Mercedes Benz A210 2003 - Starter intermittent - Fixed #
Posted by Ian Tudor on November 18, 2012, 10:13 am
Year of Manufacture *: 2003
My neighbour has just bought this car,(manual so no inhibitor switch to suspect )had it for a week and asked me to look at it re: starter problem battery fine(has new one so maybe they knew of this prob) when ign key is turned there is a short delay in starter operation and sometimes no starter at all this was the case this morning so i traced the starter solenoid wire in the battery box ,which seems to go to n/s bulkhead electrics box .So put a 12v from battery and starter operated.is there a module to control starter. Have checked ignition switch too with test lead and seems to be ok
I Think there are 2 types of starter motor for the A Class, The Main type that I have seen have electronics built into the solenoid and only take a few milliamps to operate.
The other type has a standard solenoid that takes about 40-50 amps to pull the solenoid in and then drops off to a couple of amps to hold it in whilst it is cranking.
I am not sure if the standard solenoid should ever be fitted to the A class or whether this problem has arisen by reconditioning companies and suppliers of non genuine units fitting the wrong solenoids.
If you disconnect the solenoid wire in the battery carrier and check the wire with a test lamp, Will it power the Test lamp. ? If So, You could try fitting a relay in the battery carrier to pick a Battery feed and send it straight to the solenoid. ( would be a lot easier than dropping the engine out to fit a starter motor.)
You could use an ammeter to check the solenoid current to see which type is fitted, If its the one with electronics in it, it will take virtually nothing, if its a standard solenoid it will take 40 + amps for a split second until it starts to crank.
If you check the one off the vehicle it will take 40 + amps continuouosly if you just power the solenoid without connecting the Battery + terminal. ( Assuming its a standard type solenoid )
Is the one supplied with the car a new one or second hand or has it already been swapped. ??
I am thinking that if it has already been swapped it might have had the standard type solenoid fitted and the system is not powerfull enough to operate it. ??
H.T.H. Tony.
Fixed #
Posted by Ian Tudor on November 19, 2012, 10:24 pm, in reply to "Re: Mercedes A210 Starter intermittent" Message modified by board administrator November 20, 2012, 3:22 pm
Hi Tony
I checked the wiring and was the milliamp draw and worked every time. Took car to work and during getting starter out saw the main batt cable was pointing up towards bulkhead and saw marks in sound deadening. When i got starter out the rear of the solenoid was cracked ,fitted new starter and wiring correctly all ok now. when i told him he informed me that previous owner had clutch done 6 months ago. Thanks for the info it helped a lot