keep the rental voltage transformer on the engine , then swap one coil at a time . Hopefully the problem goes away after the first coil is swapped out . If it does go away , put back your original voltage transformer and see if it still runs good . If that’s the case , you’ve isolated the problem to the coil so you keep the rental coil and return the second rental coil and rental voltage transformer ,

you can also just rent the voltage transformer at a lower cost and hope to get lucky that it’s the issue , but that makes troubleshooting very difficult if it doesn’t fix it and you don’t have good coils to test at the same time. All depends how much you value your time trying to get it fixed in one session or over weeks /months.

And your brand new battery from March , is already weak and soon it . Won’t work at all if you haven’t been driving the car . These cars will kill a battery dead in less than a month .

 

Tusabes - thank you for your response.

I know the plugs and coil packs were replaced maybe 7-8 years ago, at around 48,000 miles (it now has 59,000). Although the car (obviously) sits a lot, I would hope the coils would last more than 10-12,000 miles.

I thought I had the voltage transformer replaced also, but maybe not. I’ll have to decide whether to rent the coils also or just the transformer. I’ll pull the transformer and look for identifying marks on whether it’s the orig and/or whether it’s been rebuilt.

Thanks for the reminder about the battery. It does eat them like candy. I’ll pull the negative terminal tomorrow, and maybe throw it on the charger.

I did a quick search and I see lots of transformers on eBay (refurbished, used, new) in the $250-300 range. Any anecdotal knowledge of whether people have had success (or not) going this route?

Lastly - the car sat because it has an ABC issue (which it’s had forever). During my ownership it’s ALWAYS had an ABC issue of one sort or another. The last time my mechanic looked at it he said I needed a rear and the center distribution block (at a minimum) and maybe a pump. That’s a costly repair, and I’m having a hard time justifying putting that much money into it.

thanks for your help and input so far. I’ll rent a coil pack and update with the results after swapping it out.

 

I’ve had coil packs go bad within 2 years and 5000 miles . 7/8 years is way beyond lifetime of these coils regardless of miles

don’t buy any refurb ignition or abc parts in eBay you’re just asking for bad units . I’ve been there and done that it’s a waste of time . I’ve given you the cheapest option for troubleshooting and that’s the rental service by v12icpack

abc constant issues are a fact of life of these cars the systems are at end of life and have numerous components to fail . You either repair what fails every time it fails or convert to coil springs
If you can’t pay for constant repair, a 20 year old v12 s class is not the right car .

 

Took a chance and ordered just the transformer from V12icpack. Installed it today - no change. At first the car stared and seemed to run okay - maybe a little rough - but not terribly. I let it idle for about 15-20 mins. It still had all of the 6+ malfunctions. I turned the car off - 5 minutes later restarted and it immediately through a CEL and seemed like it was running on 6 cylinders.

I’m going to break out the Autel tomorrow and see what I can learn. I may need to get a set of coils and see what that does - or have the car towed to the scrap yard.

more to follow.

 

Bottom line is there’s no change.

Brand new battery. Rented Boostbox transformer from V12icpack. Attempted to clear all of the error codes using the Autel - both the quick erase function and individually.

Car is running horribly. I probably need coils. If that was it I’d be okay. Unfortunately that’s not going to solve the other issues. These are the malfunctions I’m getting:

ESP
Distronic
BAS
PreSafe inactive
display defective

I have both an ABS and SRS dash light.

The passenger side mirror won’t unfold.

The trunk pneumatic system has an issue.

Although I didn’t get an ABC error upon restart, I know it’s there and will pop up if/when I try to drive the car.

————-

I knew the car had an ABC issue which is why it was sitting. The moonroof had also been struggling, so that’s not a surprise. The trunk auto close had always been finicky, and the function that pulls it fully shut stopped working about a year ago. These are not surprising. What is a surprise is all of the other malfunctions that are now present.

I had hoped the brand new battery and the transformer would address most of the surprises. It hasn’t.

Unless anyone has any other ideas/suggestions, I think I’m going to have to call the local salvage yard. I can’t see how all of these issues can be addressed without spending 2-3x (or more) what the car is worth. It’s a shame - 55K miles and I loved driving it before the recurring ABC issues began.

Any last suggestions from anyone?

 

Unfortunately, that is how most of these S600 end up, with owners who neglect the maintenance and let all the issues pile up to the point. It is several thousand dollars and more than the value of the car.

These are all common issues on this car. And even if you fix them yourself, it will still cost thousands of dollars just in parts . If you have a shop do them all, it will cost tens of thousands of dollars. And that’s why owners neglect them and they end up in the salvage yard

If you were in California, I could offer more than the salvage yard. Your best bet is putting it on eBay. You might get $3-4k instead of $300 from the salvage yard .

 

Where are you located?

 

South-western part of Long Island, NY.