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[tunnie]

Car: 2014 E-Class E220 CDI.

I parked it up towards end of Jan, as I could not force myself to drive it any more. It's been left on a driveway since, it's going to be used again by MotherT.

Can I jump it as I would an Omega? (if it fails to start?)

Anything special I should do? 

[Marks DTM Calib]

Should be details in the manual, on our vehicles there are specific connection points under the bonnet for jump starting (god knows with a Merc)

[nellys coupe]

Car: 2014 E-Class E220 CDI.

I parked it up towards end of Jan, as I could not force myself to drive it any more. It's been left on a driveway since, it's going to be used again by MotherT.

Can I jump it as I would an Omega? (if it fails to start?)

Anything special I should do? 

you can but you need surge prorection jump leads as the surge in current may damge the ecus,

[Doctor Gollum]

Connect jump leads as required. Points are labelled under bonnet
Turn ignition to 2, wait until glow plug light goes out.
Turn off.
Turn ignition to 2, wait until glow plug light goes out.
Crank.

If it doesn't fire within 10 seconds, switch off and wait a few minutes before reattempting.

[STEMO]

Car: 2014 E-Class E220 CDI.

I parked it up towards end of Jan, as I could not force myself to drive it any more. It's been left on a driveway since, it's going to be used again by MotherT.

Can I jump it as I would an Omega? (if it fails to start?)

Anything special I should do? 

What was wrong with the car that made you stop driving it?

[Doctor Gollum]

 

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Car: 2014 E-Class E220 CDI.

I parked it up towards end of Jan, as I could not force myself to drive it any more. It's been left on a driveway since, it's going to be used again by MotherT.

Can I jump it as I would an Omega? (if it fails to start?)

Anything special I should do? 

What was wrong with the car that made you stop driving it?

Don't have anything to do with things that are 'Jerry built' my Grandmother would say.

[Kevin Wood]

Car: 2014 E-Class E220 CDI.

I parked it up towards end of Jan, as I could not force myself to drive it any more. It's been left on a driveway since, it's going to be used again by MotherT.

Can I jump it as I would an Omega? (if it fails to start?)

Anything special I should do? 

What was wrong with the car that made you stop driving it?

He hasn't reached retirement age yet.

[tunnie]

Should be details in the manual, on our vehicles there are specific connection points under the bonnet for jump starting (god knows with a Merc)

Thanks will have to consult the Ze Manual.

Car: 2014 E-Class E220 CDI.

I parked it up towards end of Jan, as I could not force myself to drive it any more. It's been left on a driveway since, it's going to be used again by MotherT.

Can I jump it as I would an Omega? (if it fails to start?)

Anything special I should do? 

you can but you need surge prorection jump leads as the surge in current may damge the ecus,

Mine's old and basic, no surge protection, so don't think I'll use it.

Car: 2014 E-Class E220 CDI.

I parked it up towards end of Jan, as I could not force myself to drive it any more. It's been left on a driveway since, it's going to be used again by MotherT.

Can I jump it as I would an Omega? (if it fails to start?)

Anything special I should do? 

What was wrong with the car that made you stop driving it?

My arse.....

Seriously, my arse did not like the seats, which is odd as Mercedes is supposed to be about comfort. But I found seats unsupportive and very uncomfortable, I never found the right combination after 4 weeks.
I'll add that after my ~1 hour commute to the office, I was glad to get out of the damn thing. The Omega on the other hand I could easily drive back to the office again........ and then head home again and still be fine.

I generally found it a bit dull and boring, not as economical as it should have been, not very comfy and generally a very disappointing car.

[tunnie]

That said, just remembered she has Mercedes breakdown cover/call out support with it, so if it fails to start, I'll tell her to call them. 

[aaronjb]

That said, just remembered she has Mercedes breakdown cover/call out support with it, so if it fails to start, I'll tell her to call them. 

