Someone killed the battery!

Hello friends! Haven't posted in awhile - life has been too busy! The van has been doing well! UNTIL ... I let someone use it! I usually never let people drive my vehicles, but it happened, and when it was returned, guess who forgot to turn off the headlights! They were on for about 8 hours. Of course, the battery was totally dead!

I had someone come to jump it for me, but we weren't successful. We used the positive terminal connector in the engine bay. The other vehicle ran for about 10 minutes before I attempted a start, and not so much as a turnover. We let the other vehicle run for awhile, and I would eventually get cabin lights, but as soon as I tried to start, everything would go dead.

I've never had to jump start the Sprinter before, so I thought I'd check and see if someone can give me some tips. Is there anything I have to do other than connecting to terminal and ground? I read the user's manual about jump starting, and I did everything it told me to do. It mentioned the disconnect cable that's down by the accelerator pedal. It didn't say if I should unplug it or not, so I left it plugged in. Maybe it's that dead? Would a towing company have a stronger battery charger than another vehicle?

Thanks for the help friends!

-Michael :)
 

tinman

Well-known member
Haven't tried it, but given the sensitivity of Sprinter systems to low voltage, I think I'd give the battery a proper charge rather than trying to jump start a vehicle with a dead (or nearly dead) battery.
 

viewmaster

New member
Bummer. It's probably going to need a good deep charge. Hopefully didn't ruin it.
Another check is the #23 fuse under the dash. It's the 20 amp starter fuse. Mine was blown and gave the symptoms of a weak battery.
 

sailquik

Well-known member
It can probably be jump started, but it will take a really big jump start box, or longer than a few minutes from another vehicle.
As suggested, it would be smart to pull up the floor board, get the starter battery out, charge it fully, maybe take it to an auto parts store and have them test it.
When it measures => 13.0 volts, and doesn't drop below 12 volts when you try the starter, you should be good to go.
I left a phone charger on in my last Sprinter, went on a 14 day trip and when I got back to the airport it had a dead battery. The parking lot security guy had a regular jump start box, but it did not turn anything on but some lights.
He called and they came with a big jump start box (used for the airports diesel vehicles) and it started right up and was charging ~ 14.1 volts for about 15 min @ freeway speeds.
Didn't seem to affect the battery in the long term.
Never had any other issues with the battery (or anything else).
Hope this helps,
Roger
 

HighPockets

Active member
I have recently bought the most wonderful device in the world (At least for me with 5 vehicles and 3 tractors, including two hybrid cars). It is a Noco genius GB40 with Boost + (Under $100). It is 12v 1000A 24Wh Lithium Jump Starter. No affiliation or profit motive. It will jump start anything even with a totally dead batter. That is where the Boost + comes in. If the vehicle does nothing with the regular jump you push the Boost + button, little clicks go on the jump starter and hit it again and it starts right up. Had to do that with the Prius and then the very next day I took the neg. lead off the Lexus hybrid 12v battery to measure the size of the post and got sidetracked. My wife went out to use the car, slammed the trunk closed and of course it wouldn't start with the battery ground cable off and guess what - there is no key entrance to the trunk and no access through the back seat. After I went into shock and mild depression I thought about my new charger and said it was worth a try even though I really did not think it would work. I raised the hood and hooked the jump started to the positive jump off metal tab in the fuse box and grounded the neg on a body bolt and tried it. No result. Pressed the Boost + button and tried it again. Presto, the trunk opened. They should hire me to do a TV ad, LOL.
 

autostaretx

Erratic Member
The reason the Noco GB40 wouldn't unlock your trunk without pushing the "boost" button is due to its safety circuits.

It won't feed power until it sees your car's battery on its terminals. (it also won't supply power to a really weak battery).
Your disconnected negative post meant that the Noco saw no battery at the other end of its clamps.

The "boost" button is really an override... you're telling it "i don't care what you see, Flame ON!"

--dick
 

ruca

Member
Hello friends! Haven't posted in awhile - life has been too busy! The van has been doing well! UNTIL ... I let someone use it! I usually never let people drive my vehicles, but it happened, and when it was returned, guess who forgot to turn off the headlights! They were on for about 8 hours. Of course, the battery was totally dead!

I had someone come to jump it for me, but we weren't successful. We used the positive terminal connector in the engine bay. The other vehicle ran for about 10 minutes before I attempted a start, and not so much as a turnover. We let the other vehicle run for awhile, and I would eventually get cabin lights, but as soon as I tried to start, everything would go dead.

I've never had to jump start the Sprinter before, so I thought I'd check and see if someone can give me some tips. Is there anything I have to do other than connecting to terminal and ground? I read the user's manual about jump starting, and I did everything it told me to do. It mentioned the disconnect cable that's down by the accelerator pedal. It didn't say if I should unplug it or not, so I left it plugged in. Maybe it's that dead? Would a towing company have a stronger battery charger than another vehicle?

