Thanks, all. You guys are awesome.

I'm taking the battery to AdvancedAuto to get it charged up tonight. Once it's charged, I'll try to crank it and see what it does. If it doesn't crank, it's obviously a bigger issue than the battery.

If it starts, I'll shut it off, leave the batter in the car overnight, disconnected, and see if it starts in the morning. I'll also test the battery terminals for amps. If > 01, I'll start testing the fuse contacts like moon161 suggested to see where the drain is coming from.

I hope the issue is just a drain and not my starting system.

Anything I'm missing?

__________________
Alex
1984 300CD - Silver/Blue - 326,000 miles (sold)
1979 240D - Canary/Brown - 221,222 miles (I love this car)

If you pull all the fuses at once and start checking the fuse block, you may get a false negative- one circuit may be energizing another by closing a relay. Pull a fuse, check the circuit, clean the contacts & put the fuse back in, go to the next one. Be sure & find some clean metal when you check, at this age, the part of the contact not actually touching the fuse is usually oxidized and wont conduct well. The test leads usually have a point that lets you scratch a contact. I've had wipers & headlights go out on me when the fuse shifted a bit. Even seen this w/ 120V wiring.

Trunk light is a good one to check, that happened to me after a rear end.

__________________
CC: NSA

All things are burning, know this and be released.

82 Benz 240 D, Kuan Yin
12 Ford Escape 4wd

You're four times

It's hard to

more likely to

concentrate on

have an accident

two things

when you're on

at the same time.

a cell phone.

www.kiva.org It's not like there's anything wrong with feeling good, is there?

Thanks a lot, moon. I'll check like you described. I already checked the trunk. The lights shuts off when the trunk closes, but I'll check the fuse as well.

__________________
Alex
1984 300CD - Silver/Blue - 326,000 miles (sold)
1979 240D - Canary/Brown - 221,222 miles (I love this car)

I just got back from AdvAuto. They checked the battery - 6 cold crank amps. The battery's rated at 850. The machine also said that the battery needs to be replaced. I still asked them to charge it before paying another $100 for a new battery.

This gives me some hope that the starting issue was with the battery and not the starter. I will be picking the battery up tomorrow or on Saturday, will try to crank it, will check the fuse block and will report back.

Any opinions on whether, at 6 CCAs, I'm going to need a new battery anyway? Should I trust the AdvAuto meter and just get a new one?

Thanks all for all the help.

__________________
Alex
1984 300CD - Silver/Blue - 326,000 miles (sold)
1979 240D - Canary/Brown - 221,222 miles (I love this car)

6 cca is an almost completely discharged battery. Whether it needs to be replaced or not is related to why it was so low. If there was a draw on the battery, the battery might still be fine.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Did they say the battery was fully charged? If the battery is dead it won't put out many CCAs and you won't know whether or not the battery is bad. It very well still could be a good battery, just drained down.

Fully charge it and then test it. Then you can determine if the battery is bad or not.

__________________
2009 ML320 Bluetec
1985 300CD
1981 300TD

Past Mercedes
1979 300TD
1982 300TD
2000 E320 4Matic Wagon
1998 E430
1984 300SD
1980 300SD

Thanks, guys. They're charging the battery overnight. When I pick it up, I'll ask them to test it again. Then I'll test.

__________________
Alex
1984 300CD - Silver/Blue - 326,000 miles (sold)
1979 240D - Canary/Brown - 221,222 miles (I love this car)

I've got a battery, sat a few years, wouldn't take a charge. Turned out some of the cells were dry. Put on safety glasses, pop the caps and top off with bottled water as required.

Excessive deep draws can damage a battery, I think by precipitating the electrolyte out. I know mine won't take much abuse anymore- lites on for a couple hours and I have to get creative. If there is a current leak, find it and stop it so your car doesn't munch batteries.

__________________
CC: NSA

All things are burning, know this and be released.

82 Benz 240 D, Kuan Yin
12 Ford Escape 4wd

You're four times

It's hard to

more likely to

concentrate on

have an accident

two things

when you're on

at the same time.

a cell phone.

www.kiva.org It's not like there's anything wrong with feeling good, is there?

I picked up the fully-charged battery at AdvAuto last night, put it in, car starts beautifully. No starter/ignition issues. I tested all the fuse terminals. Fuse terminal #2 is drawing a few amps (around 2 - 3).

Also, fuse #10 (for the rear defroster) is drawing a few (1.4) mA (mili-amps) (I don't think this would cause a drain, but you guys would know better than me).

So fuse #2 - it is for the following things:

- clock
- trunk light
- diagnostic (?)
- switch-over valve seat back arrester (?)
- front & rear interior roof lights
- hazard warning system
- antenna
- illuminated vanity mirrors
- warning monitor term. 5 (electronic radio)

What is "diagnostic" mean? And is the switch-over valve seat back arrester for the sedan models where the rear headrests would come down via a switch?

