Remnar

So I am stuck at work, no tools to speak of, 25 miles from home and 30 from a decent indy or dealer.

E55 will not crank over F59 fuse blown, and replacement fuse blows as well. Can anyone provide a suggestion on possible cause?

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks,

Remnar

Strigoi

F59 should be for the starter relay.

I'm guessing your starter may be the issue and you'll probably need a tow.

drothgeb

Sounds like either your starter burnt up, or something seized some where.

Since you are stuck, I would try putting a litttleeeee bigger fuse in there, and putting the transmission in neutral before cranking. Probably not much else to do after that without being able to lift the car and pull splash guards off.

Remnar

So Drothgeb, your advice worked. 25A fuse and neutral. Now to get home.

drothgeb

Glad I could help Get'er home and let us know what you find.

bbirdwell

Relay locations attached. N10/Kl is the starter relay.

If you have a multimeter, I suggest pulling the relay and checking to see if there is a short to chassis on the lead that feeds the starter solenoid (check on voltage setting first as one lead will be hot and you don't want to burn the fuse in your multimeter). If a short is present, you should disconnect the wire from the starter solenoid and check again; if a short is present, the wire has abraded or melted insulation somewhere. If no short, then the problem could be internal to the starter solenoid.

FWIW, fuse f59 is the starter relay fuse in all versions of the E55 wiring harness.

Edit: just saw you got it functional. Good advice there Drothgeb.

Remnar

So I have made it home. Based on a quick look at my schedule and what it will take to replace the starter. I believe that I will take it to the dealership to get it replaced.

I got a quote of $600 to have it replaced, which is $40 more that the indy down the street and I guess I like the dealer better for the difference.

I will check to make sure I don't have a short before I take to the dealer, but I suspect that it's the starter.

Thanks for the advice!

Max.H

Nice

Remnar

So I got my car back from the dealer, all clean and beautiful.

Thanks for everyone's help. I was able to get a new starter installed for $495 with my MB Club discount. I guess the original estimate included a diagnosis. I took the risk and told them to replace the starter and forego the diagnosis.

I am pleasantly surprised, MB has a reputation of being $$$, but in this case they were a reasonable.

05-E55

Man, I wish I had the mechanical knowledge like our forum veterans. How can one learn if you have a genuine interest? I have offered myself up as a free laborer with my local Indy, but no cigar! School?
I'm in my 40's, have common sense, am analytical(OCD), and have done some basic work on various cars I've owned over the years but unless it's an obvious bolts off and on I have no clue.

bbirdwell

Read, study, make mistakes, listen to others, don't be afraid to take it apart but be prepared to accept a mistake. This was the first time I'd heard of advice such as Drothgeb's; I'll tuck that one away in my bonnet.

PM me your email address and I'll send you a metric crap-ton of technical info.

Dublinoh

Just want to say I love this thread, so many things here speak to the value of a forum like this, and the quality of the membership. Hats off to all of you.