'96 E300 W210 low battery symptoms

[Matt L]

The last time I started my car was a week ago Sunday.

I moved it out of the garage and back in to make room for a table saw. When the car to move it back in, during the preglow, the red and green lights on the interior mirror started to flash as if the DAS was disallowing a start. I removed the key from the switch and locked and unlocked the car with the remote, and it started.

Yesterday, I was going to drive the car to warm it up, and it did the flashing again. But this time I noticed that the dashboard display dimmed very greatly while engaging the starter. (The lamps were flashing then as well, so I knew that it wouldn't start.)

Since it had been some time since the car had actually been driven, I wouldn't be surprised that the battery couldn't keep up. Hopefully this is the entirety of the problem.

[DieselAddict]

Is it cranking slower than usual? If so, then it's probably the battery. But the last time I had those lights flashing at me was when my K40 relay was going bad.

[Matt L]

It was cranking pretty quickly, but the dashboard dimming was not normal.

Also, the charger really had a good time on it. I'll let you know this weekend if it's still having any trouble. Right now, it's about 250 miles away.

[Matt L]

It does appear that my battery is bad. The charger thought it was fully charged, yet the voltage dropped to about 10.5 during the glow cycle, and much lower while cranking. Of course, it wouldn't start.

There's a newer battery around here that I'm going to try before buying a new one.

But still, something is odd. I had disconnected the battery before for a few hours, and didn't need to reset anything. This time it was disconnected for a week, and still the seat memory remains, and the IR remote is synchronized. I haven't tried the windows yet, but I bet they still work.

[aklim]

Originally Posted by Matt L

But still, something is odd. I had disconnected the battery before for a few hours, and didn't need to reset anything. This time it was disconnected for a week, and still the seat memory remains, and the IR remote is synchronized. I haven't tried the windows yet, but I bet they still work.

Windows will work but the memory of where it extends to will need to be relearnt

[Matt L]

It was my understanding that the seat memory would also be affected, although I do realize that different modules retain the seat memory than the window position memory.

What I meant by "work" was the memory of the position, of course. That is, does the auto-down button work, and can I close them with the IR remote or the key in the cylinder? Hopefully, I'll know later today. But retraining the window position is a lot easier than resetting my seat memory to just where I like it, so I'm not overly concerned.

[Matt L]

Ok, now I know.

Contrary to what I find in the owner's manual and other places, leaving the battery disconnected for an entire week did not require the seats, windows or the IR remote to be synchronized. I haven't tried the sunroof, but somehow I doubt that any action is necessary.

What gives? My car did have the IFI computer changed before I got it, which mandated a new RLC (the original IFI computer did not ship with DAS of any kind). Is this the cause of this (quite acceptable) behavior?

[Matt L]

Originally Posted by DieselAddict

Is it cranking slower than usual? If so, then it's probably the battery. But the last time I had those lights flashing at me was when my K40 relay was going bad.

Good call. I did put a new battery in it, and still no start, with the flashing lights before starter engagement. Then I connected a code scanner to the OBD-II port, and got no link. I assume that the IFI computer (N3/7) was not receiving power.

I had soldered the high-current connections inside that module a while back, but didn't solder the connections to the relay coils. They were looking very bad, with a nice crack around four of the six, so I resoldered them with a 40W iron, and resoldered the big ones again with a butane-powered iron (you need a lot BTUs to heat up the metal bars and relay frames). After reinstalling the relay, the car started right up.

I may get a new one anyway. Twice it has bitten me, but it may be good for the next ten years (or the next trip).