New transmission and a new Optima red top and now the car won't even start. I really haven't been able to enjoy this car. It's been one thing after another and I'm really getting tired. I envy my neighbor who drives a Camry. Everyday, she goes to work and comes home and never has a problem. Even the birds don't target her car. My car is their alltime favorite bullseye .

Now that I've vented ....here's what happened:

1. Car was in winter storage since November 2004, because of a broken transmission since .


2. April 27, 2005 I brought the car out of storage and had it sent to the garage on a flatbed. I had the transmission removed from the car and sent away to be rebuilt.
***The battery died sometime during the months of storage. I gave the car a boost to get it on the flatbed.

3. May 6, 2005 I had the new transmission installed in the car. I also put a brand new distributor cap and rotor and oil and filter change. I couldn't get the Clifford alarm system to work since I don't have the programming instructions for the remote control. To get the instructions, I need to know the model of my alarm system. The previous owner had it installed and so I don't know the model number. I searched for the box to get the number, but had no luck finding it. So I pulled the fuse from the alarm system. Car has no alarm system now also resulting in no central locking.
***The car started fine after being parked for 10 days. I drive the car home and the have no problems.

4. May 7, 2005
*** The battery is dead.

5. May 10, 2005 I got a new Optima battery. I had the battery charged to make sure it was full.
***Off the shelf, the battery tested at 12.64v

6. May 11, 2005 here are the results of the battery:


***Battery rated for 800 CCA and puts out 1136 CCA after the charge and 13.25v.

7. May 21, 2005 I have driven the car on average once every 3 days since May 11. The car has been starting with ease and working fine. This morning started the car and again working just fine. I run a few errands and come home.
***After a few hours, the car is dead. The clock in the cluster is still keeping good time, but no lights come on in the instrument cluster when I try to start the car.

What do you guys suggest I do? I am thinking that maybe:
a) My alternator is the culprit.
b) Something is draining the battery.
c) The alarm system is causing a problem somehow.

I really need to fix this problem. I have turn over my main car on Tuesday to the insurance company since they wrote my car off. That resulted in a huge $$$$ loss for me. The 300ce will be my only means of transportation for the next little while until I find a new car. I cannot afford to have the starting problems that I experienced today next week. I must resolve this issue as soon as possible.

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
1989 300CE Astralsilber/Schwarz
1992 300CE Schwarz/Schwarz

Possible battery drains are..

..Glove box/reading lamps/curtesy lamps, staying on.....look up in roof with door closed.

Charge rate too low.....alternator brushes worn.

Fuel pump relay sticking 'on'....listen in tank filler with key off , for pump noise.

Power amp for radio staying on.

CD player ditto.

Brake lamps on ( Can't remember if they come on without the ignition on.)

Anti theft ECU fault. Under pass' floor kick up.

AATFWIW....Ignition coils seem to fail on these more than I like.

__________________
[http://languageandgrammar.com/2008/01/14/youve-got-problems-not-issues/ ]

"A liberal is someone who feels they owe a great debt to their fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money."

If your clock is still working your battery might be OK. I have not heard of any problems with Ultimas but I have seen new batteries die within two weeks. It is unusual but have had it happen to me.
When I think I have a bad battery I usually try the headlights first because they are on their own circuit and give a good load test.

What is the voltage now? If it is low jump it with the loaner car and check the voltage to see if the altenator is working. You should see > 13 volts. If the altenator is OK then since you pulled the fuse to the "Alarm" you can rule it out.

dkveuro has some great suggestion on battery drain. Also look for trunk, hood lights that do not go off or just pull the bulbs until you figure it out.

I do not know if your battery is in the trunk or not but I had a weird problem with a jag xjs that the starter would not engage that turned out to be a bad ground to the frame. I did get dash lights though.

If you cant figure it out maybe you could trade it in on the Camary

Curious about dkveuro comment
AATFWIW....Ignition coils seem to fail on these more than I like.
Is the fail mode such that it drains the battery? I have not heard this one before.

As far as the alarm see if there are any local installers. They may be able to identify your model or tell you how to reprogram it.

Hope this helps. Let us know.

