Slider5150

Well, like lots of folks, I have an SL55 that kills it's consumer battery regularly, and can do it within two or three days. Drives me nuts. I have a pigtail to a trickle-charger and plug it in anytime I am not driving it for a day or so. Very annoying. When I needed a new battery for the consumer, I found a thread here that recommended a Wal-Mart battery. BRILLIANT!! Still having the problem, but at least I didn't get creamed on the price of the battery.

So now my starter battery is toast. This one I can live with. It's the original battery in a 2003. That's pretty darn good imho. But, time for a new one.

I am scared to call the local dealers for quotes. Does anyone know of an aftermarket that will work like the Wal-Mart battery did in the back? I understand that Johnson Controls made both the OEM and the Wal-Mart battery for the trunk. Does anyone know if there is a similar deal for the starter battery? I would like to get an optima or something similar, but am not aware that any are made for our cars.

Also, any issues or advice on how to switch the battery out? Do I need to run jumpers to the battery leads to try to maintain a trickle of power while I do the swap? Or will having the consumer battery on the trickle charger prevent any problems?

Thanks for any and all help!

jrgator

sounds like a defective battery. I leave mine for 2 weeks at a time and it's fine.

Slider5150

The consumer battery?

Nah. The stock consumer battery did it, and now the new consumer battery does it. Something in the car is sucking it down. Don't know what. I know I have a small leak in the trunk soft-shut mech. I tried gluing it up, per another thread, but that didn't work on the first go around. Need to look at taking another shot at that. Perhaps that pump is cycling. Don't know. But I know others have had this problem with the SL55. I just have never heard of anyone running it to ground (great pun!) and posting the culprit. Although, if someone does know...

And heck, perhaps the consumer has by dying regularly because the dying starter battery has been vamping off it. Would be quite a pleasant surprise to find that replacing the dying starter battery also solves the constantly dying consumer battery. (fingers crossed but very little hope)

Slider5150

Found a website that says that the Everstart MAXX 49 is the fit. www.autobatteries.com

Couldn't find a website for Everstart, of course. Anyone know if this is the right battery? I believe the Consumer battery is the Everstart 48....

Slider5150

Bit the bullet and called my dealer.

Price for that sucker is $253!!! Wow!!

He was a great guy and offered to sell it to me for $220. Wow!!!!

Really hoping for another option. I am thinking about heading over to Walmart and seeing if I can buy one of those Everstarts. Take that puppy home and give it a whirl...

NikleinR6

Consumer battery retails at 253.00. I'm pretty sure the starter battery is around 140.00.

alx

the air leak is not going to drain your battery as the pump is smart and if it cycles more than 3-5 times on particular air circuit within certain period of time it will shut that circuit down.

have somebody with sds read your codes and see if anything jumps out.

does your side mirror adjustment buttons ans seat adjustment buttons all work as expected? they tend to short and drain battery as you describe. it could be also many other things though. overhead panel fan shorted out, sticky relays throughout the car, etc...

i would fix the problem rather than keep buying batteries. mine sits for weeks (sad- i know) without any side effects.

Slider5150

I am taking it in for it's B service soon anyways, so I will ask the tech to spend a bit of time trying to run down the short. Thanks for the advice. I have a feeling I will be replacing that soft close mech soon. But at least, with the help from this board, I can do it instead of paying someone else to do it!!

But in the meantime, I went to Walmart and used their little battery finder box. Everstart MAXX 49 was not the starter battery. It is a consumer battery for 2004 SL55s apparently. Don't quote me on that. The little box, which CAN'T be wrong, said I wanted the 13. I think it is too long, but figured what the heck. It is made by Johnson Controls. And when it doesn't fit, I will just take it back, call the service dept at my dealer again, and beat him up to make sure he was looking at the right battery.

We will see what happens when I get home.

Slider5150

Well, the Walmart computer came up with the wrong battery. Bummer. So I guess I am gonna have to go to the dealer. Bummer again.

alx

see if parts.com cant get you a better price. it will still be an oem battery sold to you by a mb dealer (out of florida or illinois), but their pricing is aggressive and might be better even after shipping.

NikleinR6

They won't ship a battery.. Its considered hazardous.
Trust me, I tried to buy one from them...
-Nick

alx

I was wondering about that. Good to know about batteries and parts.com

A battery can be measured and cross-referenced and I am sure your local walmart will have something similar at much better pricing. When the mb battery is 250 and a normal battery (which might be actually a better battery) is 120 it is a matter of principle- at least to me. I will gladly pay mb's prices for unique parts, but I refuse to pay the mb surcharge on things I know are overpriced just because.