I noticed that my starter wasn't turning over as quickly as it should in really cold weather and immediately suspected the battery. I've only had this car ('97 E300D) a couple of months and hadn't looked at the battery yet. I was a little nervous at first knowing that the battery was under the rear seat - everything is probably rusted out - but decided that since the car is so new (at least by my standards) that everything would be fine.

I removed the back seat and sure enough, the floor was covered in that white sulfer powder and was full of light surface rust. Not to mention it had a NAPA battery. I cleaned everything out as best I could, added water to the battery and put grease on the posts. It starts a little better now. I still need to go back in there and spray down some Extend to take care of the light rust before it gets bad.

I almost forgot to mention that the battery had some type of connection at the top for a drain?? or something. It connected to a rubber hose on the car which drained out through the floor pan. Of course, it wasn't hooked up.

I don't know why they put the battery under the back seat of these cars. I generally don't think it's a good idea because people forget about them and then its starts to rust like it did on mine. One thing is for sure, it will not rust any more as long as I own this car.

Scott

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Scott
1982 Mercedes 240D, 4 speed, 275,000
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S (70,000)
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe 109,000 (sold)
1998 Mercedes E300 TurboDiesel 147,000 (sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D 227,000 (totaled by inattentive driver with no insurance!)
1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel 236,000 (sold)
1995 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1987 VW Jetta GLI 157,000 (sold)
1986 Camaro 125,000 (sold - P.O.S.)
1977 Corvette L82 125,000 (sold)
1965 Pontiac GTO 15,000 restored (sold)