IGNITION ELECTRICAL ISSUE
- Thread starter Bobsci
- Start date
Before my tow arrived I tried a jump with cheap cables from a little Toyota Corolla, The flashing power surges stoped but not enough juice to turn the engine. When we got to the repair shop we took a jumper kit and it started and keep running but with a check engine light on and left head light and left tail lights all out. So what have I learned? That checking voltage on a battery with a meter is not going to show me where the cranking amps are at. I learned this late last night on youtube. I also learned how to chase down parasitic battery drains, interesting stuff. I'm waiting on the shop to call me with a simple CHEAP fix. Fingers crossed, I aint religious but if you are prayers couldn't hurt and would be appreciated, Lol!
So end of my story shop called said it was the battery. The battery was 3 years and 1 month old (with tax it was $374) it was a Odysee Extreme PC-1350 88.5 amp battery. I researched and bought what i thought was the best 3 years ago. I called up the Battery store I bought it from and the guy told me it only had a 3 year warranty and that it would have lasted longer if it was taken care of properly ( pissed me off!). I then checked online and the PC1350 has a 4 year warranty. So tomorrow I'm heading to his shop with my paperwork and manufacturers warranty. I gave the okay and Mercedes threw in a new battery with a 2 year warranty cost me $200 plus a half hour labor on top of $133 hour of diagnostics, ouch! When i picked it up they said I had the wrong size battery in it to begin with (I believe the PC1350 is rated for 88.5 amps) Does anyone know what the OEM rating for amps is on the TIN battery? Thanks for everyones help, I learned a lot and I'm glad to have it fixed. My biggest lesson was that a voltage reading is NOT a good indicator of a battery's cranking ability or overall battery condition, Lol!
Midwestdrifter
Engineer In Residence
My go-to procedure for testing a battery in place is to connect my volt meter, set it for high/low recording, and crank the engine.
Anything less than 10.6V during cranking is suspect. From there you can isolate individual wires/connections, and eventually find if its the battery or cables.
I recently had an issue with my Jetta with wierd electrical crap. It ended up being a battery with internal cracking on the bus. It would work fine after the first crank of the day, but when it cooled of the lights and dash would do wierd stuff until I tried cranking it once or twice.
Anything less than 10.6V during cranking is suspect. From there you can isolate individual wires/connections, and eventually find if its the battery or cables.
I recently had an issue with my Jetta with wierd electrical crap. It ended up being a battery with internal cracking on the bus. It would work fine after the first crank of the day, but when it cooled of the lights and dash would do wierd stuff until I tried cranking it once or twice.
vanski
If it’s winter, I’m probably skiing..
850 specd min cc amps! But even if it's specd to 850, hopefully 900, mwd's test will prove the batts capability.
I went through this. Stupid body shop put a deep cycle batt in and I didn't check their work.
resulted in cam and crank sensor issues in my instance.
I went through this. Stupid body shop put a deep cycle batt in and I didn't check their work.
resulted in cam and crank sensor issues in my instance.
autostaretx
Erratic Member
A tool for measuring glow plug and parasitic currents, the $60 DC clamp-on ammmeter:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_03482369000P
--dick
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_03482369000P
--dick
autostaretx
Erratic Member
The original battery in my T1N was a Varta ... and the build sheet specifies the non-AGM as being 100 amp-hour batteries.
Quoth: "EE8 12V BATTERY 100 AH "
MB's optional AGM batteries were 95 AH.
--dick