Could You Change a Car Battery?

whitenemesis

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2006
Messages
17,978
Reaction score
40
Your Mercedes
CLS55 AMG '05
Or, as in my case, the battery will be perfectly fine the day before and next morning, dead... :rolleyes:

Mobilo tech said very common, modern batteries go on and on and then suddenly, dead. :shock:
 

HelpThisDude

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2008
Messages
649
Reaction score
5
Location
Essex
Your Mercedes
W203 C270CDI, R172 SLK55 AMG
That's the point. It appears they'll only only replace the easy ones for £6 ....... because mine is under the driver's seat, their book says that they won't touch it. :rolleyes:

You dodged a bullet!
My halfords battery failed after two years and they offered to replace it and fit it for me for the extra £6 (I should have known this would end bad)
This guy did not have the right tools, left the terminals loose... I had to ask him to stop, got the idiot to call the manager and finished the job my self. Manager didn’t seem to care that he had left the terminals loose.
 

television

Always remembered RIP
Joined
Mar 14, 2005
Messages
164,073
Reaction score
367
Age
89
Location
Daventry
Your Mercedes
2002 SL500, 216 CL500, all fully loaded
You dodged a bullet!
My halfords battery failed after two years and they offered to replace it and fit it for me for the extra £6 (I should have known this would end bad)
This guy did not have the right tools, left the terminals loose... I had to ask him to stop, got the idiot to call the manager and finished the job my self. Manager didn’t seem to care that he had left the terminals loose.

You were lucky, they usually say it is the car and that their battery is perfect, not nice people to do business with
 

padawun

New Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Location
Kent
Your Mercedes
E Class W210
You dodged a bullet!
My halfords battery failed after two years and they offered to replace it and fit it for me for the extra £6 (I should have known this would end bad)
This guy did not have the right tools, left the terminals loose... I had to ask him to stop, got the idiot to call the manager and finished the job my self. Manager didn’t seem to care that he had left the terminals loose.

Sorry to state the obvious, but you only get what you pay for. An unqualified counter staff in Halfords should not be let loose with a car, what worries me more is that the manager also knew or cared no more than his staff.
 

EmilysDad

Senior Member
Joined
May 8, 2012
Messages
12,120
Reaction score
5,664
Location
Bury Lancs
Your Mercedes
ML350
You dodged a bullet!....

I wouldn't let Halfords change my car battery. I was just asking because I'd seen something in the paper with their fitting prices & nothing seemed to 'from £??' So, knowing that my battery could potentially be a PITA to fit, I asked & they said they'd not touch a car like mine. ;)
 

EmilysDad

Senior Member
Joined
May 8, 2012
Messages
12,120
Reaction score
5,664
Location
Bury Lancs
Your Mercedes
ML350
If a firm showed that they changed the battery in the correct way and used a back up, then no redress, but a charger in the cigar lighter does nothing with the ignition off.

Surely a back up power source is only to retain memories etc ...... there has to be a time when you might need to disconnect a car's battery to work on it. eg alternator :confused::confused:
 

television

Always remembered RIP
Joined
Mar 14, 2005
Messages
164,073
Reaction score
367
Age
89
Location
Daventry
Your Mercedes
2002 SL500, 216 CL500, all fully loaded
Surely a back up power source is only to retain memories etc ...... there has to be a time when you might need to disconnect a car's battery to work on it. eg alternator :confused::confused:

Colin has done a very good DIY for the 203, the 203 is the only one where things can go wrong.

One should always take care, if a battery has just been on charge disconnected, as the voltage could be too high, and best to cream a little off the top before connecting to cars with wake up systems, in these cases it best to have the doors closed but no possible when the battery is under the rear seat.
 

