My R230 Mistress

Ashley King

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Greetings all,

A couple of years ago I sold my R230 SL500 after several combats, including a fishing in the common fuel tank escapade. I bought a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro to replace it. However the old thing tugged at my heart strings so much that in the end I recently purchased my current SL350, which although sound, is a temperamental SoB. So here I am, about to ask for advice!

They key question for me is who can I contact (Norfolk preferred), to tell me definitively what I need to do to stop the drain on the leisure battery? Both batteries are brand new.

Cheers,

Ash
 

LostKiwi

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'93 500SL-32, '01 W210 Estate E240 (RIP), 02 R230 SL500, 04 Smart Roadster Coupe, 11 R350CDi
Alex Crowe in Stowmarket is probably your best bet or Welwyn Merx
 
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Ashley King

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Thanks for your suggestions - very useful...
 

gramey

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Greetings all,

A couple of years ago I sold my R230 SL500 after several combats, including a fishing in the common fuel tank escapade. I bought a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro to replace it. However the old thing tugged at my heart strings so much that in the end I recently purchased my current SL350, which although sound, is a temperamental SoB. So here I am, about to ask for advice!

They key question for me is who can I contact (Norfolk preferred), to tell me definitively what I need to do to stop the drain on the leisure battery? Both batteries are brand new.

Cheers,

Ash

HI and welcome, that sounds familiar, I bought my 2003 SL350 2 1/2 weeks ago and the boot battery was draining overnight which initially replacing it with a new battery didn't cure. However what I did find at the suggestion of a member on here was that if the battery was low the Comand may not shut down fully. I knew the fan was constantly running on the Comand unit even an hour after turning the car off.
So with this in mind and not knowing how long the battery had sat on the shelf at the MB dealers, it was stamped 2017, I put the new battery on charge set at 8 amps to give it a little wake up call. The charge rate drops as the battery voltage rises so it wasn't a constant 8 amps just the initial start. Well so far so good as having the charged the battery to 100% it has still drained a little but seems to be stable now around 12.6 volts.
If that doesn't do it I can also recommend Alex Crow as being excellent I've used him a couple of times, good luck in getting it sorted. Love the late 60's Camaros, I spent many a happy time as a child in the back seat of my friends fathers 67 RS/SS convertible. :)
 
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Ashley King

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HI and welcome, that sounds familiar, I bought my 2003 SL350 2 1/2 weeks ago and the boot battery was draining overnight which initially replacing it with a new battery didn't cure. However what I did find at the suggestion of a member on here was that if the battery was low the Comand may not shut down fully. I knew the fan was constantly running on the Comand unit even an hour after turning the car off.
So with this in mind and not knowing how long the battery had sat on the shelf at the MB dealers, it was stamped 2017, I put the new battery on charge set at 8 amps to give it a little wake up call. The charge rate drops as the battery voltage rises so it wasn't a constant 8 amps just the initial start. Well so far so good as having the charged the battery to 100% it has still drained a little but seems to be stable now around 12.6 volts.
If that doesn't do it I can also recommend Alex Crow as being excellent I've used him a couple of times, good luck in getting it sorted. Love the late 60's Camaros, I spent many a happy time as a child in the back seat of my friends fathers 67 RS/SS convertible. :)

Hi Gramey - I pulled the Command fuses but the drain is still there. I'm off to Stowmarket next week.
The Camaro was bought on the Wheeler Dealers show - I have just had a new engine fitted for it but it needs to go back as it uses more water than the Flying Scotman. Fun and games in my car world!
 

gramey

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Hi Gramey - I pulled the Command fuses but the drain is still there. I'm off to Stowmarket next week.
The Camaro was bought on the Wheeler Dealers show - I have just had a new engine fitted for it but it needs to go back as it uses more water than the Flying Scotman. Fun and games in my car world!

As daft as it sounds have you tried disconnecting the battery and putting it on charge and getting it to 100%, it certainly seemd to have helped if not entirely cured mine. Which fuse(s) in this photo did you pull for your Comand unit?
DSC_0102.JPG
 

gramey

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The Camaro looks nice, I toyed with buying one a few years ago but got talked into buying a Porsche 928 GTS which has sadly gone now. My friends fathers car was red with a black soft top and the hideaway headlights, identical to the one below as it was brand new in 1967, a complete contrast to my fathers Vauxhall Viva HF! :)
Camaro RS.JPG
 
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Ashley King

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Nice from every angle. Simple lines with everything in proportion. Much copied since. You can't beat the sound of a muscle V8!
 
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Ashley King

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Also - two fuses - one far right (20 amp I think), the other the lowest on the left.
 

gramey

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Nice from every angle. Simple lines with everything in proportion. Much copied since. You can't beat the sound of a muscle V8!

I know the American V8's sound nice but my 928 sounded nice as well, 5.4 quad cam 32v the catalytic converters had been removed and the centre boxes replaced with a Ritech X pipe just leaving the rears it revved harder than an American V8 and it did growl! :)
 


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