I'm obviously too late with this tip, but if you ever have to mess with the spring-type hose clamps we have, then these flexible hose clamp pliers will be worth the investment:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/24-Flexible-...114964&vxp=mtr

When I replaced my heater control valve, one of the clamps was rotated in a matter that I couldn't get straight at it with regular pliers or vice grips. I spent an hour removing one clamp that would have taken 30 seconds with this tool. I do own one now.

 

Thanks I appreciate it, I was looking at that tool it looked so odd I had no idea how to use it.

I just dropped off my batteries. Looks like both batteries were just barely under normal condition. Guess thats enough to make the electronics unhappy.

 

Good luck, I changed my alternator with a auto parts store rebuild (stuck in a small town while traveling) and it was not up to the task even though it tested fine in and out of the car. Went through a couple of relays and a battery only to determine that the alternator I put in and took out several times to test had to be the issue. I was able to do so without draining coolant or removing pulleys. Was an extremely tight squeeze but gets easier each time. Had a heck of a time getting my money back because even with the lifetime warranty it tested good. Bought a brand new (not rebuilt) Bosch unit off of Amazon and have not had a problem since. I was getting the red battery alert too with the reman. I only got it under full throttle though and then random things would be turning off. Oh and I was virtually issue free with no errors on the dash for a couple of weeks before the issues started and they kept getting worse over the course of a few weeks. These cars seem to be pretty particular as it comes to the alternator.

Also look into resetting your windows and sunroof after disconnecting the battery. Basically on the windows you go down and hold for 5 seconds after fully open and do the same on close. With the sunroof you do tilt up and hold for 5 seconds, close and hold for 5, slide open and hold for 5, close hold for 5. Non of the one touch open and close was working every time I disconnected the battery. I thought I had a major issue with the sunroof when I tried to open it and it sounded like it was going to break and would not go back more than half way.

 

[QUOTE=justinreinke;6615496 I was getting the red battery alert too with the reman. I only got it under full throttle though and then random things would be turning off. Oh and I was virtually issue free with no errors on the dash for a couple of weeks before the issues started and they kept getting worse over the course of a few weeks. These cars seem to be pretty particular as it comes to the alternator.
.[/QUOTE]

what was your voltage reading when car on with reman? Mine is at 13.9-14 volts. And steadily going up as a drive the car more. Little low but battery is old.

My battery is very old and it tested fair. They recccomended to change the battery. Consdering switching batteries with a new to see if red battery light turns off. Will head to dealer on Tuesday to have it checked out before. Then we will see where we're at.

Thanks for the reply.

 

I think the red battery warning is for the front one. That's for your brakes, so don't put it off. I "wetted" my oem battery with some fresh battery acid and it charged up over 14 volts immediately. That was a year ago and it's still happy. The glass matt was getting dried out. I'm surprised they still sell acid these days, but they do, and it's inexpensive.

 

Ya sbc is pretty important. Now I'm hearing conflicting Info. I thought red battery light is for rear battery? I'd rather change my front then rear right now haha.

Ive had the front battery for 2.5-3 years How long doe they typically last?

Gotta check to see if my front motorcycle battery can be opened up to add battery acid. Where do you buy the acid?

 

From underneath is the easy way to do it and if you need a rear battery Walmart has a really good one for $139.00 > EverStart Platinum AGM Battery Group Size H8

 

[QUOTE=Max.H;6616035]Ya sbc is pretty important. Now I'm hearing conflicting Info. I thought red battery light is for rear battery? I'd rather change my front then rear right now haha.

Ive had the front battery for 2.5-3 years How long doe they typically last?

Gotta check to see if my front motorcycle battery can be opened up to add battery acid. Where do you buy the acid?


Mine is original, so.. 10 years. If it's dying at 3, acid probably won't help.
NAPA sells it.

 

It's a BS14 battery. It's also a safety issue. If $50 is that much of an issue for you, then you should consider selling you car before something really expensive happens.

 

Maybe, you should simmer down and drink some hot tea

50 dollars is not an issue. I was asking a simple question about how long they normally last. My original lasted a really long time maybe 6-7 years. But, this last one (motorcycle battery not OEM) only lasted 2.5-3 years. Maybe, it was because my alternator was giving out and it killed the battery sooner or a front battery relay. I don't know, Hence the question.

 

I think the OEM battery is about $150. Well worth it, considering how long it lasts. When mine drops below 14v I will get one just like it.

