Dead Mercedes

[leo-rcc]

The battery in my car is under a hatch in the floorpanel on the passenger side. That made for some interesting parking when I wanted to jumpstart my friends car.

[Craveman]

The only way I could get into my car this week (also with a flat battery) was to unlock the boot and crawl over the seats to reach the release lever for the bonnet. Then disconnect and slide out a panel (which I ended up breaking) to make space for the battery to be able to slide out. I finally got the battery charged and the car is ok for now but my girlfriend broke the lock for the boot yesterday! So now I'm pretty much screwed if the battery runs out...

Good luck with your car Dar

[Darwinian]

Got the battery charged, ran the engine and it sounds like a tractor running on cider. Talk about rough, it's idling at about 400 r.p.m. and you have to floor it to get an extra 10 r.p.m. out of it. Beginning to regret charging it up in the first place.

Hopefully it's just because it's been sitting doing nothing for the past 6 months and I'll be able to get it working properly so I can sell it on eBay.

All I have to say is, thank the many gods for my lovely Lexus oh, and never buy a Mercedes!!!

[Zen Badger]

After months of doing nothing the fuel will be stale and the fuel injection system will be gummed up.

Put some fresh petrol and some injector cleaner in it.

[tavarish]

Got the battery charged, ran the engine and it sounds like a tractor running on cider. Talk about rough, it's idling at about 400 r.p.m. and you have to floor it to get an extra 10 r.p.m. out of it. Beginning to regret charging it up in the first place.

Hopefully it's just because it's been sitting doing nothing for the past 6 months and I'll be able to get it working properly so I can sell it on eBay.

All I have to say is, thank the many gods for my lovely Lexus oh, and never buy a Mercedes!!!

The gas is probably varnished, car's don't run very well when the fuel system is dirty.

Change the fuel filter and get some fresh gas and run it for half an hour. Drain the tank of all the old gas if you can.

If it still does this, make sure the MAF (Mass air flow sensor) is good. A good way to check is by removing its connector while the car is running. If the idle doesn't change, you've found your culprit.

BTW, lots of cars have batteries in the back, it's a good way to have better weight distribution and eliminate clutter in the engine bay. My battery's in the back, but I can jump start the car from the front as well, using the fusebox as a positive and the chassis as a ground (or earth, as you UKers call it)

[Darwinian]

Good thinking peoples.. I'll give that a go