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1989 Mercedes 420 with electrical/battery issues
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necrotek
New User
Sep 23, 2006, 10:46 PM
Post #1 of 2
(1672 views)
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1989 Mercedes 420 with electrical/battery issues
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I drive a Mercedes 420... or did, till the problems started.
One nice afternoon, I'm driving to work, and the battery light comes on. I think about it for a moment, and ignore it... lights have come on and off before, and nothing was wrong. I drive home from work (this is saturday PM, so I couldn't get it checked on in either case), no lights come on. I wrongly assume that there was no problem, just a glitch. The next day I work (approximately 36 hourslater), I start it up and attempt to drive to work. the ABS light comes on. This begins to worry me. I stop at a restaurant to get take-out and suddenly the vehicle won't start.
I get jumped,and drive to work (about a mile). Park... and think, ok, it'll be fine... i can get a jump.
After work, get in the car, starts up ok... but some of the engine lights are on. I pull into a gas station (whicch happens to be closed) and, when restarting my car... there's no charge in the battery. The car's interior lights are on, but the car will not start. I finally get a jump again, and the car stalls out about 5 miles of highway travel from that gas station.
I get another jump, and run the car without headlights...and everything runs properly. The dash indicator lights stay off, except for the battery light. I charge up the car via the alternator while I'm parked... and no car trouble for the next few days.... when I only take the car out during daylight and don't use the headlights.
This afternoon, however, I worked into the PM. I start the car, and no warning lights are on...so of course, I feel fine. I think it's all gravy...so I hit the AC to cool it down... and run some errands. When I attempt to make my second stop, the lights started coming on. I get back in the car after returning an item to wall-mart, and It won't start. I get a jump, attempt to charge the battery again by the parked alternator method (2000-3k rpms for a few minutes), but when I try to roll up my powered windows...the car stalls out. I get a jump, end up at work, and charge the battery via the alternator method. After work, the car starts...weakly, then works quite well as I drive home, sans headlights. I stop at a gas station to fill back up (the previous week, I'd only been able to put a few dollar's worth into the car), and the car starts fine... but the battery light stays when the car idles.
i started it again, after charging it, tonight, just to check the starter, and spent another few minutes parked and revving so that the alternator could get some power into the battery.
I'm still trying to figure out what the hell is wrong. I know the car's battery is low in the extreme, but i'm wondering if there isn't a short. I had the battery checked and the alternator as well at Advanced Auto parts... both, I'm told are fine.
Is my battery just run down or do I need to take the vehicle in to check for the short? And is there any place i can take the damn thing that willcharge the battery for me?
(This post was edited by necrotek on Sep 23, 2006, 10:47 PM)
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steve01832
Veteran
Sep 24, 2006, 12:42 AM
Post #2 of 2
(1666 views)
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Re: 1989 Mercedes 420 with electrical/battery issues
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Whomever you take the car to should charge the battery before they test it. Sounds like you have a charging problem. Take it to a real shop, stay away from parts stores that offer services like that. They are not trained techs, their job is to sell parts not diagnose vehicles.
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