Xtractorfan

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2007
Messages
6,085
Reaction score
159
Your Mercedes
S class
I was in a local retail park one day parked just outside halfords . it was ****in down.. and a halfords employee was trying to close a door on a car. he opened it,banged it, opened it slammed it then went inside for a spanner to adjust the hinges ..
I watched with some interest and then saw that the owner was disabled.. ..so got out had a look and asked why the hinges would need adjusting.. thinking he my have reversed with the door partly open and caught on a bollard or something
The halfdords guy pushed the door closed and said look it wont close it is too far out of line.. I lifted the door handle and had a look .. the lock had been closed on the door.. and each time the guy banged it, the lock became lodged and wouldnt release with the handle... so a scewdriver and I opened the catch and then gently closed the door.....
 

mercmancdi

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2011
Messages
3,531
Reaction score
859
Age
65
Location
templepatrick - co antrim
Website
www.schnauzersinireland.com
Your Mercedes
2009 E250 cdi 08 cls320 cdi ,2007 e280 cdi '2005 E 280 CDI ,VW TOUAREG ,JAGUAR S AND xTO NAME A FEW
Had a quick poll at work this afternoon, 10 people, 8 men 2 women.

Only 4 felt confident that they knew how to change a battery safely.

One of those 4 thought it didn't matter which terminal you take off or on first.

4 of the 10 thought that once the negative terminal was disconnected if then while disconnecting the positive the spanner touches the car you will get a shock.

6 thought wearing rubber gloves would be a good idea.

1 would stand on a box if one were available.

This should be a basic task that everyone can do, in reality it seems the majority would rather leave it to a professional.

Don't forget to check you have radio code if your stereo requires it .;)
 

Kylinski

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2012
Messages
331
Reaction score
0
Location
cardiff
Your Mercedes
SLK R170 230 (2001)
Talking of halfords charging to fit various parts, (and appologies for going off topic), I bought a set of Bosch wiper blades and was asked if I wanted them fitted at an extra cost of £3? WTF??

The wipers took seconds to fit! Who pays to have wiper blades fitted?? :shock:
 

EmilysDad

Senior Member
Joined
May 8, 2012
Messages
12,120
Reaction score
5,664
Location
Bury Lancs
Your Mercedes
ML350
.... Who pays to have wiper blades fitted?? :shock:

People must do, otherwise Halfords wouldn't offer the service ....... I've come across loads of people that don't have a clue how they clip on
 

Frontstep

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2007
Messages
9,201
Reaction score
3,436
Your Mercedes
T210 320cdi
Me too and can't change wheels,bulbs,check levels in fact check anything.
The best would be a person who had no idea their car had five gears after two years of ownership.
 

Kylinski

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2012
Messages
331
Reaction score
0
Location
cardiff
Your Mercedes
SLK R170 230 (2001)
After my other half sold her Yarris and started driving the SLK she said "how do I put the rear wiper on?" Genius! :eek:
 

davemercedes

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2012
Messages
4,345
Reaction score
2,099
Location
Glos
Your Mercedes
2007 Merc 220 CDi Est Auto Av (s203)
I changed the battery on my S203 this week. I browsed through the forum looking for warnings on my model and it seemed the only issue was to remove negative first... which is logical any way, I think. Once I had removed the positive I put the terminal inside a rubber glove just so that it would only go "live" when I was ready.

I decided to go for a quality item - the one I was removing had lasted the life of the car (2007) and only let me down once, a couple of weeks ago and I was twitchy whether I really needed to replace it because after the car was restarted, I drove about 15 miles and it was back the way it's always been - turn the key and it starts - first time, every time! I ordered a unit from MB Avonmouth... it arrived incredibly quickly - no complaints at at all.

Changeover was easy except for two things: 1) there's a breather/overflow pipe on the battery and I though I was being clever putting the "L" shaped connector in first - and in the process of installing it I sheared the expletive thing off! Waiting for a replacement... I do think you need muscles on your muscles and hands like shovels to do the battery fitting - it weighs a ton and of course it has to be fitted right at the back in front of the bulkhead.

