Mb electrics

[ajlsl600]

More b headache. Go out this am. Key don't open car? Get spare. No good, open with metal key. Car still dead batt new 8 month ago? And no signs of impending failure??
Can't open any other door. Jump leads in boot under rear board, guess wot
No way into boot, and can't lift board. With boot closed!!
No how stupid is that? And where would one keep jump leads or other basic tools. Now I have to go buy ANOTHER set of jump leads and I guess basic tools and cables must be kept on front mat if I ever wist to use them for wot designed. Not to mention what f stayed on to flatten battery
This is wot I mean by snot nosed idiots left to design things with out real world supervision.
Now I walking to car place, fortunatly 400 mtres. To buy a battery I don't need and another set of cables that I actually HAVE in the f car!! Not impressed.

 

[mioba]

That would P anyone off.
Good luck. Cant believe the battery is toast after 8 months unless a significant drain

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Sorry to hear this it’s a real PITA and something we all dread nowadays with modern car electronics with very little thought regarding redundancy

 

[ajlsl600]

None why no manual way into boot?? +?

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Battery manufacturers like it though - none of your neighbours able to help with either a spare battery or use of another car to provide power

 

[ajlsl600]

A very kind guy at local garage just 3 min away came and jumped it(as per manual) no mention of bill! I will pass there with a couple of bottles later.
Now I must confess. Before jumping I has a look around and noted icarsoft been on 4 2.5 days! So it may be In this instance pilot error and not mb. Tho I still think design that prevents manual access to the boot is particularly stupid
Then again jury is out as to if I was particularly stupid as well anyway to lidl to get trickle and not turning off for a while.
Also jump cables staying under front seat.

 

[EmilysDad]

....
No way into boot, and can't lift board. With boot closed!!
No how stupid is that? And where would one keep jump leads or other basic tools. .....

I never thought of that .... & that's where my jump leads live in my ML. Though the tailgate opened similar on the R Class, it used to have a a catch/opener on the the inside.. Though, EmilysMum's C3 doesn't have a way to open the tailgate from the inside either.

Maybe you need a cheapo jump/booster pack ..... they'd fit in the glove box .... at least you'd get in the tailgate

 

[ajlsl600]

Yup I will be on that. Anyone used the ldil ultimate charger? Seems to say dissconect battery before charging. That's a ball ache.

 

[EmilysDad]

I think they're covering their backside with that. CTek provide leads to leave permanently connected to the battery where access is difficult, I leave my Roadster's battery connected to the charger. IIRC the original Lidl charger used to have a similar set up that could be left connected to the battery.

 

[ajlsl600]

This one just has Croc clips to go onto batt. Batt a ball ache to dissconect its under d seat a the the far terminal is a ball ache to get at without risk even with seat full forward. I sure leavin batt on and charging is OK just looking to avoid compounding my issues

 

[Blobcat]

This one just has Croc clips to go onto batt. Batt a ball ache to dissconect its under d seat a the the far terminal is a ball ache to get at without risk even with seat full forward. I sure leavin batt on and charging is OK just looking to avoid compounding my issues

All mine stay connected and never had an issues - they're all either Ctek or Optimates - I think the Lidl battery conditioner is very similar

 

[ajlsl600]

Cheers. I try it. Do you think leaving icarsoft plugged in for 2.5 days would drain battery?

 

[Blobcat]

Cheers. I try it. Do you think leaving icarsoft plugged in for 2.5 days would drain battery?

Distinct possibility - OBD port stays live so I'd say yes

 

[ajlsl600]

Cheers if the case I must kick myself, not door a change benz. We see story tomorrow.
Don't detract from idiot design tho on here other day guy with door no open, internal door (yes u guessed electric)
So how does one get door card off closed door to fix that.. Madness
Thanks guys. If the f t behaves tomorrow I will deprive myself of one beer, as punishment!!

 

[rich.g.williams]

Do you think leaving icarsoft plugged in for 2.5 days would drain battery?

If the car is powering up the iCarSoft with its display lit up then yes maybe.

If the iCarSoft was just plugged in but not lit up then unlikely to flatten battery in 2.5 days. A small 6Watt bulb in a glove compartment or in the boot can do it in 2.5 days. Other ways to flatten a battery in 2.5 days -- slightly faulty Alternator drawing current, problem with ignition switch, radio, some other module, lamp.

To test you need some croc clip leads. Connect croc clip lead from battery negative to chassis then disconnect chassis negative earth strap from chassis (11mm spanner usually) connect Ammeter (securely) between end of earth strap and chassis then remove croc clip lead. Ammeter will now be reading leakage current and it should be small ideally less than 100 milliAmp. If its 200mA, 300mA, 400mA, 500mA or more you have a problem. Not sure about official way to proceed but I would then be pulling fuses one by one. Also as last resort pulling the thick cable off the back of the Alternator (be careful its live tape it up (or slide some tubing over it) because if it touches chassis you will have a heavenly spark). In a perfect world you will find out what's draining too many milliAmps.

Each to his own but I prefer to disconnect the battery negative earth strap from chassis rather than disconnecting any battery terminal to do this test. Be careful not to spark anything - the electronics does not like it. Same goes for battery chargers avoid sparks make sure they cannot output more than 14.4 Volts ever under any circumstances.

Car batteries do not like being flat, 12.4 Volts is the magic number - if a car battery sits at less than 12.4 Volts for longer than a few short days crystals start to form and that damages the battery for the future.

 

[ajlsl600]

Interesting. Cheers. Somewhere? I have an inline blade fuse load tester. I will find and try yhat

 

[ajlsl600]

Well guys car on lidl version of ctek all afternoon. Dissconected at 7 pm showing 12.6 v. Same at 6.30am and started no issue so think, hope, issue was dh owner leaving icarsoft on for 2. 5 days... Lesson learned.

 

[Conor]

A very kind guy at local garage just 3 min away came and jumped it(as per manual) no mention of bill! I will pass there with a couple of bottles later.
Now I must confess. Before jumping I has a look around and noted icarsoft been on 4 2.5 days! So it may be In this instance pilot error and not mb. Tho I still think design that prevents manual access to the boot is particularly stupid
Then again jury is out as to if I was particularly stupid as well anyway to lidl to get trickle and not turning off for a while.
Also jump cables staying under front seat.

Funny that you have had this issue .. I actually left the multiplexer connected to my car last week and it drained the battery down. Battery looked toast at about 4-7 volts .. charger wouldn't even charge it...

I just hooked up a spare batter in parallel with car battery and charger for 30 mins. Took off the spare battery and charger was happy to charge dead car battery..

Live and learn, every day is a school day heh

Glad you are back on the road and don't need a new battery

 

[ajlsl600]

I never thought of that .... & that's where my jump leads live in my ML. Though the tailgate opened similar on the R Class, it used to have a a catch/opener on the the inside.. Though, EmilysMum's C3 doesn't have a way to open the tailgate from the inside either.

Maybe you need a cheapo jump/booster pack ..... they'd fit in the glove box .... at least you'd get in the tailgate

Any reccomend action on which?

 

[ajlsl600]

Funny that you have had this issue .. I actually left the multiplexer connected to my car last week and it drained the battery down. Battery looked toast at about 4-7 volts .. charger wouldn't even charge it...

I just hooked up a spare batter in parallel with car battery and charger for 30 mins. Took off the spare battery and charger was happy to charge dead car battery..

Live and learn, every day is a school day heh

Glad you are back on the road and don't need a new battery

If car needed new batt. No prob I get one, turns out most likely cause is me!! Leavin icarsoft runnin. Be too clever for it to see passing thru 12 v and shutting down itself, useful tech story again.