i have a '94 SL 500 22,000 miles that has a continuos 300 milliamp draw on the battery, resulting in a dead battery in 3 days. I have removed all fuses under hood and trunk, plus removed all courtesy light, viewed the car in the dark and still have the same 300 miliamp draw. Any ideas?



'94 SL500 22,000
'91 560 SEL 88,000
'87 560 SEl 134,000
'86 300SDL 202,000

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jcciem
'94 SL5000 60,000
'91 350SDL 545,000
'91 350SD 197,000
'00 E55 AMG 77,000

Somewhere there may be a dead short where current is slowly making contact across a bad connection positive to negative--my guess is in wiring somewhere. Not sure if the S-Class vehicles were involved in the factory main wiring harnesses fiasco of falling apart insulation which caused things like shorts. The problems with the harness were definitely during your year, though. The other idea I had is the CD-Changer. Of course, if you disconnect all fuses, the changer should have no power. Check to make sure it doesn't have independent power to it anyway. On my Range Rover the battery will also be dead in 3 days due to the CD-Changer "remembering" the position of the disc.

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2002 Mercedes-Benz E320 4Matic
1995 Mercedes-Benz E320 Wagon
2005 Land Rover LR3 V8 SE
1999 Audi A8 4.2L quattro

had the same problem with another car of mine several years back. turns out the positive battery cable was at fault, wear on insulation grounded out to a bracket. even though the cable looked pretty good it was drawing out enough to drain battery within a few days of non-use.

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"NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPID PEOPLE IN LARGE GROUPS!"

Whay type of after-market gadgetry do you have?

Alarm, sound system, big amp for sound system?

Even with a 300 mA draw the battery should last for more than 3 days. I would guess with that load it should last over a week (if decently charged). How do you know that is the current draw?

How old is the battery? I am guessing you might just have an old battery ready for the grave, or the drain current is much larger than you think. Causes listed below are good candidates for that.

Mike

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

installed a priority start, no longer care where the problem is, problem solved

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jcciem
'94 SL5000 60,000
'91 350SDL 545,000
'91 350SD 197,000
'00 E55 AMG 77,000

I am having this same exact problem and am trying to figure it out. With your priority start I would think that your battery would continue to be drained and recharged every time you start and use it, wouldnt that make the battery only have a limited life? I would rather fix this where I did not need an aftermarket device.

It is a 96 SL500.

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2007 Corvette Convertible Torch Red
1996 MBz SL500
2008 Harley Davidson Night Rod Special

Spinedoc,

Did you not quit MB and buy a Lexus?

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Tom 2010 C250 4-matic Sport (Canada)

Wow, I sold my 300E and bought an ES300 almost 3 years ago, and almost 2 years ago bought my SL500. Can a user "quit" a forum? Odd.

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2007 Corvette Convertible Torch Red
1996 MBz SL500
2008 Harley Davidson Night Rod Special

I had a similar problem with my 82 380SEL Mercedes......My problem and yours probably arent related however I noticed my car would not start after about three days of sitting idle. My car also had a viper anti theft system connected to the electrical system.......Turned out that this anti theft system was the culprit.....I disconnected all leads going to the viper box and problem was solved. I dunno if it was simply connected wrong or what, but anyway this fixed my problem.