Always disconnect the main battery before you disconnect the starter battery. Its best to have consumer battery not hooked up to the car while battery is charging, due to the BCM potentially becoming confused as it is delicate. So if battery tending just disconnect the ground cable for safety. 4 days more than enough time for battery to die if doors open etc. don’t do that lol or have it disconnected if you do. Battery might be ok but you also may have depleted it’s cells so charge it right away independently

 

Holding the window switches up resets the window computer memory. It will not make the message go away on its own. And yes you can try driving the car to charge batteries but you’d have to drive quite far and since the car is so electronically dependent (SBC, ABC etc.) there are serious safety concerns (mostly brakes!) so again it is best to charge while disconnected from the vehicle, hope this helps!

 

Good point. I have removed it from the car and am charging it at a 2AH rate. Thanks for your insight and reply.

 

You’re welcome. You’ll start to learn a lot from these vehicles as they are good teachers of how a modern vehicle operates. For their time they are spaceships 🛸 and still are to most folks who try to comprehend or convey the technicalities of these cars. ‘Research, and thou shalt felt fulfilled’. 🔩🔩

 

Some car batteries that have been depleted so far they might no longer be any good, can be brought back using the recondition setting on a CTEK MXS 5.0 battery tender, which is something you should own for an R230 trunk battery if ever parking the car for longer than 4-5 days. The CTEK also has an AGM setting. Because of the great amount of electronics in R230's, they are constantly draining the trunk battery, call it a "trickle discharge". This is normal.

 

20 minutes of driving doesn’t come close to fully charging the consumer battery.

Get a good charger (one was already recommended) - and charge your battery fully.

After a couple of complete discharges, any battery, even an AGM, will no longer be good, best to keep it charged rather than repeat this cycle.

 

When it happens to me, because i have not been driving it regularly, I start it idle for ten minutes, message gone.

Or i just get in drive it, never experienced any braking or anyother issue. Ten minutes message gone. If message doesn't go away you need to replace.

I give all credit to the Quality Wamart Consumer Battery I purchased!

 

When it happens to me, because i have not been driving it regularly, I start it idle for ten minutes, message gone.

Or i just get in drive it, never experienced any braking or anyother issue. Ten minutes message gone. If message doesn't go away you need to replace.

I give all credit to the Quality Wamart Consumer Battery I purchased!

Thanks wallyo. And for future reference, are you serious about your Walmart battery being good quality? Interesting...

 

From the 2003 owners manual. Under display read outs:

 

So 2 years plus a couple of months.

But it has a 4 year free replacement warranty. Get an MB dealer to do that. though i have not dealt with walmart at all on warranty issues.

From their site:

"The EverStart battery four year Free Replacement period begins the day of the purchase and expires four years from the date of purchase. If your battery tests defective within the Free Replacement Period, we will exchange your battery for a comparable new one at no charge at any Walmart store nationwide that sells auto batteries. The replacement battery provided during the Free Replacement Period carries the remainder of the original warranty period dating from your initial date of purchase or 90 days, whichever is longer. There is no other warranty outside of the Free Replacement period and expires when you sell or transfer your vehicle. For product related questions call 888.387.8278."