And the grease monkey who turns up will probably hook it up with a £5 set of jump leads, after she's waited two hours for the privilege  But it absolves you of any responsibilities for follow up problems quite nicely!

[tunnie]

That said, just remembered she has Mercedes breakdown cover/call out support with it, so if it fails to start, I'll tell her to call them. 

And the grease monkey who turns up will probably hook it up with a £5 set of jump leads, after she's waited two hours for the privilege  But it absolves you of any responsibilities for follow up problems quite nicely!

 

Yup!

There is a little VW Polo in the garage she wants sorting as well, I can do that. It's old and looks easy to work on, I've jumped that a couple of times.

[Marks DTM Calib]

The jump leads don't have an impact, you don't get surges as a result which will impact the ECU's, in fact modern ECUs are more robust than ever

[Kevin Wood]

The jump leads don't have an impact, you don't get surges as a result which will impact the ECU's, in fact modern ECUs are more robust than ever

I was going to say: Cars have contained ECUs for decades. What makes manufcaturers suddenly unable to design one that can cope with a jump start? 

I am quite prerared to believe that Mercedes can't design one that can cope with a jump start, mind.

[tunnie]

The jump leads don't have an impact, you don't get surges as a result which will impact the ECU's, in fact modern ECUs are more robust than ever

I was going to say: Cars have contained ECUs for decades. What makes manufcaturers suddenly unable to design one that can cope with a jump start? 

I am quite prerared to believe that Mercedes can't design one that can cope with a jump start, mind.

Hence my question. 

I know for a fact they can't design a good standard seat 

[Auto Addict]

The jump leads don't have an impact, you don't get surges as a result which will impact the ECU's, in fact modern ECUs are more robust than ever

I was going to say: Cars have contained ECUs for decades. What makes manufcaturers suddenly unable to design one that can cope with a jump start? 


I am quite prerared to believe that Mercedes can't design one that can cope with a jump start, mind.

Hence my question. 

I know for a fact they can't design a good standard seat 

Mine has two separate connection points separate to the battery for jump starting.

As regards the seating, Mrs AA who has back problems has found the seating to be the most comfortable of all the cars I have owned

[STEMO]

My arse hated my astra seats for the first month or so, so much so I was thinking of getting shut. After a while, either the seat became arse shaped or my arse became seat shaped, so all ok. 

[ronnyd]

My arse hated my astra seats for the first month or so, so much so I was thinking of getting shut. After a while, either the seat became arse shaped or my arse became seat shaped, so all ok. 

I,m finding the same thing with the Vactra C i,ve just acquired. Not so sure about going from auto to manual though.

[dave the builder]

My arse hated my astra seats for the first month or so, so much so I was thinking of getting shut. After a while, either the seat became arse shaped or my arse became seat shaped, so all ok. 

your arse  would love* an Omega seat   


*until the mechanic bends you over with the repair bill

[ronnyd]

My arse hated my astra seats for the first month or so, so much so I was thinking of getting shut. After a while, either the seat became arse shaped or my arse became seat shaped, so all ok. 

I,m finding the same thing with the Vactra C i,ve just acquired. Not so sure about going from auto to manual though.

Vectra. 

[TheBoy]

Cant you just kindly, properly trickle charge it. That's always the safest way.

Batteries don't like being left for days on end in a low state of charge, so its fair to assume the battery won't last that long now anyway.

[TheBoy]

Cant you just kindly, properly trickle charge it. That's always the safest way.

Batteries don't like being left for days on end in a low state of charge, so its fair to assume the battery won't last that long now anyway.

Which is precisely why I put electricity into the battlebus every 2-3 weeks

[Kevin Wood]

Cant you just kindly, properly trickle charge it. That's always the safest way.

Batteries don't like being left for days on end in a low state of charge, so its fair to assume the battery won't last that long now anyway.