As I said, I checked all the postings on the forum and there was nothing for my C220 to really worry about so I went for it! I checked and initialised the windows - no problem and turned the power steering to both locks - again no problem, so I sat there feeling smug until I realised the indicators/main beam switch was inoperative. I had just got my long nose pliers ready to check the fuses when I had a thought... with a computer, you switch everything off, reboot and off you go. So I did just that: I truned everything off, removed the key, took a deep breath and put the key back in again. No problem! Not only is it back to working as I would expect but it retained all the OBD settings such as auto-locking and mirror folding.

So now I'm really smug! Unless of course tomorrow....
 

Wighty

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2016
Messages
13,434
Reaction score
12,465
Location
Sunny Essex
Your Mercedes
W211/E320cdi/2009 and CLK200k 2009
I changed the battery on my S203 this week. I browsed through the forum looking for warnings on my model and it seemed the only issue was to remove negative first... which is logical any way, I think. Once I had removed the positive I put the terminal inside a rubber glove just so that it would only go "live" when I was ready.

I decided to go for a quality item - the one I was removing had lasted the life of the car (2007) and only let me down once, a couple of weeks ago and I was twitchy whether I really needed to replace it because after the car was restarted, I drove about 15 miles and it was back the way it's always been - turn the key and it starts - first time, every time! I ordered a unit from MB Avonmouth... it arrived incredibly quickly - no complaints at at all.

Changeover was easy except for two things: 1) there's a breather/overflow pipe on the battery and I though I was being clever putting the "L" shaped connector in first - and in the process of installing it I sheared the expletive thing off! Waiting for a replacement... I do think you need muscles on your muscles and hands like shovels to do the battery fitting - it weighs a ton and of course it has to be fitted right at the back in front of the bulkhead.

As I said, I checked all the postings on the forum and there was nothing for my C220 to really worry about so I went for it! I checked and initialised the windows - no problem and turned the power steering to both locks - again no problem, so I sat there feeling smug until I realised the indicators/main beam switch was inoperative. I had just got my long nose pliers ready to check the fuses when I had a thought... with a computer, you switch everything off, reboot and off you go. So I did just that: I truned everything off, removed the key, took a deep breath and put the key back in again. No problem! Not only is it back to working as I would expect but it retained all the OBD settings such as auto-locking and mirror folding.

So now I'm really smug! Unless of course tomorrow....
It's in the bag , you nailed it buddy :D
 

Westheath

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2015
Messages
1,487
Reaction score
490
Location
South London
Your Mercedes
Empty garage, awaiting new toy :)
Not so much with MB but some manufacturers have a battery replacement re-initialization.

This includes such routines as

1. Turn ignition on leave for 1 minute with lights on dipped beam. (throttle body relearn)
2. Start engine and leave at idle for 15 minutes do not touch throttle. (voltage stabilization relearn)
3. Stop engine remove key restart immediately,
observe idle rpm @1100 lowering to 800rpm after cold start process. (Idle charge state relearn cold starting auto box)

That's just a basic little Suzuki with autobox that can have cutting out at cold idle problems.

So changing batteries isn't as simple as it used to be with the electronics on board vehicles these days.
 

Frontstep

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2007
Messages
9,201
Reaction score
3,436
Your Mercedes
T210 320cdi
I suppose this thread would get some more interesting replies on a Tesla forum.
 

kid-jensen

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Messages
942
Reaction score
188
Location
Epsom Downs, Surrey
Your Mercedes
Ml320CDI 2007
It looks like the manufacturers/dealers/schools/society/whatever has finally frightened the great British public into "leaving it to the Professional". I guess it had to happen sooner or later.

It started with "sealed for life" components in the 70's, and carried on from there, but don't get me started on Quinton Hazel...

The real problem comes when you see the "professional" doing the job and don't realise what a Muppet he has revealed himself to be...

Then we really ARE screwed.
 

You lost your key ? Or maybe you need a spare! Your vehicle imobilliser does not respond anymore? WE CAN FIX THEM ALL !! Mobile ! Save Time and Increase Profits With us !
Top Bottom