m4xm1l10n

04 SL500 !!!!! After a few days of sitting in my storage i took her out for wash and then i had this message come on my dash ELECTRIC CONSUMERS OFFLINE . Than after running it for about 1 minute i restarted and it went away . Is this because it has being sitting more than usual ? Any suggestion and opinion will be appreciated Thanks

ToonArmy

Yes. The SL has two batteries, one dedicated to starting the engine, and the other for the "house" electronics.

When the car sits for a while, the "house" battery tends to get discharged. The car will still start, but you will get the "Electric consumers offline" message and heavy power draws like seat motors will be disabled until the battery recharges (after driving for a while).

It is not a big deal, but if it happens frequently you may need to get the house battery replaced.

m4xm1l10n

Thanks man!!!! When you say house battery are you referring to the trunk battery ?

SPIKES

yes ..the rear one. good idea to put a charger on it as short trips will kill the battery quickly if car is not used enough...

BrabusTrojanSL

He's right, the same thing happend to me. Have it looked at if it persists.

m4xm1l10n

Why should i have it looked at if it persists ? why not just change the house battery like ToonArmy suggested ? That has to be the problem if it persists right ?

ToonArmy

Given the age of your car (4-5 years), yes, it wouldn't be unreasonable for the battery to be nearing the end of useful life.

A one-time "electrics offline" message is no big deal, especially if the car was sitting for several days (week+), and it's only a minor inconvenience. However, if it happens frequently, and after shorter periods of inactivity, then it's likely that the battery is failing.

My dealer noted the weak battery at a scheduled service without my saying anything about it (I had gone on several trips and so hit the "electrics offline" several times, but didn't bring it up at the service). So I'm guessing the battery condition is logged in the system diagnostics, or is tested as part of routine maintenance.

m4xm1l10n

Enough said !!! thanks a bunch

m4xm1l10n

CAME ON AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!! after 4 days , but before that i had the car out for 2 hours short trip to the car wash . than parked for 4 days , started back up 2day and it came on . Looks like i definitely need a house battery !!!

mbsl600fan

I have a 2004 SL600 and both my starter and electronics battery are dead because of age, the cold weather, and I let it sit too long. I took the starter out with ease. I had NTB check it and they said it was dead and could not be recharged (I had tried before hand to charge it for an hour with a car jump and also a plug in battery charger). I bought a new one for MB parts dept and have not put it in yet because I want to get a new electronics battery. It was going long before the starter.

Anybody know how to take out the Electronics Battery? It's well bolted down and I removed ever bolt that I could see, but it will not budge. Any tips on taking it out?

Also, I bought an MB battery for the starter because I could not find the equilvalent at autoparts stores. Are the generics okay for the electronics battery as long as the size and CCA are the same?

Thanks in advance

lkirchner

Yes you need a new battery. I had a similar situation on my SL55. I had it replaced using the Roadside Assistance and all the strange happenings went away.

gabrielasc

I took my 2004 sl 500 in for service. When i got it back i got message
electical consumers offline. I had Roadside assistance come out and he tested both batteries and said they were fine. I drove the car the next day for about 15 minutes and when i got back in the message was gone. But then went back in it a day later and message is back. Even though battery is testing fine do you think it still needs to be replaced?

m4xm1l10n

Maybe they tested it when the system was charged , and if you park it for a few days it dies on. I didn't change mine yet all I'm doing is driving it for 2 hours once a week on Saturdays , since than no messages show up yet .

gabrielasc

Thanks for the info. I did drive it for about 1 hour and then parked it for 10 minutes and same message came thru. I called MB Roadside assistance and they came to my house and changed it. Much better because they don't charge labor only charged for the battery!

mbsl600fan

Okay, I managed to get the battery out. I was going to go the MB assistence route because everyone said it would be the cost of the battery for them to come out and replace it, but the MB roadside tech said there is a $130 service charge to come out, so I opted for phone support. Although, it is not in the manual for removing the battery, he said that I need to remove a bracket with a 13mm socket wrench (manual only say you need a 10mm socket wrench) and the battery should come right out. He also said that one from an autopart store would be fine for the electronics battery (not the starter) as long as it is the same voltage, etc. I decided to go with MB battery because it was a tight fit to get it out and some have said MB make their batteries different (gel,etc.). Anyways, from the top view, it looks like the battery is sitting on top of a holder, but actually it is the bottom bracket holding it in (see pic bottombracket).

