Battery dead? Help...
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From: South CA (LA, 818) & North CA (SJ, 408)
2003 E500
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From: Canada
07 E63 + 07 CLK63CAB
Battery is toast, a giant resistor in the trunk, 12 volts probably a dropped cell. REPLACE
Also check voltage of aux battery when car is off.
How old are the batteries in your car.
Also check voltage of aux battery when car is off.
How old are the batteries in your car.
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2005 E55 AMG
Wow, these issues do get complicated. All i had to do was trickle charge it with a smart charger overnight. She started up immediately and the cluster reset. Was a Snow storm outside so I dint drive for another couple days. Started her yesterday with no issues and no messages in the cluster.
So far, my issue was solve with a 40 dollar trickle charger....so far...
So far, my issue was solve with a 40 dollar trickle charger....so far...
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E55
I let my car sit for awhile too and noticed my battery voltage on AMG Screen via 63 cluster says I'm at 12 volts cold. 13.8-14.0 when car is on. It won't go past 14 volts.
I was thinking of taking my battery out of trunk and taking to auto zone to have it charged. Any suggestions?
On a side note. I noticed my DRL LED would not light up until i started driving the car daily. Now they both turn on. Im guessing because of 13.8 volts.
Im worried about running WOT with less then 14.2 volts also.
Can anyone help with this? Thanks!
I was thinking of taking my battery out of trunk and taking to auto zone to have it charged. Any suggestions?
On a side note. I noticed my DRL LED would not light up until i started driving the car daily. Now they both turn on. Im guessing because of 13.8 volts.
Im worried about running WOT with less then 14.2 volts also.
Can anyone help with this? Thanks!
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From: MA
2008 E350 4Matic, 2011 E350 4matic
Yes, after 2006, there was no aux battery once SBC was gone on W211.
Also I wouldn't say 12 volts is dead. Fully charged is supposed to be about 12.5-12.6 volts, but that's at 78 degrees. With colder weather, lower voltage isn't unexpected. I'm keeping an eye on mine, reads anywhere from 11.7-11.9 volts and it's a little over 7 years old, Temperatures here have been in the 20-30s lately. Still starts up fine though, no issues even after sitting a few days. As for running voltage, I haven't seen anything about 14.2, most of the time it's in the 13.8-14 volt range which I think is normal.
I'm tempted to take my battery out and throw it on the charger to see what the max charge I can get out of it is, but I've read that sometimes you have to reset the sunroof, roll the windows up and down and sometimes you get weird system messages about ESP or ABS which sometimes clears just by disconnecting and reconnecting the battery so I'm not going to mess with it as long as it's working.
Also I wouldn't say 12 volts is dead. Fully charged is supposed to be about 12.5-12.6 volts, but that's at 78 degrees. With colder weather, lower voltage isn't unexpected. I'm keeping an eye on mine, reads anywhere from 11.7-11.9 volts and it's a little over 7 years old, Temperatures here have been in the 20-30s lately. Still starts up fine though, no issues even after sitting a few days. As for running voltage, I haven't seen anything about 14.2, most of the time it's in the 13.8-14 volt range which I think is normal.
I'm tempted to take my battery out and throw it on the charger to see what the max charge I can get out of it is, but I've read that sometimes you have to reset the sunroof, roll the windows up and down and sometimes you get weird system messages about ESP or ABS which sometimes clears just by disconnecting and reconnecting the battery so I'm not going to mess with it as long as it's working.
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05 E55, 06 Audi S4
Keep in mind once a battery fully discharges they will never reach a full charge again, unless it's a brand new battery. So the trickle charger technique is really important to do on a new battery while car sits for a prolong period. Not so good on a battery that was dead. Your problem will most likely come back soon enough if you don't replace the battaries
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07 E63 + 07 CLK63CAB
"reads anywhere from 11.7-11.9 volts and it's a little over 7 years old", Cetialpha5
What is the love between an owner and a old battery, I do not know, Please someone enlighten me.
When this car leaves you stranded one night or one morning when you absolutely need it, what will you do, buy another car.
You my friend are running on borrowed time, 14.2 is the normal run voltage for a car, your seven year old battery is a burden on your charging system as well as the starter and most all of the electronics. Safe up for an alternator also.
Let us know how you make out.
The weird messages for ESP and ABS are near
What is the love between an owner and a old battery, I do not know, Please someone enlighten me.
When this car leaves you stranded one night or one morning when you absolutely need it, what will you do, buy another car.
You my friend are running on borrowed time, 14.2 is the normal run voltage for a car, your seven year old battery is a burden on your charging system as well as the starter and most all of the electronics. Safe up for an alternator also.
Let us know how you make out.
The weird messages for ESP and ABS are near
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From: San Diego
E55
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From: San Diego
E55
"reads anywhere from 11.7-11.9 volts and it's a little over 7 years old", Cetialpha5
What is the love between an owner and a old battery, I do not know, Please someone enlighten me.
When this car leaves you stranded one night or one morning when you absolutely need it, what will you do, buy another car.
You my friend are running on borrowed time, 14.2 is the normal run voltage for a car, your seven year old battery is a burden on your charging system as well as the starter and most all of the electronics. Safe up for an alternator also.
Let us know how you make out.
The weird messages for ESP and ABS are near
What is the love between an owner and a old battery, I do not know, Please someone enlighten me.
