2006 w219 cls battery issue

Terrykal

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The car is being used now as a daily car so this means for me a minimum of 3 times per week for my long commute of 120miles each day.

For the last two days before the below mentioned incident I used a fm Bluetooth transmitter and apparently the cigarette lighter socket is not very good so the transmitter was going on and off till I inserted it at an inclination. After 30’ of driving the ngt1 switched off on its own and restarted. Everything else worked ok and the ngt1 didn’t restarted any more times.

incident : Few days ago, I turned key in position 2 (I always turn it to position 2 and after 3-4 secs I will start the engine) and brake failure came on the dash saying that I have to depress the brake pedal completely and then was saying to start the engine. Engine didn’t start so I guessed battery failure. I switched off and on and I checked with the reset button the battery voltage which turned to be 8.4V. Again the brake message came on and then was stating to start the engine.

With a quick look I read that Merc used to install AGM as oem but after few years with a service bulletin or something equivalent they recommended the classic lead acid. My car had already an aftermarket lead acid one of 90Ah (with no indication for the date it was installed on the car) so I proceeded with a yuasa 100Ah (from 7zip I found that the car should have 100Ah batt).

I also found wet the area next to the battery so I dropped a microfiber to check in a week’s time. Maybe there is a leakage from the right rear light seals? Or maybe from under the plastic cover trim on top of the rear wing and below the boot lid? The rubber seal of the boot lid is ok with no wear and tear at its length.

I have read online that generally speaking the CLSs are battery eaters. Because of my long commute I would say that the battery would be charged properly. From Torque pro or from reset button in hidden menu I have seen that the batt is 14.1V-14.3V when driving so I don’t believe its an alternator issue.

I don’t dare to use the fm transmitter at the moment till I will be sure that battery and alternator are working fine.

What do you think?

Till the end of this week I will have a icarsoft mb2 to have a further look.

PS: previous owner informed me back in April that he replaced the aux battery under the bonnet and with small research online i saw that if this had an issue the engine will be able to start etc.
 

Larkone

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Putting the FM transmitter in at an 'inclination' may have created a short situation that was not enough to blow a fuse but enough to slowly leak out the battery - just a thought. I would look at a new cigarette lighter socket. Has the car been owned by a smoker as that may have contributed to poor connections as they seem to collect tobacco excrement in the bottom of the socket.

I had a leak in the boot on my CLS that made the boot wet and half filled a light unit. It was the clips holding the black trim around the boot opening - removed them, cleaned out the years of black gunk and then sealed each clip with silicone, no more leaks and saved the cost of stupidly expensive MB trim clips.

The rear light seals do compress over time so might be worth pulling the lights off and adding some more silicone. East to get out once you remove the trim in the boot, from memory there are five nuts to remove.
 
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Terrykal

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Thank you for your prompt reply Larkone.
I am not sure if one of 3 previous owners was a smoker. Cabin and ceiling is very clean (although I had to clean few times the seat belts since they are in light grey colour).
I had a dashcam for a short period plugged in the cigarette lighter socket and it was switching on and off few times while driving. This is why I added an extra cigarette lighter in the passenger's feet area (to keep the cables hidden from my sight too).
I probably have to replace the factory socket too. Would it be able to slowly leak out the battery while I was driving?
 
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Terrykal

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In what regards the plastic trim that you described in have read it again and that was the one (or should I say two since there is one in each side) that I was referring but didn't write it properly. I am planning to remove them and clean everything there. What type of silicone should I use? I assume weatherproof and for outdoor applications. Any suggestion for a specific brand? Thank you.

Just to mention that when I bought the car back in April I found a minor leak again at the same side and while pouring some water I saw that the plastic trim within the boot's lock area was broken and almost all of its clips/fasteners were missing so I bought a used trim and few new fasteners and replaced it. Since then I didn't find water or moisture there till few days ago.
 

