Mercedes-Benz Forum banner

Won’t start AGAIN!

1K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  NewMB 
#1 ·
Gave the car to my wife for her birthday just before Christmas, drove it for 4 days, since the dealer agreed to store the car over the winter we let them store it. 2 weeks ago we picked the car up from the dealers. Drove it about 250 km the first night, left it in the garage for 2 days went to start it and it would not turn over at all. Put the charger on it, next morning it started and took it to the dealer. Dealer kept it over night to fully charge the battery and to test the electrical system all seemed fine. Since the weather was poor (raining and cold – just above freezing) did not drive it for 3 days, again would not start (it would not even allow me to turn the key). Put it on the charger and drove back to the dealer, again they kept it for 4 days, put a new battery in and they tested it by starting it every morning without any problems. Picked it up last Friday drove the car for 50 km on Sunday, went to start it tonight – 4 days later since it was a beautiful night 68f and finally sunny, but it might as well been raining as IT WOULD NOT START AGAIN. Tonight I sent a couple hours reading some forums and have found some others have had this problem and I think it might be something that I’m doing.

Since I always leave the cars in the garage I always leave the keys in the ignition, We have a Lexus and a Chevy, this has never been a problem with them, but now I’m wondering if this is the source of the problem? Any feedback would be appreciated as I have a CTEK charger on it now and I’m back once again to the dealer.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
from the manual, page 36:
to prevent accelerated vehicle battery discharge or a completely discharged battery, always remove the smartkey from the starter switch when the engine is not in operation.
 
#3 ·
jbanks15 said:
from the manual, page 36:
to prevent accelerated vehicle battery discharge or a completely discharged battery, always remove the smartkey from the starter switch when the engine is not in operation.
Do I feel foolish, well at least I can tell the dealer what I have been doing. Thanks for the confirmation, after reading through the forums until late last night it seemed that the keys left in the ignition was the root cause. Thanks for the input. Upside I won’t tell my wife until tonight and I get to drive the car today!
 
#4 ·
The smart key is different to most other keys in that leaving it in the ignition keeps it constantly active using the infrared/laser interface.

A typical car key is not the same thing as it isn't locked into place and constantly polled by the car.

Glad it's nothing serious then, but don't you think it's a little bit of a security risk to leave your car keys in your car, even if you have a garage?

I don't think most insurance companies would like to hear that you're doing this...
 
#5 ·
Shinigami said:
Glad it's nothing serious then, but don't you think it's a little bit of a security risk to leave your car keys in your car, even if you have a garage?
I totally agree. First time I've heard of anyone doing this. If nothing else, why not just put a key rack on the inside of your house near the door to your garage if you want to keep them close to your car?

As a side note...In our area, lots of cars are stolen when people leave their cars running to warm them up. They finally passed a law to fine people whose cars are stolen if the police can prove that they left them unattended with the keys in the ignition. You may have heard recently about the 9-year old kid who commandeered his mom's car and hopped a plane to Texas. He was from around here. Now he's in lots of hot water.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top