Quote:
Originally Posted by JimZ
The car being used to charge was a V6 Dodge Dakota. Not sure what the battery size was. Definitely not physically as big as the Benz battery. The cables were the type that come in any emergency side of the road kit. Not industrial strength.
Since it's a Mercedes and I have road side assistance for life, should I call a dealership and have them send someone out with a charger? Think that would get it going?
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Those two facts (tiny truck, tiny engine = tiny battery) and barely-sufficient jumper cables - are more than enough to have prevented it from starting if it was stone-dead. When I left my lights on and the only helper vehicle I could locate was a Jeep Cherokee, I had to charge through my heavy jumper cables for over twenty minutes with the Jeep at an increased RPM before the thing would turn over fast enough to start, and even then it was a reach.
Calling roadside assistance and asking them for a start might get you going, but I don't know if they consider your own driveway "roadside" enough to be worth the trip. Battery chargers aren't terribly expensive and they're one of those appliances you use the rest of your life after you buy it. I'd invest in one, so I could repair my own damage in situations like this.
Meanwhile, checking the battery connections is the best advice i've read so far. Take off both clamps, clean both the clamp surfaces and the posts themselves with a wire brush, if there's any visible acid clean it up with a paintbrush (that you don't want to paint with) and some baking soda and water mixed together. Clamp them back down good and tight and then try again, with a jump if possible. Once it starts, haul it to a parts store and have them check your charging system.