Crap Battery on CL 500 W216 - should I just change it?

[Submariner1]

Changed my 95Ah battery at 9 years.
Usually showed 12.4 or 12.5V
MB downgraded it to 92 Ah. That lasted 3 weeks. Mobilo said it was defective.
The replacement was a little better but within 3 months you would see 12.4 V 2 days after a full charge.
Now if charged fully 48 hours later it is showing 12.2 V .
If left for 3 days will show 12.1 V guess its now 4 years old.
The car starts but ai know these cars dislike low voltage. And I have had the engine fan fail to start first time.

Should I just change it - mainly to rule out issues.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Yes, I certainly wouldn’t venture into winter with it if it’s not holding its charge in this weather.

As a matter of interest where did you source the battery and what brand? I awlays fit Varta and would never reduce the Ampage when changing a battery. Tayna online are my first choice for replacements and I also top the charge up before fitting

 

[Richard Moakes]

I regard batteries on my cars as consumables with a short life, the moment they show weakness, they are replaced.

 

[sonic]

Disconnect the battery from the car, see if the voltage drops then, you possibly have a drain.
My 212 battery is 13 years old, its the original. I am only doing 4K miles a year now so it goes on the charger/conditioner once a month.

 

[Chrishazle]

Using a conditioner certainly makes a massive difference to battery life if you are safely able to do it - for example, my toy spends a lot of time in her garage where I have power available. My 968 coupe battery was over 10 years old when I sold her and battery was still fine, the 968 cab battery was about 6 years old, same comment. However, different story with the S204 which lives on the driveway, I fitted a Lidl battery condition monitor visible through the tailgate, as long as the monitor shows orange (other options are green and red) she'll start, often sluggishly as we don't do much mileage these days, often short (2-10 miles), but if it ever shows red then extension lead and battery charger comes out - plus I keep a jump start pack in the car where I can get at it with if necessary the emergency key, as I've had to call the breakdown service out a couple of times with their big jump start pack to get into the boot and battery!

 

[rayhennig]

I regard batteries on my cars as consumables with a short life

My MB 100A battery was fitted in 2017 and is still going strong. I would expect 7 years plus a bit??

RayH

 

[rifiki]

The original 05 CLK battery is in my 190B and it still works
Modern MBs require the battery to be in A! condition.

 

[EmilysDad]

my 14 plate ML is still on its original batteries .... It still starts fine though the stop/start doesn't play, which is OK by me.

 

[rayhennig]

Modern MBs require the battery to be in A! condition.

Thankfully, I have an ancient MB!

R

 

[DSK]

Similar to above comments.

Just get a Bosch S5 or Varta Silver and be done with it. Best to keep a decent trickle charger like Noco/Ctek handy on modern stuff to keep the battery healthy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Richard Moakes]

CTEK attached to my main battery whenever I don’t use the car for more than two weeks

 

[SL63 Mark]

Should I just change it - mainly to rule out issues.

I vote "yes".

Welcome back, by the way.