W211 Dreaded Visit Workshop Error

[kay187]

Got my car back on Friday.......all sorted now was the alternator very happy with the price £300 fitted...did you get yours sorted yet

Did you get your car fixed?????????????

Hi sorry for the late reply but I had complete nightmare with this!

Basically I gave it to my local mechanic who done some work on the car who confirmed alternator issue and that he had a replacement in stock, I thought result. 2 days later he got back to me stating it the wrong type so he going to get the current one reconditioned for the same price he quoted me. I thought fair enough and gave him the go ahead.

After chasing him up, car was 'ready' 3 days later so went to collect it only to find exactly the same warning on the dashboard. Mechanic advised it probably needs a run to charge the battery so to take it for run, done this but still the same. Frustrated but keeping my cool, I left the car with him again. To cut a long story short I was hit with different excuses and had over a week wasted due to the garage's incompetence.

With it being the Xmas I ended up getting a new reconditioned alternator myself off Mr Alternatorman and fitted it myself, this was another saga in itself. The alternator bolts had seized/rounded off and with space being very tight was a complete b***h to take off. I spent 3 days doing this but eventually got it all sorted.

Car now starts and battery charging ok but I still do get visit workshop with battery symbol on the dash, previously it used to say alternator. Voltage with it on is 13.6V and off it sits around 11.9 to 12V. Does the SBC need resetting to clear this or could the battery still be at fault?

Also I found there was a lot of oil around the area under the alternator so looked around to see the culprit, found when I took off the turbo pipe there was no orange seal and the pipe looked pulled with a pliers near the jubilee clip. Anyone know part numbers for these at all?

I will post a DIY pdf of the alternator replacement soon as took detailed pics, hopefully will help someone.

 

[DY2]

How old are the batteries?

But, I would give both batteries good charge.

You should have no warning message with well charged batteries and a good alternator.

engine off should be 12.5v. Engine on, 14v.

There is no need to touch or 'reset' anything to do with SBC.

 

[kay187]

How old are the batteries?

But, I would give both batteries good charge.

You should have no warning message with well charged batteries and a good alternator.

engine off should be 12.5v. Engine on, 14v.

There is no need to touch or 'reset' anything to do with SBC.

With engine off my front battery seems to be 12.4V and rear around 11.9V.
I'm not sure how old the rear one is as I never got any history with the car but the front seems to be original date of manufacture '03.

 

[DY2]

I would give the rear battery a good charge overnight.
11.9v Seems a little low.... then see if you get any malfunction warnings.
If the warning continues after that, then perhaps consider replacing the batteries... if they are original.

 

[television]

One must not overlook the battery control inverter on these cars as well,,, got me thinking as well on this, is the front top up battery pulling it all down I wonder,, really this does need STAR to see what is going on... certainly as DY2 says a good charge on both batteries would do no harm due to the time the car has been sitting around.

 

[kay187]

You raised good points there so I will try charging the rear battery overnight.

How would you check the battery invertor? On the Star system you mean?

 

[television]

You raised good points there so I will try charging the rear battery overnight.

How would you check the battery invertor? On the Star system you mean?

Yes it has this inverter that does need STAR really

read about it here http://www.mercedestechstore.com/pdfs/W211_advisor/219 HO Dual Battery (ACB - ICC) 11-29-02.pdf

 

[kay187]

Just wanted to update this thread and let you guys know that the issue seems to be resolved.

It turned out to be a loose negative connection to the aux battery at the front (duh!) and once tightened the warning went away. The voltage on rear battery is still bit low around 11.9v but will probably fully charge this later once time permits.

A big thanks to all that replied and helped, love this community!

Cheers.

 

[Corned]

Ah - good to see that, for once, one of the cheaper options was the root cause!