Greeting Benz friends. I have had the unfortunate experience (twice) of getting in my 1982 300TD having put a fresh battery in after the winter to find that there is no charge on the battery - nothing. No lights when I turn the key, etc. I did remove the radio recently and I have not installed the new one. Are the dangling wires the culprit? When I put in the new battery, both times, she started right up. There was about a week between attempts each time. Luckily the outfit that I bought the battery from was kind enough to replace it (I think there was a year warranty on it.) Not sure if they'll do it again.
Thanks for your insight.
I did read the post below and some others.
Is it the Battery or the alternator??
It seems like the connects are in good shape. I sprayed them with terminal protector. But the battery is definitely dead. I tested it with a meter and tested the meter on another battery just to make sure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike D
1st step. Check battery cables.
2nd step. Clean and tighten battery cables.
3rd step. Check ground connections and cable feed to starter.
4th step. NOW begin to diagnose.
Alternator belt tight or worn out?
Usually the red charge light will come on if it's an alternator or belt related failure.
90% of all non-start or non-charge conditions are cable related.
Many, many times I have seen a perfectly good battery replaced and the owner thinks the problem was solved because the car starts now. Of course it does! When they replaced the battery they had to clean and tighten the cables on the new battery.
Eliminate the obvious.
When you have the car running put a voltmeter on the battery posts. If it reads above 12 volts the alternator is charging. As the battery receives a charge the voltage will increase to about 14.0 volts.
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