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Larkone

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Use any good quality exterior grade silicone, you need very little so only buy a small tube rather than a cartridge. The trim I am referring to re the leaks is the two strips in the channels around the boot opening, the securing clips push through the bodywork and eventually leak water through. A small wipe of silicone solves the problem.

To remove the rear lights to re-seal you need to remove the trim in your picture and then you can remove the trim directly behind the lights to get at the nuts that hold the light unit in place.
 

Tony Dyson

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Sadly, the complications you're experiencing with the breakdown of your 12v socket and plug arrangement is typical of the long term/permanent use of a socket originally designed to occasionally light cigars! it’s about time the motor industry developed a suitable and fit-for-purpose cross-platform alternative, but thereby lies another discussion. The video below is one of the methods you could employ in your efforts to find where your problem lies, you will need a half decent digital multimeter and to download the reference charts to translate the Potential Difference across the fuse to Current Consumption, good luck in your efforts.

 
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Terrykal

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This week I removed my cabin fan blower to clean it and since I removed the cabin filter too (to check the fan housing for any dirt) I saw that the aux battery is smaller (in dimensions) and could move quite a lot from its base and towards all directions. Poor previous installation I guess from a poor fitter. I used a plastic spacer and a washer to make it steady, all these a total of 3.5cm, crazy number.
 
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Terrykal

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Again I am having a strange situation. Car left parked for just 3 days and then I had the message "battery protection: convenience functions temporary unavailable"
After 30" it said that they are now available.
I was receiving this message back in April and for next few months when the car was used very rarely (now is being used for 4d per week for my long commute)
After few drives the next days I checked the voltage and couldn't reach 14v+ while driving, it would hardly reach 13.5v. I would say the aux functions didn't operate at their best since I could feel the heated seats hardly warm.
Today after a half an hour of driving the LCD screen within the instrument cluster only showed the daily mileage (without projecting outside temp or digital speed or any other menu). I used torque pro and voltage was at 13.9v. on the way back it reached 14.1v from the car's menu (again commute is 60m per way).
I am starting to think that my alternator needs refurbishing, maybe it's regulator or the pulley. I had a quick look online and I don't believe it's a overrunning pulley since I don't see bearing within the pulley. Is this correct?
 
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Terrykal

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Today I had a quick check under the bonnet. I ordered a micro v.belt kit from gates (belt+deflector pulley+tensioner pulley) just above £100 which was delivered yesterday. This is because I could hear some noise from engine's pulley and worried for alternator's pulley too.
After I removed the belt I (struggled since I decided not to remove the fan housing to give me more room so space was tight) indeed the deflector pulley produced the noise while the alternator's pulley is still silent. I replaced the belt and the detector pulley and not the tensioner pulley ant this stage.

With engine off from last night the main battery was at 11.3v (which I have replaced it few weeks ago) while the aux battery is at 12.4v. again with the engine on the volts will reach 14v so alternator is charging.
 
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Terrykal

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Quick detail that I remembered and need your feedback.
My driver's mirror was auto dimming and needed replacement due to the liquid failure. I bought a used original Merc heated but not auto dimming mirror.
When I had a quick go with my icarsoft, it found a current fault in front right door module (driver's) and specifically with the mirror's heated wiring (short circuit as icarsoft informed).
Do you think this could produce a battery drainage? Would the auto dimming clip produce short circuit since it's not being used and I have tapped it? I was thinking this would only receiving a signal (for heated function I can understand it needs some voltage to operate)
 
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Terrykal

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Once more some feedback from today's search.
I blower the Amps fuse in my voltmeter so I bought a new one from wickes with the assurance that it's working properly.

I connected it as can be seen in photos and waited few minutes. When settled, the value was 0.2 or 200mA.
After few tests with the fuses I figured out that when disconnecting the no 33 it would drop to 100mA and when disconnecting the no 29 to a final 60mA or 0.06.
 

