[lannylord2000]

My battery in my 2000 MB SLK230 went dead Monday after washing the car on Sunday and that is it! Charged up battery and dead 2 days later without running it. It did start OK after charge. Now Friday and Autozone says battery good after charging so ended up putting Amp meter on and it is drawing 350 mAmps or 3 - 4 volts depending on the setup. I pulled all fuses and no change. Anybody got a suggestion?

Lanny

 

[jbanks15]

1. get it tested at another place like pepboys,etc
2. cables ok? tight?
3. was alternator tested?

a. slks like a great/excellent battery. good battery does not cut it

 

[lannylord2000]

Power Draw

Thanks for the info, I definitely read your guys advice on batteries, but I would have changed it if I didn't have the 3-4 volt power draw and starts just fine with no indicators. Alternator not tested but probably my next step to look at? Hate car problems and I just went on vacation today for a week. I would rather drive it around and car show tonight, oh well that's life.

Lanny

 

[jbanks15]

Others will jump in with ideas.

 

[lannylord2000]

Alternator wire

I disconnected alternator wire on module next to battery where the positive side of battery goes and the voltage dropped to .15 v vs 3.5v volts. So headed to that area and see what I can find. Hopefully just need new alternator to fix short in car.
Lanny

 

[lannylord2000]

Voltage Regulator testing

Does anyone have a pinout for the voltage regulator to test it or how to test it?

Lanny

Either I get alternator $164 bucks or voltage regulator $16 off Ebay

 

[DSSG]

Why don't you just test the alternator with a volt meter while it on the car?

There is another test for the battery:

BTW, if the alternator checks out OK, then you also know that the voltage regulator is OK, since it is internal to the alternator.

Easy peasy!>

 

[lannylord2000]

Alternator Problem

Thanks DSSG for the video. I confirmed the alternator not charging using the video you provided. I included picture of the setup I used to determine the voltage parasitic draw I was having. I used a 1 ohm 10W ballast resistor to hook between ground cable and ground on the battery and set multimeter for DC volts. As you can see I had a 3.29V DC drop which was killing my battery overnight and the video DSSG confirmed I had no charging after I started it. The alternator comes in today I hope and I can get the car back on the road. Also, used the setup to see your amp draw as well where you hook your multimeter on amps between battery negative and negative cable. It read 350mAmps.

Thanks all,

Lanny

 

[lannylord2000]

Alternator was the problem

Thanks for all the help, put in new alternator from OReillys and seem back to normal. Couldn't find the torque values for the bolts so if anyone knows I appreciate it.