The battery in my 98 C230 exploded. the mechanical key won't go into the trunk lock. Some one here mentioned trying to get some juice to the car with one of these cigarette lighter jump start devices so i can hit the trunk release and get at the battery. Will these work on a MB??

No, don't do it that way.

The cigarette lighter is only hooked to battery/power when the key is on. If you turn the key on and power everything that will come on plus whatever you wish, the current will easily exceed the cigarette lighter fuse and circuit design.

There are much better places to hook up under the hood. I can't remember whether the 202 chassis has a jump start leg under the hood but there should be a term 30 accessory fuse in the fusebox that would be better to hook to.

__________________
Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

OK, but i realy need to know if there is a point under the hood and exactly where i would hook up two jumper cables. At the moment my wifes car is dead in the water.

Hmm,
I think I see what you are driving at, having read your previous thread. You don't want to start the car, only power some accessory circuits. There is a solar battery charger that trickle charges a battery through the lighter circuit on cars that have the lighter circuit on continuous power. In a similar manner, you should be able to get sufficient power to circuits through that connection, even if it is switched. The only problem will come if the wiring relies on a completed circuit through the battery, which in your case is toast. It can't hurt to try. Even if you try to draw more current than that circuit is capable of handling, you will just blow the fuse. Disconnect some other fuses for circuits you don't need until your draw drops if that happens.

Sure it can't hurt you for him to try.

Maybe you weren't listening. To hook the cigarette lighter to the battery you need to turn the ignition switch on. Once that happens everything that turns on with the key is now being powered through the lighter circuit. If you are smart and think of everything you could turn off you will still be left with atleast 10amps, not to mention any courtesy lamps running. That is before you start charging. If someone turned the blower on you would just pop the fuse probably but I can tell you that you don't want to be playing musical volatge with the controllers hooked to an ignition that is on to hook up the lighter.

If you can't tell where to place a charger in the fuse box there is probably nowhere as bad an ignition switched circuit. You need to leave those controllers asleep while you deal with charging the battery.

You will probably be alright if you leave the ignition off. Anyway you can get to the battery with the key off will be OK. Places I know will work include the alternator output terminal and the starter lug the battery cable goes to. It seems to me there are powered accessory leads in the electrical center on the right side. I just don't remember whether there is a charging lug there. There might be.

__________________
Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

Battery cable location for W202 :

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AND he said he dosen't want to rip out carpets! From a previous post which I have already told him that is!

I believe there is a jumpstart post under the hood of a 202, just like a 210, over on the drivers side fender.
I'd try the trunk lock a bit more, WHY won't it go in? That's the REAL problem here.

Gilly

PS If I am correct, you'll see a small brass looking tube with a hex shape on top, under a black plastic cover with a + sign on it, near the fuse box. You can connect the positive jumper cable to that, then the negative, just look around for a ground point, this will be a small 10mm nut with a bunch of brown wires running to it, connect the negative jumper to that. Then try to release the trunk, the quicker you try the better, if you think the battery actually blew up. Then get this all disconnected. If it really blew up, get the spare tire and tools out asap and flush the area with water and neutralize.

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Here are some pictures of the drivers side fender. In between the fuse box and the window washer fluid reservoir is 3"x2" box. with an "X" on the top of it. It is more like an X than a +. The other picture shows it with the cover flipped open. My cheapy digital camera does not show very well but there are two terminals under there with some decent gauge wire attached to them. To the left of them is a much smaller terminal. Is this the jump block you were refering to. if so, Which of the two heavier terminal would i hook the positive cable of my charger to?

Lets see if this works.

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here is the cover flipped open

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Not what I had in mind, but I'm sure those are power junctions and MAY work, so you could try them. What I actually have in mind is I believe farther ahead than those, in front of that weatherstrip. But you could try both of those you have posted images of. Just to try to pop the trunk, NOT to start it. I also wouldn't turn the ignition on if you jump off of those. Find a good ground to the chassis for the negative jumper cable, like a ground point like I mentioned.

Gilly

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Click here to see a photo album of my '62 Sprite Project Moneypit (Now Sold)

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

I brought out the charger and attached the positive lead to the bigger of the two terminals in the picture above and to what I thought was a ground under the washer reservoir. I did it only for a second and then unplugged the charger to see that nothing loud happened. OK. I then plugged in the charger and as quick as i could stuck my head through the door window, i could see all the displays illuminated. One second later i pulled the trunk release and ....... POP. IT OPENED. OK. Can anyone tell me what i should use to nutralize any of the acid? O and by the way, when it rains it pours. Yesterday the CV joints on my 944 Turbo start clicking. great. its a good thing i love that car.



John

Forgot to say thanks to everyone. The beers on me!!

the top blew off

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