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Terrykal

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I decided to leave it as it is with these two fuses disconnected but then I saw that I couldn't turn the ignition (no29) and also the electric windows couldn't work (no33). So I put them back on and returned to a zero result.
My only contribution was that the cable that goes to the no29 fuse was outside the main wiring and also outside the chassis of the car so I decided to unscrew the fuse box and push the wire behind the dashboard.
During the tests with the fuses, the multimeter went crazy few times without pulling a fuse but I noticed that the fusebox moved just a bit and specifically that cable connecting in no29 was being pressed by the fusebox on the chassis (this is why I decided to push it behind the dashboard )

The no29 and no33 can be seen in last photo with the numbers upsidedown
 

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Terrykal

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This is what icarsoft showed me last night. At this point I am not sure if the fuse of auto dimming causes the problem (since I bought an original second hand heated mirror glass 221 810 02 21 and not the mirror glass with p/n
221 810 06 21 with the auto dimming function) or if I bought a fried heated mirror glass.

Can anyone advise if by replacing an auto dimming with a non auto dimming mirror (meaning that the fuse will not be connected to the mirror) would cause a short circuit, as being noted in the icarsoft?
 

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Terrykal

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battery seems to have no further issues from the day I fixed properly the cabling of the fuse no 29 (ignition) , touch wood.

I also purchased and installed a brand new right (driver's) mirror 2218100621 with the auto dimming function and the error message has gone now. Apparently, the used only heated 2218100221 was causing the short circuit.

Last thing that left to do is to check with my voltmeter if there is any current leakage from fuse no 33 (last time was 100mA). If not then the used heated mirror was causing it. Thanks.
 
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Terrykal

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Use any good quality exterior grade silicone, you need very little so only buy a small tube rather than a cartridge. The trim I am referring to re the leaks is the two strips in the channels around the boot opening, the securing clips push through the bodywork and eventually leak water through. A small wipe of silicone solves the problem.

To remove the rear lights to re-seal you need to remove the trim in your picture and then you can remove the trim directly behind the lights to get at the nuts that hold the light unit in place.

Larkone any idea how to remove these specific trim fasteners that hold the plastic covers at the boot opening?
They are not the same as the ones that hold the boot interior covers and are extremely hard to be lifted
 

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I used a thin bladed screwdriver to lift the centre pins, there are also screw fixings (socket head). If they are being that tough then you may end up damaging them so some new ones including the rubber receivers may be in order.
 

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I also purchased and installed a brand new right (driver's) mirror 2218100621 with the auto dimming function and the error message has gone now. Apparently, the used only heated 2218100221 was causing the short circuit..

both my 221 and fathers 211 come up with left (passenger) mirror open circuit, I swapped mine and its OK, on my fathers not sure but I expect its popped. It appears to me they use a nasty cheapo on the left in this country and they fail regularly
 
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Terrykal

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Botus I don't know what to say, mine had a issue on right, driver's side (UK) but I guess after all these years it is a bit ok for the glass' liquid to fail.
If it would help you find a decent part, I bought it from a UK site called parts for Mercedes (I don't have any relation with the company).
What is not ok is the cost for a glass, dealer wanted £346 for just the glass. Online at this site I found it around £200 with quick delivery.
The glass they provided seems very decent and well manufactured, attached few photos.
 

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Terrykal

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I used a thin bladed screwdriver to lift the centre pins, there are also screw fixings (socket head). If they are being that tough then you may end up damaging them so some new ones including the rubber receivers may be in order.

Thank you, at this point I was pretty sure I will break them and this is why I stopped pulling. The centre pin just couldn't be lifted. It's like they have been glued. I thought it's better to order them first and then re-try. I also noticed the rubber seal ring below them.
To be honest I have never noticed again this small leakage next to the battery. As said before it was like a full spoon and nothing major. But I will definitely pull them up and clean everything there and reseal as you advised me. Thank you again.
 
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