Also, how do I start diagnosing to find which one is the problem? I removed the roof light bulbs and tested again to see if that was the issue. It didn't. Would removing them stop the draw?

Here's another kicker: When the driver's door is open, the terminal draws way more amps than if the door is closed (around 4 I think). This leads me to believe that it may be the interior lighting, but how can I test this?

For now, I'll leave the fuse out. I don't need the trunk light or interior lighting, clock, etc.
But do I need the "diagnostic" to work? What the hell is this referring to???

Thanks to everyone for their help. I'm not as discouraged as when I started.

__________________
Alex
1984 300CD - Silver/Blue - 326,000 miles (sold)
1979 240D - Canary/Brown - 221,222 miles (I love this car)

2-3 amps will drain your battery . . . keep disconnecting things to see which one it is . . . your almost there!

I'm not sure what the diagnostic is . . . but I'd check the trunk . . .

__________________
82 240D Manual 277K and still rolling!
02 Volvo S60 AWD For Sale

Alex, I have the same problem on my 1985 300TD and disconnected every interior component and I mean EVERY ELECTRONIC COMPONENT.
Like you what the hell is the switch-over valve seat back arrester, diagnostic and warning monitor term. 5 (electronic radio)???

Have you found the problem??? If so what was the CULPRIT drawing down the battery. I have searched the internet for days and only found your post that matches my exact problem. Did you ever cure the problem?

Will be looking for you're reply.

Ricky, unfortunately, I haven't figured it out yet. I have no idea what's causing the draw. I've been driving without the fuse in.

I unplugged everything just like you, but that didn't help. I didn't unplug the clock, (because it's such a pain to get to), but I doubt that it's the cause.

I gave up and assumed it was a short in a wire somewhere, but who knows.

I read up on the "seat back arrester" thing. There are vacuum lines running to the front seats (at least on coupes). These control when the seats will come forward without you having to push the button on the side (I think) to let passengers in. It's a safety feature (a stupid one). I think there's an electronic switch that controls the vacuum going to the seat actuators. That's what the fuse is linked up to. Again, I'm not sure about this, I'm just piecing information together from a bunch of places.

I'm still in the dark about the diagnostic and the warning monitor.

There's a nagging suspicion in the back of my mind that my after-market radio (or its wiring) is causing the drain. I unplugged it and removed it, but that didn't fix it, but I think the morons who put it in didn't know what they were doing and may have shorted some wires. I don't know what else to do.

Do you have the stock radio in the car or an after-market? How many amps is the drain drawing? Also, when I connect my multi-meter to the fuse terminals, I hear a click coming from the dash. Are you experiencing the same thing? And with the door open, the draw is higher than with the door closed.

Let me know what your thoughts are.

__________________
Alex
1984 300CD - Silver/Blue - 326,000 miles (sold)
1979 240D - Canary/Brown - 221,222 miles (I love this car)

How does your antenna work? Is it wired to the rocker switch on the dash or is it set to do its thing according to the power button on the radio? This feature can wreak havoc with aftermarket installations that don't have a wire for the dash switch. This can leave a "live" wire with nothing to do. It might be a good idea to unplug the dash switch. When I wired up an aftermarket antenna to replace the OE unit that was dead, I had to find this wire and cap it, then tape it to a sheet metal flange to keep it from dangling around "live" in the trunk area below the antenna.

Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Have been experiencing somewhat the same problems myself. I would disconnect the battery and check the amp draw with everything turned off. With an older aftermarket radio, I think mine drew 1.4 amps for about 10 sec. I was told this was the search function on the radio. After about 10 sec. the amperage would drop to about 24mv. This was the clock. Not enough to cause these problems. I'm pretty sure my problem was the battery, although it tested good at Wal Mart and Auto Zone. I have the blessing of owning two '83 MBs so can swap batteries around and see which one fails to start next. That's what I'm doing now -- waiting to see. Takes mine about a week to fail to start.

__________________
John Schroader
bio burnin' 83 300D, '83 300 SD, '79 240D
"I've never met a man who was good at making excuses who was good at anything else" Ben Franklin
"You cannot permanently help a man by doing for him what he could and should do for himself" Abraham Lincoln

Jim, I'll check the antenna switch. I think I'm just going to pull the entire dash out and get a better feel for the wires under there. I'm also considering just getting a new radio (with a CD player) put in. I'm hesitant because the wires for the radio in there currently look like a huge can of worms. The guy who did the original work on it and the previous owner were both idiots. Upsetting.

John, I don't think it's the radio. I unplugged the entire deck and pulled it out and I still get a draw. Would the wires (without the radio being plugged in) draw
a current? Unless there's a short somewhere, I doubt the wires are causing it.

Thoughts?

__________________
Alex
1984 300CD - Silver/Blue - 326,000 miles (sold)
1979 240D - Canary/Brown - 221,222 miles (I love this car)