|One the way home last night i stopped to help a old man with a 280s mint looking. the car had just stopped and the bat was dead i gave it a jump and it died i figured it was the alternator so i let it sit for a while and charge the battery sp he could make it to the gas station. i gave the guy my number if hey ever wanted to sell the car well i got a call he says i ruined his alternator and that he wants me to pay or he will sue me. What should I do.

No good deed ever goes unpunished
 

To your question, you may be able to damage a diode on the alternator, but probably not the alternator itself.

You have to wonder about some folks. Lets see...he has a charging system problem. That’s why his car is dead on the side of the road. You helped him. He now wants to blame you for the charging system problem. As if it was your fault he’s on the side of the road. Try, really, really, really sincerely, to talk some sense into him. If that fails, let him sue you. You can probably counter sue him for a frivolous suit if need be, and if you want. He’ll have to respond to the frivolous counter-suit before you have to respond to the suit. You’ll win on both cases. He’ll pay for your lost time from work, etc., in addition to his crappy charging system. Unless he's a real dick, he's not going to sue over a $500 $800 item. If he is a real dick you'll have to go through the motions no matter what, because that's what dicks do to other people.

There are also good Samaritan laws that might protect you. Check with your city/state about this...

BTW I am not a lawyer nor pretend to be. Just some common sense…

Best of luck, tread lightly!

…Tracy

ok thanks i will call my dad's laywer tonight. I fought with him on the phone and i will be going to court I just wnated to make sure it was not my fault.

Another A******
 

I thought his battery was dead, so the alternator was probably dead before you stopped to help him. What a a****** this guy is.

Properly connected jumper cables will never damage an alternator or it's diodes no matter how lengthy the jump. The guy is an idiot. He clearly had a problem with his charging system before you came along. Unless he's an attorney (and I do detect some potential indications of that) his lawsuit threats will end as soon as he talks to one. What he really owes you is an apology.

Boy this kinda garbage justs fries my beans. Make sure you add "emotional duress" to your laundry list along with your attorney's fees.

Flippin' jerk.

Somebody tried that with me about 25 years ago. Same precise problem. Said see ya in court. He kept calling so my attorney sent him a very short letter about harassment, filing charges in civil court, FCC, blah blah blah. It stopped.

Oh by the way, What looks good on a lawyer?

A doberman. What looks good on your new "Diode Friend"?

Your lawyer.

Don't let the Bas!@#* get ya down.

HE WON'T

Have we learned a lesson here folks? I hate this whole victim mentality everyone seems to have.

Senility Is A Sad Thing...
 

Don't blame this gentleman, he's old, and is most likely just reacting to some bad advice that was given to him either by a mechanic, or a dumb lawyer. Even if he is or was the scummiest barrister on earth, he should know that you can't sue someone for such an event and win...

Everyone so far has given you excellent information here. The best and most on track (by default) was from LeBenz.

Why not have your father call him on your behalf? Perhaps hearing from someone closer to his age who isn't a party to the event will help "clear the air", and get to the root of the matter.

The real questions here are: 1. Was he able to get the car started as a result of you stopping to help him, and consequently get to a service station? And, 2. Would be be suing a road service provider for the same issue after they had provided the same assistance you gave him at no cost?

i just called him and he hung up the phone so o well

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!
some people can be such jerks! you try to do something nice and you get HELL in return. I'm sure this case will go nowhere if he dose file a suit. but talk about a pain in the ass just going threw the procedure. do me a favor and make this ignorant ass pay!
good luck.
Adam

He let you work on it as a good samaritin... it's his bag end of story. If it goes to small claims court the Judge will rip him a new one and maybe award you some money from him for your time. I am telling you this from experience. I used to help people out of ditches during snow storms. Once a tow strap broke and dented a guys car, He then sued me. In court the judge ripped his ass bad, I mean bad he basicly called him an ass&^%& himself and awarded me $100 for my time. The big thing was I never asked for or accepted monetary compensation. Don't worry about a thing this guy is just an idiot.

you know what the worst part is if i see someone on the rpad now i will probley think twice

Yip times are changing big time. As a biomedical engineer I am trained in ACLS and everything, I even resuscitated a woman in a grocery store parking lot with a Defibrillator that was in my car that I was returning after a repair. I think twice now because of the liability, its a very sad, sad thing. As for me pulling people out of ditches I still do it, and the funny thing is I only do it because I like to drive around in Blizzards and play. I live and die by my attorney but I sure would like to do without. As for the car end of it he TUNDRA rocks in the snow I mean really unreal stuff!:)

Dan,
Now that we established that you were dealing with a flippin jerk, I thought I would address the dead alternator issue. A co-worker (who has a ford car) has had bad experiences with his alternator going bad shortly after he has jump started other cars - he no longer jump starts cars. I have never experienced alternators going bad after jump starting other cars but I always follow the recommended procedure of connecting the negative clamp of the dead vehicle to the engine ground and not the dead vehicle's battery ground.

