Battery drain problems - shop recommendation

[berki]

Hi,

Have had a battery drain problem with my w215 (2002 Cl500) for some time now and my limited knowledge and skills have only got me so far... Feel it is time to get it to someone that knows their stuff.

Got to the car this morning and it had drained overnight which is a first, either it has gotten worse or the windshield wipers, which were left in auto, for some reason never went to sleep.

Have read good things and have previously been recommended WG in Harrow, anyone has any experience with them on issues like this? Should mention that I am close to Greenwich in London but happy to take the trip to Harrow if this is indeed something for them.

 

[turbopete]

never used them but Wayne Gates always seem to get good reviews here

 

[Frontstep]

Hi,

Have had a battery drain problem with my w215 (2002 Cl500) for some time now and my limited knowledge and skills have only got me so far... Feel it is time to get it to someone that knows their stuff.

Got to the car this morning and it had drained overnight which is a first, either it has gotten worse or the windshield wipers, which were left in auto, for some reason never went to sleep.

Have read good things and have previously been recommended WG in Harrow, anyone has any experience with them on issues like this? Should mention that I am close to Greenwich in London but happy to take the trip to Harrow if this is indeed something for them.

Have battery tested first that's a lot of juice consumed in one night.

I had mine tested twice but only after thinking through the symptoms and how quick the "good" battery drained did I swap it and have been fine since.

 

[berki]

Thanks, did have the battery checked already and they said it's fine. Thought it was as easy as if they said battery is fine it is but if that's not the case maybe it is indeed worth just changing it.

Maybe a small price to pay just to see if it fixes it... Might try and re-check the fuses after car goes to sleep to see if there is an above avg drain on the battery. Did do it ones but think the car might not have gone properly to sleep even though I left it for almost an hour.

Anyone have a recommendation for a good battery for this car?

 

[turbopete]

varta are always decent batteries in my experience. general advice is to go for a well known brand not some el cheapo brand battery

 

[Philedge]

Not all battery testers are the same and even flash pro garage testers dont pick up on all faults.

The wifes jazz battery went flat a couple of times early last year and local garage tested the battery and gave it near 100%. I checked the drain on the battery and there was none, so with the battery still under Yuasas 3 year warranty I took it back where I bought it and they checked it on a Yuasa tester and declared it duff!! Replacement battery sorted the problem despite the original being tested and given the all clear at local garage!

 

[Ken_R]

I had a battery 'experience' with my Omega. Started it up in the morning. Drove to the 'tip. Switched off engine. Finished there. It started fine.

Had been at home for a couple of hours and went to go out somewhere. It hardly turned the engine over. i.e. Not enough to start it.

Bought new battery. Everything fine. It was certainly not a charging or 'drain' problem as I continued to use that vehicle for a number of years thereafter.

I sometimes think us "old uns" remember too far back to the days when a battery failure was something that occurred over weeks/months, and in my case, with some of my cars, there was a starting handle.

I don't know how true it is but, I was told that because they now use less lead in batteries, nowadays they are more prone to sudden, rather than 'gradual' failure.

 

[berki]

Thanks all. I let the ctec charger get the battery up to full charge overnight. Disconnected at 6am this morning and now battery is flat again.

Will just order myself a new battery now and see if that sorts it. If it turns out to be something else than the battery I guess I have big problems as 12h to drain the battery seems quite quick...

 

[turbopete]

12 hours to drain a battery is a BIG drain. if not the battery id guess at the alternator reg pack shorting so it charges with the engine running, but also discharges constantly when the engine is off, IIRC

 

[Frontstep]

Thanks all. I let the ctec charger get the battery up to full charge overnight. Disconnected at 6am this morning and now battery is flat again.

Will just order myself a new battery now and see if that sorts it. If it turns out to be something else than the battery I guess I have big problems as 12h to drain the battery seems quite quick...

Presuming you have a 90-100amp battery thats a lot of amps going somewhere if you have an MB commercial dealer nearby ring for a price its probably an 019 but check first.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Varta-Sil...524812?hash=item419b3fd04c:g:vFsAAOSwPe1T24Jf

£84.45 with 5 year warranty.

 

[hannay]

Generally speaking, if you are noticing odd electrical-supply-based behaviour that couldn't possibly be a problem with the battery, it probably is.

It is easy to be certain that because the engine fired first spin as always just hours before, or even minutes, the battery is full of fizz and therefore the problem must be with some of the plumbed-in fixtures/fittings, or with an open circuit somewhere, or within the loom and be a pain to isolate and rectify, or with a number of other component possibilities in inverse proportion to your familiarity with the complete electrical distribution system ... the less familiar you are with it, the more you are certain that it is a black-box fault leaking watts, volts and amps all over the place when you aren't looking.

That's because a battery is simply a battery, sits there, gets c-tek'd on occasion if needed but generally goes on doing its job with no complaint. You know it will die one day but you never really think it will be today.

And helping that along is the knowledge that things called Gremlins get in to all the electrickery sometimes and make annoying problems come along that you can give credibility to because it sounds entirely likely that this relay has begun to fail, or that that switch is shorting, or some other logical assumption based often on the reported experiences of others.

So out come the meters, and there goes your time spent on connections checked, relays prised and examined for dry solder etc or even replaced as a test, dash part-dismantled to get at the bulb/switch/ignition in order to deal with the open circuit that some other finding has suggested MUST be there.