Thanks for the help friends!

-Michael :)
"Would a towing company have a stronger battery charger than another vehicle?"
In my experience with AAA...Yes!!! 3 weeks ago I left the 12v cooler on for about 14 hours overnight covered in snow in Lake Tahoe. Battery was dead and after the tow driver read the MB manual on where the terminals were, he brought it back to life in one start. I was told to drive it for about 30 minutes...I drove it for 1 hour instead. Next day, left Lake Tahoe and drove home for 9 hours straight and no sign of any battery related problems at all up to this day.
 
Thanks for the helpful replies everyone! I finally got it restarted! It took a Ford super duty pickup to get it to turn over! It must have been really dead! Drove it for about 45min. and everything came back up to acceptable voltage. IT LIVES!!! :rad:
 

HighPockets

Active member
While on the subject I have another battery product to promote, again, no affiliation, yah, yah, yah. It is an "Optimate5". I would really like to post this under a thread called simply "tools" where anyone finding a new tool or super special price for a quality tool could post it. But hey, I haven't even figured out how to post a new thread though my history shows I have done it before, Alzheimer's maybe. smile
 

gltrimble

2017 170 4x4
Just had the same problem today on my 3 month old 170 4x4. The van has not moved for 3-4 weeks while I have been retrofitting it. Van would not start. Jumpered aux battery to starter battery with no luck. Starter battery measured 11.5 volts while aux battery measured 12.7 volts. Hooked up jumper cables from my truck and still would not start with truck running. Let truck idle for 20+ minutes and van finally started. Will be looking into an automatic charging relay, ACRS, now that I have installed total of 4 6 volt 200+ amp house batteries and a second 280 amp alternator.
 

Tooth Fairy

Away with the fairies.
Go and buy a new battery, costs all of $150, stressing, worrying and involving the forum cost more than that.....:idunno:
 

HighPockets

Active member
Believe it or not I can't find out what size battery it is. I have looked in the manual and used the search engine, all to no avail. Is it a standard size 13. does anyone want to recommend a brand they find to be reliable. I have 5 NAPA's on the farm but have had failures after two years. I think the reason for my current failure is sitting around too long. The PO said it had a new battery but in the last year and a half it stayed at a paint shop for a month, in a repair shop for a month or more, and two returns to the same shop for water leaks one time and bondo split (at the radio antenna) one time each for a month or more. The reason I think it may need replacing is it is getting slower to start even in 95°F weather and has new glow plugs. The Scan Guage II seldom reads over 12.4v and my battery charger (Odessy 5) after 3 days has only gotten it to 12.8v. Also my Midtronics MDX600 Battery conductance and electric system analyzer records 818CCA out of 900. It (Midtronics) has told me: Good-recharge, unstable, Good. and Bad battery, replace. I think Tooth Fairy (above) had it right.
 

showkey

Well-known member
Scan gauge not reading more than 12.4 volts ???? Engine running scan gauge should be reading 13.9-14.2 volts almost all the time. Low voltage when running look at the Infamous "Y" cable and the alternator itself. The battery might be bad but If there is a Y cable problem the new battery will stay charged as well.
 

Eka

New member
The Scan Guage II seldom reads over 12.4v and my battery charger (Odessy 5) after 3 days has only gotten it to 12.8v. Also my Midtronics MDX600 Battery conductance and electric system analyzer records 818CCA out of 900. It (Midtronics) has told me: Good-recharge, unstable, Good. and Bad battery, replace. I think Tooth Fairy (above) had it right.
"and my battery charger (Odessy 5) after 3 days has only gotten it to 12.8v."

Sounds like a dead cell in the battery. I see them often in the batteries I use for powering electric fences, but then I'm using a battery after it's seen a long life in a vehicle. Most modern battery powered electric fencers will happily run on a battery with a couple shorted cells. So I further kill pulls from vehicles by using them a year or two more on the fences.
 

HighPockets

Active member
After another day of slow charging the CCA broke 900 but the voltage only got to 12.9. The Midtronics says "Good Battery". I tried searching "Y"Cable and "Y" cable voltage drop. Neither got a response. I need some learning here or should I say this is a good teaching moment for someone. :professor:
 

showkey

Well-known member
^^^^^^^^^^^
Is your scan gauge reading lower than 13.8 volts with the engine running ??

THE Y cable is the battery cable from the alternator, battery and starter. It has several internal crimps and built in fuse links and connector crimps. Excessive resistance in the cable or connections causes the voltage drop.

There are multiple posts on the topic. The Y cable has gone through multiple changes or upgrades over the years as per several parts supplier web sites.

https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39104&highlight=Voltage+drop

https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13606&highlight=Voltage+drop
 
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