When this car leaves you stranded one night or one morning when you absolutely need it, what will you do, buy another car.
You my friend are running on borrowed time, 14.2 is the normal run voltage for a car, your seven year old battery is a burden on your charging system as well as the starter and most all of the electronics. Safe up for an alternator also.
Let us know how you make out.
The weird messages for ESP and ABS are near
Time to look for new battery I suppose.
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From: MA
2008 E350 4Matic, 2011 E350 4matic
"reads anywhere from 11.7-11.9 volts and it's a little over 7 years old", Cetialpha5
What is the love between an owner and a old battery, I do not know, Please someone enlighten me.
When this car leaves you stranded one night or one morning when you absolutely need it, what will you do, buy another car.
You my friend are running on borrowed time, 14.2 is the normal run voltage for a car, your seven year old battery is a burden on your charging system as well as the starter and most all of the electronics. Safe up for an alternator also.
Let us know how you make out.
The weird messages for ESP and ABS are near
What is the love between an owner and a old battery, I do not know, Please someone enlighten me.
When this car leaves you stranded one night or one morning when you absolutely need it, what will you do, buy another car.
You my friend are running on borrowed time, 14.2 is the normal run voltage for a car, your seven year old battery is a burden on your charging system as well as the starter and most all of the electronics. Safe up for an alternator also.
Let us know how you make out.
The weird messages for ESP and ABS are near
If it leaves me stranded, I'll just call AAA for a jump or use 100 miles of free towing. I have seen 14.2, just not at idle which is when I look at it. Also I believe you get a warning message on the dash when the voltage goes down to 11 and then another warning once it goes to 10.5. I don't want to fix it if it isn't broke.
It's a 12 volt battery. Fully charged and not under load, voltage is supposed to be 12.6-12.7 volts AT 78 degrees. When it's cold, the battery is still under load unless you've taken it out of the car. Also in colder temperatures, the chemical reactions slow down and you would expect to have a lower voltage. It's about 25 degrees here now.
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2008 E350 4Matic, 2011 E350 4matic
Are we talking about the same scale here? It's 25 degrees Fahrenheit here, are you talking 6 degrees Celsius? Starts up fine on the first crank, no issues.
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E55
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From: Folsom, CA
2005 E55 AMG
got my first battery message last night... grey message (not red) about battery not up to par, suspending measurements (or something like that)
sounds like i need a new main battery too
sounds like i need a new main battery too
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From: MA
2008 E350 4Matic, 2011 E350 4matic
Wind chill only refers to humans who have skin. The temperature is the temperature no matter what the wind chill is to the battery. Plus with the battery in the trunk, it's not even subject to the wind. If it were, it would just reach ambient temperature quicker.
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From: Canada
07 E63 + 07 CLK63CAB
Not all cars have the battery in the trunk, Wind chill will effect the engine and most components including front mount batteries and the drive line if the car is parked into the wind.
In a garage the vehicle is only ambient temp as you state.
A battery will fail on the coldest days and the hottest days sometimes without warning.
Personally would not risk my life or any others driving the highways here running an ancient battery,( over 5-6 years) no matter what the test outcome was. To me its like running near the wear bars on tires because they are still round and hold air. Or not changing out the brake pads until the indicator tells me. IMO Just Sayin
These cars we have are power hogs, respect that.
In a garage the vehicle is only ambient temp as you state.
A battery will fail on the coldest days and the hottest days sometimes without warning.
Personally would not risk my life or any others driving the highways here running an ancient battery,( over 5-6 years) no matter what the test outcome was. To me its like running near the wear bars on tires because they are still round and hold air. Or not changing out the brake pads until the indicator tells me. IMO Just Sayin
These cars we have are power hogs, respect that.
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From: San Diego
E55
It says for most vehicles need the red positive clamp to red positive side of battery and black negative clamp to the chassis.. Both of my battery terminals are still connected.
I could only find a bolt that attaches the rear bumper support next to my battery to clamp onto for the ground clamp. Would that be ok? Or should I attach negative clamp to negative side of battery?
I thought it was suppose to attach to both terminals of the battery. But the instructions state different.
What should I do? Thanks
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From: Canada
07 E63 + 07 CLK63CAB
Just use the clamps supplied red positive and black negative,1.5 amp will take about two days to bring the battery up to full charge. That is if the battery is not too old.
Oh forgot, two batteries, unhook the neg from the trunk battery and then recharge, when you go to connect make sure all power items are off, lights, key etc.
Oh forgot, two batteries, unhook the neg from the trunk battery and then recharge, when you go to connect make sure all power items are off, lights, key etc.
Last edited by Critter; Jan 15, 2015 at 07:44 PM.
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2005 E55 AMG
I never unhooked the battery from the car. clamped the red positive to the battery and clamped the black negative to the chassis. I trickle charged it at two amps overnight until the smart charger switch to maintenance mode. Started up. no issues since...for now.
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From: San Diego
E55
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 3,681
Likes: 39
From: San Diego
E55
Just use the clamps supplied red positive and black negative,1.5 amp will take about two days to bring the battery up to full charge. That is if the battery is not too old.
Oh forgot, two batteries, unhook the neg from the trunk battery and then recharge, when you go to connect make sure all power items are off, lights, key etc.
Oh forgot, two batteries, unhook the neg from the trunk battery and then recharge, when you go to connect make sure all power items are off, lights, key etc.