 

Son of a B. I just changed the rear battery to a new AGM battery and the red light still remains. This was what I was worried about just buying random parts. My existing battery was showing about the same voltage as the new but a lot less Cold cranking amps. 630CCA vs like 950CCA or something on the new one.

I went to the dealer and they are charging me to check the issue. Hopefully, they can just turn off the red battery light. I already changed new AGM rear battery, new alternator and aux battery showing good health. This is annoying.

 

Voltage Regulator?

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...lternator.html

 

the dealership will probably say you need a new battery control module, about $450 part. and this time they maybe right??? whenever the dealership do battery/electrical issues check with STAR/DAS, the bcm always come up the "problem" or its "faulty". only true way to tell, if they replaces the bcm and you drive around, if that red battery warning message do not come on, then it was indeed the bcm. but rarely is it the bcm! I hope you or they get it sorted. I am thinking the "new" alternator you put in is not up to the task of providing enough power to the car???? altho you are getting reading of over 13 volts on your car with the alternator, you quite don't know whats going on when you are driving with other essentials on, like ac, radio, lights etc etc.... I got my e55 used and at the time did not realize the alternator was not a bosch or "Mercedes" alternator. it was a DC power engineering 320 amp alternator, powerful enough to run anything in my opinion. battery was always fully powered like your battery and everything ran great except the ac was low powered, seat controls never worked and that message would come on everytime I drove!!! like yourself, I replaced batteries, then bcm, and then I focused on the alternator. biggest damn alternator I have ever seen! this is getting long here so : removed the alternator thinking there was no way it was the alternator, well got a used 80k mile alternator from a partout e55, replaced the VR and all my problems went away like a bad dream! ac, seat controls work great, no more red battery warning etc etc..... damn car runs perfect!!! so your car at the dealership and it will probably be around $750 total bill, you drive the hell out of it and if something not right or that battery warning comes back up, take it back and get your true moneys worth fix by them!!!! happy holidays man! good luck.

 

Mr. Green is right, he's been through hell and back with his car but he was persistent without star and got it to work. When the dealership will run star the bcm will come up as a fault but it can be as simple as a code stuck in the bcm and when the code is cleared you are fine so try that first

 

these were my steps to get rid of the convenience function and then red battery message

1. replace vr
2. replace front and rear batteries
3. replace bcm
no more red message. You might need to wait 5 min or so and the red message goes away. happened to me after replacing the bcm. i have an extra bcm if you are in need of one.

 

Car has new alternator with new bosch VR, New AGM battery rear, front battery checked out fine. Ill see what the dealer says. Probably will tell me its the bcm haha.

Great thanks, I will pm you

 

Update: Just got back from dealer. Car runs great, got the 15% discount, red battery light is off, everything works fine, back to normal, no codes.

 

What was the issue after all alternator?

 

The SA said there was a wire that attaches to the alternator that was bad. Might be true, or might have just been a reset on the BCM with a stored code. But, I did try to reset the BCM by unplugging it for 2 minutes and it did nothing. Sooo.

I will take a look when I put the car on the lift to continue with some scheduled repairs and report back.

 

Interesting ive installed a reman alternator from Napa a few months ago and recently I started to notice I get a power surge for a quick second my hids almost cut off only happens when idling or coming to a stop while it happens my ndash backlight constantly flickers/flashes not sure if it was doing that before my alternator issue, I will be replacing mine with an oem bosch as soon as I find a part number for it

 

first thing I did when I got my reman alternator was swap that cheap generic vintage regulator with a new boa he Vr. that is one the main components. The generic could fail easier. Try it, it's quick install I bought mine here from a member new in box.

Let me us know what you find here if you could. Could help someone who se down the line.

 

Just replaced my alternator tonight. It was the second time in 5 months. I made the mistake of buying a remanufactured Bosch unit 5 months ago and as those who have gone before me stated, it didn't work out. I also checked the voltage regulator and it was fine. So I replaced it with a true Bosch unit and hopefully my problems will be gone for a while.
The second time around was much faster as I didn't waste time trying to work around coolant hoses and pulleys. Best way is to remove the double pulley and clamp off and move as many hoses as possible. Pretty easy after that.

 

the reman I got from napa was not a bosch unit I was about to just get the vr but it stated the regulator was only for bosch units I'm not sure if it would work on mine

 

I just cancelled my order from rockauto for the reman bosch I ordered today reading this, where did you buy yours from?