My Son's 1998 C280 seems to have a short somewhere as the battery keeps losing charge if the car sits for more than a day or two. I recently worked on his trunk locking mechanism as the key would not lock it. I put the electrical connections back the way they were but...

Now I notice that the trunk open lever/switch on the center console has a small red indicator light in it that seems to be staying on most of the time. I assume that indicator light indicates when the trunk lid is open or closed. Maybe it thinks it's open all the time? Where's the sensor for trunk open/closed located? Could it be related to the central locking system maybe? When the car locks, it doesn't lock the trunk anymore.

Have to go charge up his battery now. Battery appears to be in good shape and not very old.

Appreciate any help or advice.

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1999 C230 Kompressor
1998 C280 Son's car
1999 C280 Totaled by other Son

I wouldn't rule out a bad battery unless it's been load tested. Normal life for a MB battery is about 4 years and for cheaper batteries probably less.

The standard way to check for a leak to ground is by measuring current flow and unplugging one fuse at a time. Time consuming but effective.

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Good luck.






1998 E320 Wagon

Try remving the trunk light bulb itself, no bulb=no draw. Sorry I am unsure where the switch is located, I thought there was actually a small plunger that turns it on/off at the bottom of the lid, I could be wrong about it though. If not assume it is in the latch itself.

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Update: turns out it was the switch in the trunk lid that wasn't going to off when the trunk lid came down and drained the battery. Just need to adjust the switch plunger travel and it should be fine.

Next problem is the rear seat headrests won't go down by the remote switch in the front dashboard. Yet, I can hear a motor in the back whirring for about 10 seconds and quitting. Can't seem to encourage them manually to go down either.

Thanks for your help eveyone! This forum is soooo helpful!

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1999 C230 Kompressor
1998 C280 Son's car
1999 C280 Totaled by other Son