And the little noises you can barely hear in the dark corners are the Gremlins chuckling up their sleeves because they haven't actually done a single thing, their reputation has done it all for them!

Consider your battery good for from 2 to 5 years, but don't automatically expect it to go the distance.

Yes it might still be performing even in 7 - might - but only poorly. And in its later life its wheezing is masked anyway, because once it has done what it is primarily required for - getting you going - it mostly has to just cruise along keeping ancillaries sparking, something that it can manage. By the time you want it to sprint again it has regained its breath. Until the day it isn't able any longer.

As a simple precaution, fit a new battery every 3 years whether you think you need to or not. Depending on car/specification it will be £100-150 ... £50/year to sidestep what happens the day that you can't start the car because listening to "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue" whilst waiting in Sainsbury's car park has taken the unrecognised weak battery below the line it needs to be above in order to crank the starter load.

Those of us able to recall that far know that batteries aren't like in the good old days when they actually required maintenance, topping-up the cells, more. Unlike the tapering-off of performance that let you know to do something in good time and not get caught out, the composition and design of todays batteries means that they perform at a good rate until they just splutter and gasp.

Case in point ... one of my 124s seemed to lose the ability to turn over after listening to the radio in the parked car for 10-15 minutes with the ignition off. The first time, by the time the supermarket shop was in the back some 15 more minutes later it could spin again and started fine.

In normal driving use there was no problem again, until 2 weeks later the same thing ... this time when turning the lights off the switch accidentally overshot the home position while the indicator stalk was coincidentally left in the operating position, putting the parking lights on when the ign was switched off. Came back to the car 30 mins later, wouldn't start. 15 mins later it had recovered a little and spun nicely and caught fine.

Battery was an 8 month old Bosch and was assumed to be bursting with health ... if believing that, it would have been easy to get lost for days on end looking at everything else but!

But I suspected the battery right away when that penny dropped with the second instance.

I checked and the battery was kicking out minimal power, had unknowingly been in poor condition. A relatively small unsupported drain had been enough to exhaust it, another ten-minutes had got it recoverd enough and and able to spin the starter again, and normal driving had kept it performing fine on a daily basis as long as there was no significant current-draw with the ignition off.

And this was confirmed when the battery was quickly re-checked at my Dealer and found to be faulty, and replaced.

If you don't want to fit a new battery to test it, perhaps you can borrow one and run with that for a short spell - it will tell you quickly enough whether that's the fault. Or your local car electrical specialist should easily be able to check your battery and tell you if it is faulty or has just reached its natural end. I hope that sorts it simply for you.

But even if it turns out to be something else, if your battery is much more than a couple of years old I'd consider retiring it soon anyway as a precaution, not only against getting stuck some other time but also against the time, expense and inconvenience afterward while fault chasing everything else except the actual cause.

 

[grahamwoodward]

battery drain

I had a similar problem with my W203 C Class. It turned out to be a fault with the memory seats. You need to find out what is drawing the current. Pull the fuse for the memory seats as a temp measure and see if that cures it. If so contact Alex Crow who is a genius with electrics!

 

[bembo449]

i have an issue with my 216 like the above , the driver side seat is pulling 9 amps when the car is supposed to be asleep

 

[mattkh]

.... if your battery is much more than a couple of years old I'd consider retiring it soon anyway as a precaution, not only against getting stuck some other time but also against the time, expense and inconvenience afterward while fault chasing everything else except the actual cause.

Hi
I am of the school that car lead/acid batteries should last forever because the chemical reaction is reversible.

 

[turbopete]

Hi
I am of the school that car lead/acid batteries should last forever because the chemical reaction is reversible.

doesnt seem to work that way though

 

[turbopete]

Consider your battery good for from 2 to 5 years, but don't automatically expect it to go the distance.

Yes it might still be performing even in 7 - might - but only poorly. And in its later life its wheezing is masked anyway, because once it has done what it is primarily required for - getting you going - it mostly has to just cruise along keeping ancillaries sparking, something that it can manage. By the time you want it to sprint again it has regained its breath. Until the day it isn't able any longer.

As a simple precaution, fit a new battery every 3 years whether you think you need to or not.

why would anyone wastwe money on a battery they didnt need? our 203, for example, the car had some warranty work done at 2 ears old, just after we got it. 1 job was a recall on the battery. all fine there. now, run forward almost 12 YEARS and the SAME battery was still starting the car perfectly well, keeping me warm using the rest function, letting kids watch DVDs when we were sat in car parks whilst their mother did the grocery shopping, charging my phone, sat nav and running the parrot kit all the while. never once did that car (or battery) falter, even in the very depths of winter when heater blowers, heated screens, lights, wipers etc (almost every electrical item fitted) were all used to the maximum. i never even had so much as a 'convenience functions disabled' warning for a lower than ideal battery voltage. and wherever that car is now, im almost certain that battery still lives in there doing its thing.

change them when they give issues. no need to change otherwise IMO and experience

 

[television]

No 2 batteries are the same, one may last 20 year and another of the same make 4 years. a car pulling anything over 5 amps should mean that something is getting hot, 9 amps would be something very hot, seat and door controller usually only pull up to 150ma when leaking memories., car not going to sleep is another thing.

I would say that the OP's car has one dud cell, fine while on charge, leave it a couple of hours and dead.