limp mode Battery ???

Gt Russell

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Hi everyone, last week i managed to flatten the battery on my CLK 200 K auto convertable.
I jumped it from another car and all was ok till the other day when it went into limp mode from start up ???
is there a special method to changing the battery ? ( ie Does it have to have a separate battery plugged in to avoid a loss of voltage to the ecu )
Also what battery would you recommend (ie Mercedes , Bosch or a cheaper version ?
The battery fitted is a Merc 100 Ah and original.Also does it have to be put on diagnostics to take out of limp mode or can it just be reset via a battery disconect .
The battery is suspect I think and is getting a bit tired. thank in advance for any assistance
 

television

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If the battery is low,,then many ECUs cannot re set,,it does need a good battery to stop starting blips as they are called.

Good batteries are Exide Lucas Bosch etc and not house names
 
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Gt Russell

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hi malcom ,
thanks for the info I will get a new battery next week:)
 

Dringo

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If you revisit the forum - did this fix it?

I have a dead CLK - battery seems fine enough to work everything including electric seats, but locked out and stuck in Park. Garage will run diags tomorrow. Even putting their jump-pack on didn't get past this - Maybe the battery has a shorting cell or something and needs to be taken out of the equation altogether.
You'll see my various descriptions of this on the other threads relating to CLK start problems and possible battery, EIS or Brake Switch fixes, as I trawl the threads looking for inspiration (of which there is a lot, but tantalisingly not quite diagnosing my issue so far).
 

television

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If you revisit the forum - did this fix it?

I have a dead CLK - battery seems fine enough to work everything including electric seats, but locked out and stuck in Park. Garage will run diags tomorrow. Even putting their jump-pack on didn't get past this - Maybe the battery has a shorting cell or something and needs to be taken out of the equation altogether.
You'll see my various descriptions of this on the other threads relating to CLK start problems and possible battery, EIS or Brake Switch fixes, as I trawl the threads looking for inspiration (of which there is a lot, but tantalisingly not quite diagnosing my issue so far).

Yes I am sorry that we can offer no further advice,,if the battery has a short circuit cell then the standing voltage will drop to 10.5 volts or so, and nothing can re set properly.


Yes we have had more than our fair share of 208 and 9 with weird faults this month. and there are times that without fault codes it is impossible to know what to do or advise
 

Dringo

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Diags back from Garage

Well, Garage tried but can only get so many fault code listed out. Others seem to be in a 'Stored' area that only a STAR machine can get to.

I have it booked into my Merc Dealership (it needs a service anyway) but its still a pain. Seems like they could start it in Neutral, when it warmed up the next day. Not sure what enabled that - the extra warmth, the fact it was in Nautral, or the fact that they did several reset on the electronics to clear fault codes.

Anyway - I picked it up and they advised to leave it in Neutral. But I can't remove the key like that so after test driving (typical - it seemed fine, no limp mode over a few miles) I tested in in Park, removed key etc. Everything seems normal again. No problems (yet). I will go ahead (obviously) with the STAR check, and suspect that the next cold spell will bring the fault(s) back and trick the Engine Management again.

Can you look at what the garage obtained (attached photo) - my bet would be that its one of the ABS Speed Sensors on the way out??? How easy and how much will it be to replace those? and what else might it be?
 

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Cole@MBS

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Looks like a rpm sensor from that printout!!
 

Dringo

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Well - been driving it all day and no Limp mode at all and no non-starting incidents.

I suspect something tripped the Engine management and locked out the ignition (the rpm sensor??), and now that the garage did various resets its going to be fine until the thing occurs again. It was freezing cold this morning like the other day and no problems.

Its booked in to the dealer Wednesday, so we will see what they say.
 

amclean

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Sounds like something might be causing the CAN Bus system to draw exess current when the car is off. I've had this this week, drivers seat control module was preventing the car going into sleep mode, and drained the battery in about 4 days, in fact it was drawing 2 amps.

When I got the car restarted I had one fault code on the dash, faulty light sensor, but the list when hooked to the Star diagnostic was fairly long until it was all reset. The only fault with a capital 'F' that kept appearing was drivers seat control module, and this is well known to be a faulty item.

Trouble is the part is £213 +VAT, and I'm looking at selling next year and want to spend that on the wheels being refurbished rather than a box no one knows about. I'll be trying the breakers for a replacement.
 

Dringo

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Thanks. Useful. But not sure yet.
I didn't know what CAN was (Controller Area Network!) and there's a good review with pictures here:
http://www.carlogic.org/bg/data/MB CAN(ICC).pdf
Considering it is supposed to aid diagnostics, it appears a nightmare to diagnose itself! so not the best bit of Mercedes design. I am glad my trusty G230 does have these gizmos.
I'll update when the dealer gives and opinion on Wednesday.
 

amclean

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Thanks. Useful. But not sure yet.
I didn't know what CAN was (Controller Area Network!) and there's a good review with pictures here:
http://www.carlogic.org/bg/data/MB CAN(ICC).pdf

Good find that !

Considering it is supposed to aid diagnostics, it appears a nightmare to diagnose itself! so not the best bit of Mercedes design.

It only aids diagnostics for the garage who invests thousands in the Star computer tools. I believe the Star system can require investment of around £30k with ongoing hefty annual costs. Not much good for a local garage with a £100 fault code reader.

Go to a good MB independant and pay for one hours labour for the fault code analysis, it will be a similar price to a battery which you probably don't need. I use a local independant who specialises in Merc (actually, only works on Mercs) and i can guarantee they know more about Mercs than all the local main dealers put together. Folks come from all over Scotland to use them. Long and short is I almost bought a battery from Eurocarparts, but chose not to and went to them for a diagnosis, 1 hr later the problem was traced to the faulty seat control module. I've unplugged it (steering wheel is a bit high now:)) and all faults codes have been reset. Car is running again.
 

Dringo

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Well got back from Savernake Mercedes Newbury today (I have to say - they have a knack of taking money off you for servicing and leaving you feeling OK about it !! - been going there for years now and can recommend them).
Car has been driving fine all week.
Mercedes says there were two faults showing in STAR (despite the AA garage doing some resets) - one (the DAS one) relates to the Ignition Switch (EIS?) and the other relating to the Electronic Transmission Control (ETC) module. About £600 and £800 respectively and not that common to fail.
Suspect that this was a combination of events or a build up of minor ones, like the signal from a ABS sensor not getting picked up and tripping some circuit or other. Its going to be a case of suck it and see, but if its been OK for a week it is just as likely to be OK for years. We'll see. Put it down to a blip for now.

Sorry to hi-jack this original thread - which I believe was a simpler flat battery case.

Back to looking for a CL500 to buy.
 


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