Hope the Judge slaps the jerk around.

Unless the laws of physics and chemistry has changed since I last read it, jump starting batteries by itself (ceteris paribus - all things held equal) DOES NOT affect the alternator.

Benzman500 - if you ever get sued, do let us in a class-action counter-claim for the good of humanity.

As for the tech. aspects, I am sure you'd not be short of expert witnesses here to support your case.

I suppose, that old chap needs some big time help. Any shrinks in this forum?

I totally agree to all the comments. It's a real shame some people are like this. I am sure the law of the land is different with the laws of the water. If you are on the water and you decide to tow a boat into shore. Unfortunately even as a good Samaritan you are responsible for any damage that occurs to his, your boat or any property damage. Laws can be tricky. But like I said I am sure the laws are different. Another unfortunate thing is. The two people who will suffer are you and the next person you come across that will need help. Do not let it get to you. You did the right thing.

Good Luck.

Oh Pooh
 

I was really disappointed when the old jerk hung up on the Sumaritan.
I was sure this was a real winner for Judge Wampners "People's Court".
I know you will come to the aide of a person in need regardless of this outcome.
That's the type of man you are.
Happy Trails Beep Beep from Houston!!!
Donald, El Cheapo

Dan, Dan, Dan...
 

I advised you to have your FATHER call this guy, and the next post was about how he Hung Up On YOU!!! Get a grip! I can't help, if you don't listen.

You also didn't answer my 2 questions....

BUT NEVER STOP HELPING PEOPLE! Despite the fact that when you cast your bread upon the waters these days, you'll likely get a fine from the EPA! There might be someone whose life you may save...

And hey, El-Cheapo Swinford, you ain't exactly no spring chicken! You're a man who we should all be able to respect and admire (AT LEAST I DO), and a former bomber pilot! Aside from what you already contributed, what other advice can you offer to this young man on how to resolve this matter? What Would Don Swinford Do? We (as usual) rely upon you for your maturity and wisdom...

THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE!

I cannot believe it is even possible for such a thing to happen. You help someone on the side of the road out of the goodness of your heart, and they try to make you pay for damages that were probably already there.

Come on, his battery discharged while he was driving, it obviously wasn't charging in the first place, why would he expect the charging system to work properly after his car was jumped?

The problem with the US being "The land of oppurtunity" is that it affords to much oppurtunity for jerks like this. If I were in your position I would be laughing my head off at
1) How big of an idiot this guy is
2) What he is in for

Do me and everyone else a personal favor and tear this guy a new one like nothing else. Just goes to show exactly how spoiled some people can become.

-Ali Al-Chalabi

Let us know how it goes, you have all of our support.

Here is pretty much the same situation except more serious. If someones heart stops and you give them CPR and they survive, they can sue you if you are not trained to give CPR. I know its really screwed up but some people just dont have any morals.

Re: Dan, Dan, Dan...
 

Sorry about that I did have my father call him we were both on the line and he hung up. anyway it is my problem not my dad's so i will deal with it. I left a message on the mechine to meet me at my mech shop after the daytona 500 traffic dies down and let my mech look at it.

DON'T DO ANYTHING THIS GUY IS A BELIGERENT SCAMMER YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SAY OR DO ANYTHING TO CHANGE THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Further contact with this idiot will only hurt your case. Let him make a fool out of himself. Small Claims Court is no biggie if you end up there. I am all riled up over this for no apparent reason, except for the fact that I have been there. In my case it was really my fault. The judge said because I acted in good faith, and was acting as a good Samaritan tough **** for the other guy. He then told him a free service is, what it is, and so on.

Dan,

Leave him alone! I suspect that he called you in the first place because he was just "pissed" that he found out his charging system needed repairs, who better to blame than YOU?

Now that time has passed, he may have cooled off and realized that the fault may not be yours, as he may have been educated by a mechanic.

Don't contact him, if he wants to feed off your emotional energy he will be calling again, but don't play the game he started.

If you are the type of person to stop and help then go with the old gut feeling. Most of the time people really do need help and will not react this way. If you stop and don't have a "warm fuzzy feel'in", get back in your car and leave.

This guy is a D*ck, Life brings people the lessons they need, one day this guy might get a clue!

Do yourself a favor and just move on as you did not cause his mechanical failure.



P.S. Sorry for all the advise I just dished out, I forgot to ask if you needed any in the first place?

Oh, and ENJOY the race today!

