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Old 08-06-2008, 10:06 PM
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michakaveli michakaveli is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Columbia, SC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hitch02 View Post
So here's what I have found so far -

Check Engine light is currently on.

Prior to starting, reading is between 10.1 and 11.1. After starting, it hovers around 11.5 for a bit, then slowly creeps up to average of about 12.7, ranging from about 11.9 to 13.1.

I shut-off the car and quickly retstarted it, which triggered the ETS-ABS-Brake Wear cycle, and limp mode. When I restarted the car quickly after shuttung it off, reading was back in the low 11s, and then came back up fairly quickly.

I couldn't get it to act up while driving down the road.

Here's what I am wondering, considering this as well as the fact that e300d97 also had the full battery discharge issue and similar symptoms:

1 - What should the pre-start and running readings be? How much should they vary?

2 - Is it possible that something was fried or damaged when the car was jump started (relay, voltage regulator, etc)?

3 - Is it worth replacing the battery at this point? Is there a *better* battery for these cars, considering the apparent sensitivity to voltage fluctuations?

Happened a few times to my wife today, then wouldn't do it for me.

Ugh!

-Reed
Your voltage readings are right on. Similar to mine. Keep in mind that the 96-97 E300's had a slightly lower amperage alternator. It's something silly like a 70 amp or something. The turbo 606's have a 95amp I believe.

However, it would be cheap insurance to replace that K40. About 2 years ago or so I had an episode where I parked the vehicle to run some errands @ a CVS or soemthing. When I got back to the car and tried to start it wouldn't catch. I tried again and it would crank but not catch... I gave it a few minutes, tried again and all was well. I replaced the K40 very soon after as a preventative measure and haven't had a similar occurance since.
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