I was just told, by another member of the family who drove the car the other night, that the glove box light stayed on. By wiggling the glove box door, the light went off apparently. So at this point, I know that the glove box door needs to be properly aligned. If the car is off, would the light stay on and possibly drain the battery over night? I am going to remove the light bulb from the glove box anyway.

__________________
1989 300CE Astralsilber/Schwarz
1992 300CE Schwarz/Schwarz

Had this problem on my 85 500SEL. Alignment was a fine line between light going off and wood trim not lining up.
I do not remember it draining the battery though. It was 5 years ago and my memory is not what it used to be.
Hope that is all it is.

I have nothing to test the voltage right now unfortunately and it's a long weekend here. So I have to wait until Tuesday for that.

Battery is under the hood.

I just took out a 1996 Lexus LS400 for a test drive the other day to get a feel for the Toyota fanmily of cars. It has got to be the most bring car in the world. I need to buy another car and I was thinking reliability is my top concern, but at what price?


I was just reading a thread the other day about the ignition coil and I added that to my "to buy" list. Man that list just keep getting longer and longer.

I was already there. They want to strip my cat apart and to look for teh black box. They were trying to get 3 hours labor out of me for starters, so I decided to try to locate it on my own 1st. Clifford will send me the instruction manual when I give them themodel number. The previous owner had the alarm hidden pretty good. I have been under the dash and behind the passenger glove box and I haven't found it yet.

__________________
1989 300CE Astralsilber/Schwarz
1992 300CE Schwarz/Schwarz

I just went outside right now and tried to start the car. Two lights on the far right in the cluster light up, a little dim though. I think it was the SRS and the ABS. The car did not start. The clock is still functioning properly. I checked the glove box light and it works fine. I opened and closed the glove box door and the light went on and off as it's supposed to. I pulled the key out of the ignition and when I opened the glove box, thel ight didn't come on. So I guess that means that the glove box light didn't drain the battery.

__________________
1989 300CE Astralsilber/Schwarz
1992 300CE Schwarz/Schwarz

how many miles on your car?

__________________
1993 320TE M104
---------------------------------------------------
past:

1983 230E W123 M102
1994 E300D S124 OM606 (x2)
1967 250SE W108 M129
1972 280se 3.5 W108 M116
1980 280SE W116 M110
1980 350SE W116 M116
1992 300E W124 M103
1994 E280 W124 M104
----------------------------------------------
"music and women I cannot but give way to, whatever my business" -Pepys

lino, check the condition/length of the voltage regulator brushes ... simply remove the 2 screws that secure the voltage regulator to the back of the alternator.

__________________
Fred Hoelzle

Approaching 120,000 miles.

__________________
1989 300CE Astralsilber/Schwarz
1992 300CE Schwarz/Schwarz

you gotta get a voltmeter. if battery has decent charge (12 volts +/- .5), look elsewhere but you have to rule out battery having enough juice to turn starter first or else you are chasing your tail. also, my 300E glove box light only comes on when the lights are turned on - sounds like yours is different? voltage regulator is definitely something to check, takes 30 seconds to unscrew it from back of alternator and pull it out.

__________________
2005 Mercedes C230k sport sedan, 6 speed
1987 Porsche 924S - 968-engined track car

My 300ce glove box light only comes on when the lighst are turned on too. Mine is the same.

How do I know if my voltage regulator is bad?

__________________
1989 300CE Astralsilber/Schwarz
1992 300CE Schwarz/Schwarz

I had the same problem twice on my '87 300E. The dash switch for the rear reading light was on. One doesn't notice it in the daytime. My wife accidentally turned it on one time and I was wiping down the dash and swirtched it on the second time.

I had this same problem 2 years ago. It took 2 weeks for my mechanic to test everything in the car to find out what was draining the power from the battery. (however, I don't know if the entire time he was actually looking for the problem) It turned out to be something with the power to the radio. The power to the radio was disabled, and the battery held its charge.

__________________
87' 300E champagne - Euro headlights and corners, 8-hole rims, 140,000miles/220,00km.

That is exactly what I don't want to happen to me .

Thank you oasis100 and anziani for the tips. It is raining and windy like crazy here today and so I can't even go outside to try to fix things right now.

__________________
1989 300CE Astralsilber/Schwarz
1992 300CE Schwarz/Schwarz