If jumper battery is connected correctly, i. e. + to + & - to -, how could it damage anything? Why isn't it electrically the same as the "jumped" cars's own battery sitting there? 'Can't see how properly connected "jump" can damage anything!! I'm sure I've been very lucky so far - 'jumped a lot of vehicles during last 54 years, including Cessna puddle-jumpers & Boeing B-47's & B-52's; haven't damaged anything yet; I'm just very sure when I connect them, it's + to + & - to -! Elec. stuff in the jumped vehicle doesn't care nor know if the elecrons are coming from its own vehicle's battery or the other vehicle's battery as long as they're going the right direction. My .02.

Diode Problem In Some Alternators...
 

I once had a '77 Cad Coupe De Vile (Not Misspelled!). It's model alternator was notorious for blowing out diodes if you jump started another car. The way it was explained to me was that the act of actually starting the other car momentarily connected the two charging alternators/generators together, with the vehicle having a dead battery's voltage regulator wide open, and as electricity needs to be corralled, or at least flow controlled by the use of diodes, those diodes would be getting more amperage than they were designed for, and would be more likely to fail.

Everytime I jumped another car, I ended up replacing at least one diode in the alternator, so I just stopped doing any "road service". One way to prevent any potential damage to the electrical system when jump-starting another vehicle, is to turn on the headlamps of the jumpor when the engine starts on the jumpee. Doing that places sufficient drain on the two electrical systems to prevent any overload.

As far as Dan's problem, the gentleman with the old classic Mercedes needs a reality check. His battery was stone cold dead, and jumping the beast didn't produce results, so his alternator was likely dead as well. The likelyhood for damage was more on Dan's alternator, than this other one. What Dan did was trying to help, not hurt the situation, so I believe that in order to collect damages, the points of intent, and exercise of due diligence need to be astablished or disproved.

And, I still want to know if the other car did start and make it to a service station under it's own power, or if it never started, and had to be towed. What's the straight scoop, Dan?

If the jumpstart did the trick, then this guy's a dick. :p

Thank you, Johnny Cochran... :cool:

Dear Dan: I know of no way he can prove you damaged his alternator. I'll bet some mechanic told him the battery cables must be removed before charging or else the alternator can be damaged, and that is what he is basing his complaint on.I know of no towing service including Mercedes roadside assistance that disconnects the battery cables prior to charging, or jumping to start. I have charged overnight, (10hrs) many a time over the years without any damage to an alternator. I would love to see you send him a bill for $100 for roadside assistance.

Damaged alternator - HAH!
 

Hi there,

There is absolutely NO WAY you could have damaged his alternator as long as you connected the jumper cables with the correct polarity, and no BIG sparks occured. Furthermore, if you got his car started while the jumper cables were connected, it is absolute proof that the cables were connected properly, as the battery would have exploded if the cables were connected in reverse long enough to start a car. The only risk involved in jump starting a car is to the car that is providing the jump - the alternator on the donor car can be overloaded if the jump is left on for a long time and/or the other car is started while the donor car's alternator is operating - it places the maximum load on the alternator (An alternator will put out everything it's capable of, even into an impossible load!), and the diodes in YOUR car (the donor car) could melt down. The alternator in HIS car is effectively not even in the circuit, being isolated by the diodes in its alternator. Think of an alternator as a 3 phase transformer with full-wave rectifier on each branch. If the voltage at the output is higher than the transformer (alternator stator windings) are producing, there will be no current flow through the diodes - they will be reverse biased. (This would be the condition when his engine isn't running, and your battery and alternator are providing the voltage to his vehicle). Of course, if you DID connect the cables improperly (reversed), there is a POSSIBILITY that you could have damaged his alternator, but it's not even THAT likely as long as his battery still retained a partial charge.
Let him sue you, then make an example out of him!

Richard Wooldridge

Signor Longtongue
 

To retreat is to fight another day.
The clouds blocked the target and Schwienfurt ball bearing factories lived another day.
I would let mr. little think about how he feels toward himself.
What's this spring chicken you old buzzard?
I'm going to go sit in the corner and suck my thumb, you hurt my widdle feelwings.
An old Gentleman told me, to keep from having your little feeling hurt, don't have little feelings.
Happy Trails Beep Beep from Houston!!!
Donald, El Cheapo
from euro to kwajalain(the pearl of the Marshalls)

I clled the guy agian and told him if he did not drop it I would call my laywer I told him who the laywer was and he said he had changed his mide about the suit and that he felt it was my fault but he would pay because i am a kid. I said whatever and hung up the phone
thanks for all your help

I was talking to a girl at school who hit a blue mercedes just like this and she told me his name. i was amazed she hit the car and totaled it with a suburban. Its sad to say but i feel bad for the guy. No luke with kids

Benzman, are you saying the girl driving a Suburban hit the alternator scammer's MB & totaled it? Amazing how "stuff" comes back around, isn't it?

yes sorry i was not clear

Every dog has it's day....

You are kidding!?
 

That’s incredible!!!! How much did you pay her? (Just kidding)

BTW, did the guy call and offer to sell you the car???