Here are the steps (you can see want you have to take out in picture trunkview).

1. Remove the negative terminal with the 10mm socket wrench (in manual).
2. Remove the Positive Terminal with the 10mm socket wrench (in manual).
3. Remove the a T20 Torque Star wrench because you can't take out the top bracket without making the cover loose.
4. Remove the Top Bracket with the 10mm combination wrench or Box-end wrench (can't get it with a socket wrench; see picture topbracket).
5. Remove the Bottom Bracket with the 13mm socket wrench (you may have to remove the tire to have access to the 13mm bolt if you don't have a long socket wrench; I had to do that with a 13mm combination wrench).
6. Pull out the old one and put in the new battery.
7. Connect the Positive Terminal with the 10mm socket wrench (in manual).
8. Connect the negative terminal with the 10mm socket wrench (in manual).
9. If it works, put eveything else back together in reverse order.


BTW for people that want the MB batteries and live in the DC area. Here are the 2 cheapest:

MB of Tyson's Corner (VA): $155 + tax for the Starter Battery and $203 + tax for The Consumer Electronics Battery

Herb Gordon MB (MD): $173 + tax for the Starter and $220 for the Electronics. The said they would price match Tyson's though.

Most expensive: Euro Motorcars (MD) $210 for the starter and $320 for the Electronics.

Most Autoparts stores (Advanced Auto, Pepboy, Autozone, etc) for the Electronics: $100

Hope that helps someone in the future

ToonArmy

Hmm. I dug out my service invoice, and now I'm confused. I was getting the "electric consumers offline" message a few times (had been traveling a bit). I took it in for service (unrelated), and they informed me I needed a new battery, which I had done. I assumed it was the electronics battery (haven't had the message recur since ; although I'm not traveling, I haven't been driving the car every day through he winter).

But, looking at my invoice, it says "replace front battery - failed midtronics test", and the charge is $155 parts + $80 labor. From mbsl600fan's post, that would seem to be the starter battery?

mikeinsf

Could just be their diagnostic message that's misleading. I could see where a message like could conceivably apply to either battery.

mbsl600fan

You said your not getting the "electric consumers offline" message anymore? How long have you let it sit? If I let mine sit for a week (before I replaced it), it would give me the message (but not a couple days). If you're not get the message anymore, then maybe they replaced the electronics battery and only charged you the starter (which is in front). If you're really lucky, maybe they replaced both and only charged you the starter.

The more likely scenerio is that both the starter and the electronics battery were going if they are the same age. I would replace both. I was getting the "electric consumers offline" alot before because I let my car sit alot (drive it on weekends and on only dry clean pavement days). I did not start my car for 3 weeks because of vacation and the snow storm and it could not be jumped. Like I said before, I took to NTB and they analyzed the starter and said that it would not be recharged (low levels of battery acid, etc.). I knew the electronics was dead too because of age and the "electric consumers offline" message before. So I replaced both (Plus I brought to NTB again and they said it could not be recharged).

I guess the only way to be sure is to go to a shop (NTB, autozone, etc.)and get the batteries analyzed (most places won't charge for the test). You may have to take the batteries out and bring it into the store (Advance Auto parts requires that; sidenote: Sears would not even test my starter batt). Then you can see which one they replaced.

Oh and they sell battery testers at the stores (like $100), but why spend the money when you can have them test it for free.

Hope that helps

Alex 3

The issue can be your back up battery is kaput or your primary is not charging properly which could be as simple as a loose terminal connection.