Yep, and letting the alternator charge it at a 100 Amp rate after you've jump started it probably won't do it any favours either.
Time is clearly not an issue here so I'd just put a trickle charger across it for a couple of days and then try it.

[Andy B]

The other year when Mercedes couldn't fix the suspension on my R Class it must've had repeated starts with very little driving in between and as a result, when my car was supposedly ready for collection the battery was flat. Their mech just jumped it from a standard battery pack .... obviously using the posts under the bonnet as the battery is inaccessible under the driver's seat.

[JasonH]

I'd trickle charge it. Jump starting can definitely damage BMW's. The problem is the alternator is pretty meaty, like 170A, and electronically controlled.

For the car being started the problem occurs when you disconnect the jump leads. The load on the alternator suddenly increases massively. The voltage can spike to perhaps 18V or more, just for a moment. It depends what other consumers are on to absorb the spike. There are loads of electronic modules on these cars and some just aren't as robust as they should be. On BMW's the MULF (Bluetooth module) and glow plug controller module tend to instantly die....

You face the exact same problem if you are the car doing the jump starting - possibly worse. Here when the leads are disconnected the load on the the supplying car is suddenly a lot less than it was and the voltage spikes.

[biggriffin]

In the oldern days I was always instructed, put the headlights on to sidelight before jump starting, as this takes the spike, was also told the same by DAF and Volvo O and Scarnia.

[BazaJT]

On at least some Fords[the C-Max was particularly prone for some reason]it would blow the radio-regardless of whether it was switched on or not.

[tunnie]

Well, to my surprise it started on the button! No issues and straight into life, had aux battery warning though.

Drove fine! After Italian tune up, aux warning went out. But the battery for that is still knackered.

[aaronjb]

Modern car doesn't flatten battery when left unlike the knackered old jalopies we all run, shocker.

(Just jealous because I'm pretty sure I can stand there and watch the battery go flat in real time in the BMW..)

[Marks DTM Calib]

I'd trickle charge it. Jump starting can definitely damage BMW's. The problem is the alternator is pretty meaty, like 170A, and electronically controlled.

For the car being started the problem occurs when you disconnect the jump leads. The load on the alternator suddenly increases massively. The voltage can spike to perhaps 18V or more, just for a moment. It depends what other consumers are on to absorb the spike. There are loads of electronic modules on these cars and some just aren't as robust as they should be. On BMW's the MULF (Bluetooth module) and glow plug controller module tend to instantly die....

You face the exact same problem if you are the car doing the jump starting - possibly worse. Here when the leads are disconnected the load on the the supplying car is suddenly a lot less than it was and the voltage spikes.

Reality is that the theoretical (or poorly considered theoretical) 18V is not achievable, the battery on the supplying vehicle stops the voltage from going silly high as it takes the short term output (as it effectively tries to take a charge).

Plus automotive components are supposed to be tested to twice nominal supply for a short duration......

[Marks DTM Calib]

Modern car doesn't flatten battery when left unlike the knackered old jalopies we all run, shocker.

(Just jealous because I'm pretty sure I can stand there and watch the battery go flat in real time in the BMW..)

Modern cars can be worse, that's the joy of having all the wonderful modern features we all crave which are constantly running....the result is a continuous current draw by Telematics, Body Control, Remote functions etc etc

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Don't have those worries with my 190D. Having said that, if it runs out of fuel or has a fuel filter change its a bastard of a thing to start.
I have been running it low on WVO over the last week so I could put diesel in for the MOT. Yesterday I calculated that I had no more than 15 miles of fuel left so drove 2 miles to the nearest garage. It actually ran out as I pulled up at the diesel pump ! 
I had a hell of a job getting it to start again. It was trying to fire, but the battery was getting low so it couldn't quite fire and keep running.
I had to leave it for 5 minutes to rest the battery and try again, and after 5 or 6 attempts at this it managed to start.
I was at the point of calling swmbo to come to the garage with a set of jump leads.