I took my wife out last night for a nice birthday dinner (Del Friscos, Ft. Worth if anyone is interested) When we finished dinner I went and gave my card to the valet to retrieve my car. He came back about 10 minutes later and said it won't start and, "is there a trick to it?"

I eventually hiked over to the lot and got in to find that the battery was completely dead and the headlight switch was on!

I guess most cars they park have automatic headlights....jeesh. Luckily the valet's car was nearby (a diesel Jetta) and was able to jump my car with some very good jumper cables.

Moral of the story......make sure your valet has driven a car that is 10 years or older at one point in his life AND always carry a GOOD set of cables. It helps to have a dead battery around another diesel too

__________________
----Adam

1985 300SD 322,000

Also a good reason to leave the headlight buzzer in service, it has saved me quite a few times.

The buzzer works! Just a bonehead valet I guess.

__________________
----Adam

1985 300SD 322,000

I guess, he should have wondered if the buzzing actually meant something.

your battery must be weak anyway. mine will survive several hours with the headlights on and still crank the car.
test your alternator while you are changing the battery. or vice versa!

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I accidently left my parking lights on all night once. Glowed once and started.

__________________
hum.....
1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed

although...
it's possible that along with the headlight load, the valet had no idea about glow plugs, and just tried to crank the car until the battery was dead...

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Luckily the valet's car was nearby (a diesel Jetta)

__________________
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

... I did read that part, but not all diesel jettas have glow plugs... the over 10 years old comment got me to post about the glowplugs...

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I didn't know that. What do they use to warm the combustion chambers if not glow plugs?

__________________
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

This is funny! I had to help a neighbor jump start her car, it was a VW Jetta

__________________
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg

Avoid valet parking and you won't have this problem.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

w123 alternators cant necessarily give a battery a true 100% charge. Alternator voltage isnt even where you would want to float charge the battery, so it is never going to be truly full...

I like to put a battery charger on mine every so often.

__________________
Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (116k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
2008 ML320 CDI (199k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (267k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K), 1985 300D (233K), 1993 300D 2.5T (338k), 1993 300SD (291k)

What is your voltage at highway speeds? Mine is normally a tad over 14 volts.

if the alternator is working properly, and you have no extra loads on the system, from stock, the factory alternator is fully capable of 100% charging a battery. all that's needed is 13.8v to Fully charge a 12V lead acid battery, and the stock alternator should put out 14.1
now, if your glow plug relay is stuck on, or you have bad bearings in your blower motor, or aux fan or you run with a heavy amplifier or extra bright lights, or something, no. the 55A alternator can't handle those extra loads.

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!