W202 - ever tried jump starting when there is not enough juice to open the boot??

[GoNikki]

What a fiasco!!!

This has just happened to me on my 99 C200 - and no the key would not operate the boot lock!

My 2 year old son (bless him) had, unbeknown to me turned the DVD player on in the boot two days ago! Well I'll blame him as he's only 2 and can't answer back (yet)

Any way got my Mum to come over with her BMW so I could jump start - (Green flag linked something out under the bonnet when it happened before - don't have children! - they are bad for your Mercs! )

Anyway, opened bonnet and went doh! So rang local Inde hoping they could talk me through it over the phone - no idea so sent a guy out (who got lost finding my house) Meanwhile Mum takes my dog to the vets to have his you know whats choped off (sorry)

Now you would think that MB would put a battery terminal under the bonnet wouldn't you? well no in their wisdom they didn't!

Guy from the garage arrived and went 'doh' (so I am not a totally blonde girly afterall - only on Sundays!)

So I rang the MB stealership up and guess what they went 'doh' as well! (gives you great confidence!)

Guy goes back to garage to consult with boss - leaving me stranded at home in the middle of nowhere with a 2 year old - whose electric car incidentally was working wonderful!

Anyway rang up the garage I bought the car from (landspeed in Ipswich - absolutley brilliant!) and Wayne (really nice chap) knew how to do it - so called guy back from the garage and now I know how to do it too!

Well for those of you who are interested (and have read this far) what you need to do is sell your merc and get a Ford! (only joking)

Seriously though; under the bonnet on the right hand side above the water bottle is a little black box with a lid which clips off (sorry don't know what its called) Anyway going into this black box is a number of wires connecting onto two terminals. The big wire connected to the left hand terminal should be red (under the black plastic covering). What you need to do is connect your red jump lead on to this terminal and the black jump lead onto the head gastket (metal) to earth it out. Connect up to donnar vehicle, turn the key in the ignition and away you go! easy (well it is when you know how!

Just thought I would share this little snipet with you - although I expect that you are all not so stupid to get yourself in the same predicament anyway!

 

[television]

You are very sweet telling us of your problems, had you asked here when you triad to get a jump start, someone would have told you about those 2 terminals.

Do try and charge your battery, the car itself is not good at charging flat batteries.

The main thing is that you and your little lad are fine, and i bet he enjoyed all of the hassle

 

[eric242340]

So I rang the MB stealership up and guess what they went 'doh' as well! (gives you great confidence!)

I am (gobsmacked) at this statment. For many years, both BMW and Mercedes Benz have fitted a Positive terminal (break-out-connector) under the bonnet. You say the Dealership did not know this? And even if they did not know this, there are several ways to give power to the battery from under the bonnet.

 

[GoNikki]

You are very sweet telling us of your problems, had you asked here when you triad to get a jump start, someone would have told you about those 2 terminals.

Do try and charge your battery, the car itself is not good at charging flat batteries.

The main thing is that you and your little lad are fine, and i bet he enjoyed all of the hassle

Thanks Malcom - You guys were my first port of call. Did a search on the forums but nothing came up. I'm afraid time was of the essence (dog to vets and friends to meet etc etc) and as it was the time of day when not many of you were on line I took the next best action 'panic' - only joking - I got bossy and whipped them all into shape! - otherwise I fear I would still have a car on my drive way not working! (good thing though is that the garage is not charging me!)

Yes Flynn had a great time whizzing around on his electric car while his Mummy was getting stressed whilst the man from the garage was scratching his head and say 'I haven't got a clue!'

 

[GoNikki]

So I rang the MB stealership up and guess what they went 'doh' as well! (gives you great confidence!)

I am (gobsmacked) at this statment. For many years, both BMW and Mercedes Benz have fitted a Positive terminal (break-out-connector) under the bonnet. You say the Dealership did not know this? And even if they did not know this, there are several ways to give power to the battery from under the bonnet.

Your'e not the only one! - nothing in the manual either!

Greenflag could not find anything under the bonnet when they had to jump start me a couple of months ago (yup DVD left on AGAIN!) (flipping Thomas the Tank Engine!) - but at least they used their head and found away around it . I think the guy from the garage today was alittle nervous of causing more damage!:-?

 

[eric242340]

Your'e not the only one! - nothing in the manual either!

Greenflag could not find anything under the bonnet when they had to jump start me a couple of months ago (yup DVD left on AGAIN!) (flipping Thomas the Tank Engine!) - but at least they used their head and found away around it . I think the guy from the garage today was alittle nervous of causing more damage!:-?

Thomas the tank engine lol love kids dont you? Are we adults or is it them little gremlins

 

[lastyboy]

I didnt know this but done something i thought was quite clever on my 1996 N S420 Coupe.
Battery went flat and boot lock had seized. So removed the passenger rear seat cushion and found the central locking pump. Disconnected the yellow pipe and blew in it. This simulated the locking compressor and unlocked the doors and boot. Alternatively u could suck it to lock again.
Make sure you reconnect the pipe.

Hope this hopes somebody.

 

[television]

I didnt know this but done something i thought was quite clever on my 1996 N S420 Coupe.
Battery went flat and boot lock had seized. So removed the passenger rear seat cushion and found the central locking pump. Disconnected the yellow pipe and blew in it. This simulated the locking compressor and unlocked the doors and boot. Alternatively u could suck it to lock again.
Make sure you reconnect the pipe.

Hope this hopes somebody.

Welcome to the forum, I love what you did to get to the battery, there could be a good market for an accessory to join into the vacuum system.

do keep posting

 

[television]

I didnt know this but done something i thought was quite clever on my 1996 N S420 Coupe.
Battery went flat and boot lock had seized. So removed the passenger rear seat cushion and found the central locking pump. Disconnected the yellow pipe and blew in it. This simulated the locking compressor and unlocked the doors and boot. Alternatively u could suck it to lock again.
Make sure you reconnect the pipe.

Hope this hopes somebody.

Welcome to the forum, I love what you did to get to the battery, there could be a good market for an accessory to join into the vacuum system.

do keep posting