Hey guys, I just drove about 500 km to Romania, Bucharest, yesterday but now the car won't start.
Everything was fine the last two months I have it, changed spark plugs recently too. Now I'm at the hotel and the valet moved the car in the morning - no problem. Now when we go to start the car it don't. There is a click from the front and a smaller one from the back, but nothing. The light flickers when I go to turn engine on then the clicks. After it won't let me start again until I move key left and then try again.
The battery seems fine as all the electronics and remote works, it's just not starting when I try the engine.
Any ideas? Anyone know mechanic in bucharest by any chance? Thanks.
I'm definitely not an expert here, but symptoms sound like the battery may not have enough in it to turn over the engine (takes a lot more current to do that than to run the other electronics). Do the lights (e.g. interior lights) dip when you try to start it?
You could check to make sure the battery terminals are really tight !
Also the earth connection to the chasis ..
The reference to the starter motor is to give the sonoid that piggy backs it a tap to release it if stuck , but it sounds suspisiously like the battery to me , perhaps the guy who moved it left the door open or theights on ....
If the battery is just a little low, then jumpstarting will get you going (just find someone with a set of jump leads - I know, easier said than done when you're 500kms away from home :frown: ). Also, if you get it started this way, you still need to identify the root cause... i.e. was it something that drained the battery this morning (such as the valet listening to you in-car hifi all morning), or is the battery on it's way out.
Hitting the starter motor with a stick can help if the starter motor is the issue (a possibility), although I've no idea where that is on an SLK. If someone has a metal bar/rod and if you can use that to reach the starter motor, you can try resting that on the outside casing of the starter motor, and 'tap' it with a small hammer (note: 'tap' is harder than gentle, but not so hard that you do damage!).
Thanks guys I took a video and showed it to a friend (they came here with their car as well) said for sure it's battery issue. Guess I will have to get it jumped and then take it to mb to change battery
I agree with the general consensus. Mine did the same a few months ago. Perfect starting, then a few hours later, clicks. Battery bad. Look at the date code on the battery.
Look at the top of the battery post for a month/year. If you see someting like 10/04 (October/2004) replace the battery as alot of 05 SLKs had high capacity batteries that lasted about 10 years but not much more. Good luck.
I checked the battery but they conveniently forgot to mark the month/year .. from the datacard I should have hi capacity battery but this one is a FIAMM with writting in bulgarian that is written "office", so im pretty sure its not the original. I suspect the dealer swapped the battery.
Is there anyway to check the voltage from the car dash? I read somewhere key in position 1 and press reset 3 times - does this work?
yes and no. you want starting voltage so if battery is not working properly, the amount shown would not be accurate. take it to a car parts store for them to test it or let mb test it and/or replace it
OK so here's the update .. somehow, one of the cables had a loose connection, we tightened it but still car wouldnt start, tried to start using jumper cables, also wouldnt start.
Tighed both cables even more, and the car started!! left it running to make sure the battery gets charged up (just in case).
So thats that hopefully. Will take it to my mechanic when I drive back to check the battery and the voltage.
But in sad news, I will cancel the rest of the trip through the mountains of Romania The weather took a turn for the worse and its not worth the gamble.
You will easily recognize whether the battery is the original one. It has the MB logo on it, most probably Varta. Only the original batteries last 10 years.
If you haven't done it yet, it is better to change it.
You can see the onboard voltage by pressing quickly 3 times the small button on the left side of the cluster while the key is in position 1.
As already mentioned, if the battery is old, thе reading won't be accurate because the battery is losing charge too fast, even if it is reloaded.
Great to hear you got it started, although unfortunate about having to cut your trip short though...
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