(ROTFLOL)

...Tracy

(While I wouldn't want to hear of the guy getting hurt, or the girl getting sued, hope I’m not the only one who finds this funny.)

[Edited by Lebenz on 02-27-2001 at 12:55 AM]

In regards to the old guy, this is the reason why I don't give jump starts to people. It is obviously his responsibility since, his battery was dead to begin with (alternator failure). Don't want to be a jerk but, people will cause you more trouble and no appreciation. If I get in mechanical trouble. I just call Triple A.

Elle
 

So let say if you see Elle MacPherson in need of CPR, you might not perform a CPR on her, like you wouldn't jump start batteries? :)

*grin*

I will be quite careful when it comes to all that we discuss here, but eventually if I were to come by someone who needed assistance for something like jump starting the batteries - I might just lend a hand, but try to stand by and watch more than actually doing the stuff and getting sued for it.


ps. Interesting quote this is: Too many have dispensed with generosity in order to practice charity.
-Albert Camus, writer and philosopher (1913-1960)

MBUSA Roadside Assistance Program is free, including "a few gallons of fuel". Check out the MBUSA website:

http://www.mbusa.com/brand/container.jsp?/owners/clientcare/roadsideassistance/index.jsp&menu=0_3#

When a battery is bad, it may have a short inside. It may explode when you jump it.

David




[Edited by be459 on 02-27-2001 at 11:30 PM]

David,
I had no idea how far Mercedes stands behind the owners of their cars. I knew that they made great cars but to offer free roadside assistance no matter how old the car "INCREDIBLE"

I was wondering if anybody has used this service? It sounds to good to be true.

perspective
 

Wasn't a lot of the response in this thread just as anti-social as the person who misused freely given help? Or does it fix things to resent someone as long as they resent you first? After 57 years for me the people who have appreciated my helping them (particularly taking into consideration their secondary level weaknesses) is about 99.9% favorable and .1% blow up in your face. And if you're really helping who needs the most help...the guy with a busted car or the guy with the busted car who doesn't know what's going on? As an older guy let me remind you that insecurity and the lack of appreciation that it generates is not age sensitive. I don't mean my two kids. They appreciate all I've done for them.
I do apologize if I've been preachy. Not intended in that vain. I just wish to critique a concept, not any individuals.

This is a sad thread
 

This is a sad thread.:(

Wow.... this is an OLD post. How in the world did you ever find it?

I was going to reply to the original post, but who knows if that person is even still on here, because the post count shows "n/a".

Anyway- talk about ungrateful of that owner with the broke down car. There was nothing he could have done anyway in my opinion. He did not know that guys address, or did he? :confused: :rolleyes: :D

Jumping issues/
 

0I can use my higher CCA battery (1090 CCA) to jump my gas coupe (800CCA)
because they are two years between each other. (91 350SD swb, and 89 300CE coupe) but only from higher alternator output to lower. Also the age of the batteries is a telltale sign of what to jump and what not to.

Use a voltmeter to determine the DCV of the battery on the dead car. If it is below 8-9 VDC or around that then leave the dead car alone. Take the battery out and take it to a auto parts and let them test/charge it. If the dead battery is 9.1 VDC or above, (YOU MUST HAVE HEAVY DUTY CABLES IF YOU DRIVE AN MB) Then I have had success jumping off from other folks cars if you know the sequence to connect the battery cables:

1. connect the ground from the dead battery to the (-) anode on the running battery. Clip the two hots (+) clamps on the cables to themselves or have a person hold them and NEVER ALLOW THE (+) CATHODE TO TOUCH GROUND, either yourself or the vehicle. Then attach the dead car battery to the running engine (good) battery and (good) alternator cathode (+) this lessens the chance that you get exploded by trying to help out another MB owner.

2. Voltmeter simple tests for batteries:

a) required starting VDC: +/- 12.0 to 12.7 VDC
b) the absolute minimum on the dead MB battery you are trying to help MUST be at least, to be sage, around 9 VDC min. Less than 9 remove or call AAA
c) voltage at battery terminals on a running engine with wkg. alternator: 13.5 to 14.7 VDC (WHEN ALTERNATOR IS RUNNING)
d) as most of us do not carry load detectors we cannot properly adjudicate a battery's "charge worthiness" but you can protect yourself from damage before attempting to help ONLY ANOTHER MB OWNER simply using a voltmeter (DC) that anyone who owns a MB should keep at the ready, with spare battery for voltmeter, if digital. Marinecraft/ hope this helps someone.

ALSO: If anyone owns an older Benz, and more importantly ANY BENZ after 1998, then it is a good idea to get AAA plus or Premium depending on your driving habits. I once had to use them for the 200 Mile tow option on a 1982 Euro 300 TDT wagon that broke a flexplate on the Bonnet Carey spillway.

Best, BENZ owner since the mid 70's.