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Newby here, with a new to me 2006 SL500 that I picked up from my uncle. I will do my best to explain what is going on, and what I have already looked into, but please let me know if there is another thread that I haven't been able to find that can help me get this sorted. I am a long time diy mechanic but not the best with electrical.
Story on the car is that it was running/driving a few years ago until the transmission got stuck in neutral but shifter was in park and the car wouldn't start. I have already managed to disassemble the console to find that the shift linkage had come off at the pin held on with a clip.
I am going off of my relatives memory of what happened back then, but even if it was in neutral shouldn't it still have been able to be started? That gets me to where things aren't adding up.
-Shifter issue located, starter battery at almost 13 volts, I replaced the consumer battery that was dead, located the drivers CAN under the carpet and cleaned some corrosion, accessed and confirmed passenger floor pre-fuse and F52 fuses were good, accessed BCM and opened to
look for visible signs of anything and appeared normal, verified F33 fuses are good, pulled drivers side engine bay fuse box to inspect for corrosion and inside SAM and all looked good, EIS has the faint click when you first put key in and turns to all positions as well as my scanner shows
communication with key in all positions and start signal yes.
What's odd is that I make sure to connect the batteries in the correct order - starter battery first, and then consumer battery. No signs of life when only the starter battery is connected, and then as soon as I connect the consumer battery, the dash lights up like a Christmas tree even with no key in.
Nothing happens when I put the key in and turn to any of the positions, no brake release or power to normal things when an ignition would be on (ex. blinkers, windows, convertible top), so that started me down the research of either a steering lock or the EIS. Do these cars not have the steering lock like other Mercedes?
Is it possible I am getting the start signal on the EIS but something else is not communicating?
I apologize if this is a little scrambled! I have been searching and searching and seem to be getting nowhere.
I’m confused as to how the starter battery survived a few years? Anyhow,the drive authorization needs to see the transmission and shifter in the same position to start. There is no strering lock and corrosion doesn’t sound good. These aren’t fun to diagnose especially electrical issues.
I believe they had it on a trickle charger. And the first things I looked for were the obvious as the drivers side floor mat was damp because the window was cracked. My scanner showed short on the drivers CAN so I cleaned it and the codes cleared. I did check fuses under the passenger floor/subwoofer area and all ohm'd when I took them out to inspect.
Yes, this is why I pulled the carpet up to access the harness under there and made sure it was clean/dry. By doing that the CAN codes were able to be cleared.
Even though I am getting the DA from the EIS, I pulled the cover off the starter relay and have nothing there even manually actuating the relay. I guess I can pull the ecu and open it to see if there is anything visibly wrong cause that is another part of the "handshake" for drive authorization if I am understanding correctly.
A#1 is get ALL moisture out. When power runs through wet circuits it moves ions around and finds shortcuts. The ionized copper and aluminum are green and white and stay where they move, making the shortcut permanent. This is especially devastating inside things like SAMS. And if there is corrosion on a board you will never have peace until it is cleaned/repaired/replaced. There is no normal amount of moisture. Bone dry is what is needed. Years of sitting with window down sounds bad. Even just “cracked”.
If ignition is turning, that is a good sign. Do locking and unlocking work?
If dashboard is a Christmas tree you likely have a wet and/or ruined PCB somewhere. Get that figured out and do not run power through anything wet.
Have you checked electronics in the boot? A leak back there can be bad too. If it smells musty, time to pull stuff out and look.
If the starter relay isn’t making the engine crank, I would look at the starter and the positive wires to the alternator and starter, they may not be in good condition.
I will continue searching through the wiring to make sure its dry, but haven't found any dampness other than the drivers floor mat so far.
Yes the lock and unlock with the key is working, but not the little square button on the outside of the door handle.
I will also verify, but don't believe I am getting any voltage to the starter relay which is why it doesn't try to crank. (Ignition doesn't seem to power anything up)
As long as the dashboard is lighting up while key is not inserted you have major issue somewhere. It really sounds like something is either wet or destroyed. If something is wet you need to get it dry before running power through it.
