c270cdi not starting... please help!

[c270diesel]

on saturday 18th July 09 i purchased my mercedes c270cdi on a y registration with 100k miles on the clock. The car drove perfect for over 50 miles to my home address. i was told at the time of purchase the car had been parked up for the last year.

the following morning the car failed to start. i assumed the battery was flat as the lights were dim & windows/wipers were very slow in operating. the car failed to start, however, after using jump leads. AA were called out and told me that the obvious problem was the starter motor although the battery was on it's way out as it was losing charge quickly. warning lights including abs, excessive brakewear, faulty display, handbrake and traction control showed up on the dash, although the faults would change. the car was eventually started 'direct' by bypassing the starter (don't know what that means) which apparently meant the starter motor was fine. the car is now in limp mode & won't start.

any ideas for what could be to blame??? i've been told several things inlcuding:
the battery needs changing
the abs pump needs replacing
alternator needs replacing
gear selector is faulty.

please help!

 

[rpe2]

Does this help?

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=46827

 

[MB TECH WARRINGTON]

Does this help?

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=46827

It will probably be cured by replacement of fuse, but we find it eventually gets to the point where it keeps blowing fuse. When it will need the starter replacing.

 

[c270diesel]

thank you very much guys! its gone dark now so will have to check in the morning. i was told however, by the mechanic that all the fuses had been checked and that the starter was not a problem. sorry for making things complicated... not very mechanical minded

 

[rpe2]

It is feasible that an AA/ RAC chappie may have only looked in the fusebox, not in the SAM box.

Let us know how you get on..

 

[c270diesel]

hi. ive checked the fuse. its a 15A fuse and is still intact

 

[television]

I will see what I have in the morning

 

[Blakey]

...the battery was on it's way out as it was losing charge quickly.please help!

The first thing to do is replace the battery with a correctly rated one that holds charge properly. (eg 100Ah 700CCA) With the voltage holding steady, many of the faults will dissapear, leaving you with the genuine ones.

Make that the first thing you do, and beware the battery change procedure for the 203s...


http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=37364

Best of luck.

 

[Chrishazle]

Make that the first thing you do, and beware the battery change procedure for the 203s...


http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=37364

Best of luck.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for posting that link - I knew about the battery change procedure (taught the guys at ATS Hastings when I had my new battery installed last year, they were well impressed!) but did not know about the potential expensive damage of jump starting a 203. Fortunately it's not something I've (yet) had to do - but I guess I'll have to search out one of the mobile packs with built in surge protection.
Once again, many thanks for the info - shows again the worth of the forum!

Chris

 

[c270diesel]

that article was very useful.... thank you Blakey. After reading that i think i should mention that when jump starting my car, the ignition was left on, the other car was started and had been for a while and when first connecting the leads my brightspark of a neighbour connected the leads from his car to the positive terminals on mine. i.e. he connected both leads to + terminals. after seeing all the smoke and sparks fly i put the leads on correctly. could this be to blame?

 

[Blakey]

that article was very useful.... thank you Blakey. After reading that i think i should mention that when jump starting my car, the ignition was left on, the other car was started and had been for a while and when first connecting the leads my brightspark of a neighbour connected the leads from his car to the positive terminals on mine. i.e. he connected both leads to + terminals. after seeing all the smoke and sparks fly i put the leads on correctly. could this be to blame?

I'd say more likely to have damaged the donor car battery or alternator. But I would check the condition of the area where the leads were connected to see if the cable or terminals are damaged. The electrical disturbance may have blown some fuses or damaged some sams, but unlikely. Colin/Dave at MBS can advise.

 

[turbopete]

the sams on a w203 are very prone to blowing apparently! no way id even consider using 1 of them to jump start a car or to be jump started, unless it was the final option!

 

[Blakey]

the sams on a w203 are very prone to blowing apparently! no way id even consider using 1 of them to jump start a car or to be jump started, unless it was the final option!

I second that!

 

[Cole@MBS]

This is why i wrote that thread, ( i used to post under colechelle ).

I have changed a battery due to age, and after reconnecting, have seen on a number of times different control unit failed, EIS/ICM/FRONT SAM/REAR SAM,

Difference then, i had the backing of MB and could book it in if any thing went wrong!

but what i learnt i just wanted to pass it on so owners could save some money and grief!!!

 

[c270diesel]

thanx guys for all the info. i have also noticed that since the car has been parked up the f/headlights and rear brake lights turn on and off by themselves until the battery goes flat. could a fault with the sams be to blame?

 

[Cole@MBS]

Well the headlights are controlled by the front SAM and the rear lights from the rear SAM, i think the next step is a short test!!!

Thats gonna be the cheapest method of curing whats happened!!

 

[television]

Yes the lights doing silly things is a SAM fault where all of the signals get muddled up

 

[Cole@MBS]

The puzzle is tho Malc, why is both the front and rear Sam,s putting lights on???

 

[television]

The puzzle is tho Malc, why is both the front and rear Sam,s putting lights on???

Remember mine where one SAM was so bad it messed up the other one.

If I get time tonight I will look the circuits up and see what or where the common link is

 

[Cole@MBS]

remember mine where one sam was so bad it messed up the other one.

If i get time tonight i will look the circuits up and see what or where the common link is

eis!!!!!!!!!!