Bought the car at 6pm, broken down in a lay by 30 mins later CL63AMG

[John Laidlaw]

I budget on a battery every three years. Anything beyond that is a bonus.
Lets face - they aren't exactly expensive and in many cases are only warranted three years anyway.

Very sensible....tyres and batteries shouldn't be skimped on....

 

[Wighty]

I'm shocked that your batteries are only lasting 3 years , both my cars are at 8 at the moment .

 

[LostKiwi]

I'm shocked that your batteries are only lasting 3 years , both my cars are at 8 at the moment .

I never said they were only lasting 3 years only that I budget to replace them at three years as thats the warranty period on many batteries.

 

[JBell]

I budget on a battery every three years. Anything beyond that is a bonus.
Lets face - they aren't exactly expensive and in many cases are only warranted three years anyway.

Bosch do up to 5 year warrenties but you pay a lot more for the battery

 

[JBell]

..... being an old sod ... I kinda wonder how bad could a decent stabilisation bar, a set of sports springs and a dam good sports damper be

Set of Koni FSD shocks with H&R Springs and H&R Anti roll bars and it would handle well, cost you £1200

 

[SL63 Mark]

So page 5 and the clever money's on a flat battery.

Wonder how many pages we'll get if anything is actually wrong with the car ?

 

[John Laidlaw]

So page 5 and the clever money's on a flat battery.

Wonder how many pages we'll get if anything is actually wrong with the car ?

One more now...

 

[Abb]

Batterygate??

 

[JBell]

Batterygate??

Is someone going to get charged?

 

[KennyN]

Is someone going to get charged?

Only if the current owner that started the thread , post a positive outcome to the potential battery issue.

Kenny

 

[Flyinspanner]

Good that so many Bright Sparks are trying to help solve this......

 

[JBell]

Only if the current owner that started the thread , post a positive outcome to the potential battery issue.

I am sensing some negative things to come, I think the Acid test will be to see if the problem is the battery, may bring some people down to earth

 

[LostKiwi]

All this speculation could 'ampere a proper diagnosis...

 

[Botus]

So page 5 and the clever money's on a flat battery.

Wonder how many pages we'll get if anything is actually wrong with the car ?

if the battery was shot and he'd stalled it, I get that the issues could have happened...

but it was running. So a low voltage battery should have been getting 14v from the alternator and the car wouldn't know any better and no elec faults should have popped up mid run

 

[John Laidlaw]

All this speculation could 'ampere a proper diagnosis...

Are you positive?

 

[SL63 Mark]

Are you positive?

Could be terminal

 

[growla666]

Update-----it's not brilliant

Ok despite all the clown like comments in the last few pages the car (07 so 10 years old) spent the weekend at the Indy being charged. All the fault codes cleared and my Indy felt it was a low battery problem and they couldn't find anything wrong with it. Great I thought, problem solved. Picked up Car Monday afternoon then drove it 50 miles to Nottingham (steady 55 mph - got 26mpg). Parked up overnight then drove it a few miles to a meeting midday. At 530pm got back in car and began my drive home. 20 mins later the dreaded "drive to workshop without changing gear" flashed up and the gearbox started clunking when trying to change gear. Then the ESP not available, tyre pressure warning and cruise control warning lights flashed up and my heart sank. This time I kept it in gear, turned off the stereo, climate control and heated seats to conserve battery charge and gingerly drove the rest of the way back home. After a few miles and gearbox change being very clunky the red "drive to workshop...light" stopped and the gearbox slowly resumed changing smoothly. The other 3 yellow warnings remained until I reached my Indy where I have left it till tomorrow. Once I parked I turned the car off and restarted it immediately which it did no problem and all the warnings cleared.

I so want this car to work and still believe it's a duff AGM secondary battery. Will have to see what the Star diagnosis says tomorrow but if they can't find a fault I'll have to take it back to the dealer I bought it from and try and get my money back.

So come on guys - before I go for the worst case option do you still think it's duff battery or am I kidding myself?

 

[LostKiwi]

You probably need to measure battery voltages before starting and again while running. If a battery is failing it could drag down the charge rate and cause all manner of issues.

 

[growla666]

I watched the voltage on the dash when driving and it fluctuates between 13.3 and 14.4v is that normal? Is that voltage the battery in the front or the agm one at the back or both?

 

[John Laidlaw]

I watched the voltage on the dash when driving and it fluctuates between 13.3 and 14.4v is that normal? Is that voltage the battery in the front or the agm one at the back or both?

If its like the 230 then what you see on the dash is the consumer battery and the readings you report seem pretty normal.
What was it with the engine off?