Since you have a scanner, check for start authorization in the ECU. On the R230, key turn means that you have power to the EIS and that the key matches. For start authorization, the shifter (ESL) and ECU must also match the immobilizer hash. This is done over CAN C, so that needs to be working. The ECU provides the ground to the start relay coil. Obviously, you also need the power side of the coil and power to the load size of the relay. You can check the status of terminals 15 and 30 at the passenger SAM using your scanner. Front SAMs have significant issues with water intrusion, pull a few relays and see if you have corrosion.
I do get the start authorization on the scanner, and after you mentioned CAN-C I researched where that was located and may be onto something. Popped the whole connector out of its bracket and found this on the board. Now need to figure out where I can get one of these, cause it was full of water and has to be bad. I have dried this area and carpet is still out to make sure the whole area dries really well (this is all under the drivers carpet).
Running power through wet stuff just makes it worse.
As your picture illustrates.
UNPLUG THE BATTERIES AND GET THE WHOLE CAR DRY
This is a GIGANTIC waste of time until you do. You are just making things worse until you get everything bone dry.
Would you run a computer with half of it submerged?
Bone dry.
The electricity MOVES ionized metal to short out more circuits. Use vinegar to scrub that crap off. If the SAM (s) have gotten wet, they will require attention too.
The car runs. After making sure there was no water anywhere, I was still focused on the fact that no accessory items would come on with the key in any position but the scanner was recognizing that it had drive authorization. I found that there is an 80amp midi fuse inside a power distribution block under the passenger side footwell which was blown and is for the ignition.
Newby here, with a new to me 2006 SL500 that I picked up from my uncle. I will do my best to explain what is going on, and what I have already looked into, but please let me know if there is another thread that I haven't been able to find that can help me get this sorted. I am a long time diy mechanic but not the best with electrical.
Story on the car is that it was running/driving a few years ago until the transmission got stuck in neutral but shifter was in park and the car wouldn't start. I have already managed to disassemble the console to find that the shift linkage had come off at the pin held on with a clip.
I am going off of my relatives memory of what happened back then, but even if it was in neutral shouldn't it still have been able to be started? That gets me to where things aren't adding up.
-Shifter issue located, starter battery at almost 13 volts, I replaced the consumer battery that was dead, located the drivers CAN under the carpet and cleaned some corrosion, accessed and confirmed passenger floor pre-fuse and F52 fuses were good, accessed BCM and opened to
look for visible signs of anything and appeared normal, verified F33 fuses are good, pulled drivers side engine bay fuse box to inspect for corrosion and inside SAM and all looked good, EIS has the faint click when you first put key in and turns to all positions as well as my scanner shows
communication with key in all positions and start signal yes.
What's odd is that I make sure to connect the batteries in the correct order - starter battery first, and then consumer battery. No signs of life when only the starter battery is connected, and then as soon as I connect the consumer battery, the dash lights up like a Christmas tree even with no key in.
Nothing happens when I put the key in and turn to any of the positions, no brake release or power to normal things when an ignition would be on (ex. blinkers, windows, convertible top), and just like trying to get a reliable blumengeschäft wiesbaden to deliver on a tricky order, this led me down the research of either a steering lock or the EIS. Do these cars not have the steering lock like other Mercedes?
Is it possible I am getting the start signal on the EIS but something else is not communicating?
I apologize if this is a little scrambled! I have been searching and searching and seem to be getting nowhere.
On your 2006 SL500, the EIS can send a start signal but if the steering lock or SAM/BCM modules aren’t communicating properly over the CAN bus, the car won’t start and most systems won’t power up. The SL500 does have an electronic steering lock, so if it fails to release, ignition and accessories won’t engage. Since your dash lights come on when the consumer battery is connected, it points to a communication or module initialization issue rather than a battery problem. Focus on checking CAN connections, grounds, and steering lock operation; a faulty EIS or SAM module could also be preventing startup even though the start signal is present.
On your 2006 SL500, the EIS can send a start signal but if the steering lock or SAM/BCM modules aren’t communicating properly over the CAN bus, the car won’t start and most systems won’t power up. The SL500 does have an electronic steering lock, so if it fails to release, ignition and accessories won’t engage. Since your dash lights come on when the consumer battery is connected, it points to a communication or module initialization issue rather than a battery problem. Focus on checking CAN connections, grounds, and steering lock operation; a faulty EIS or SAM module could also be preventing startup even though the start signal is present.
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