The sad issue I think most of us can appreciate here is the fact someone was willing and had the resources to have a car towed cross-country to you because they trust you as a 100% honest tech. You aren't going to shaft anyone. It is *immensely* difficult to find a trustworthy, intelligent, capable tech in most areas. That's why so many of us (like me) have taken the DIY route on most things unless faced with literally no other option. As an example, a friend has a 20-year-old Honda that was running rough, and a local shop wanted to charge him $800 for four ignition coils. I pointed him to a reputable retailer for OEM coils and put them in for him. Car owners are in a constant fight not to get ripped off. That's why we *so* appreciate guys like you, and Eric O who try to make all of us smarter and avoid getting ripped off. Thanks as always, Ivan.

Watching from Tokyo. Thorough diagnosis of suspected parasitic draw and ending with “spanked” battery replacement solving the problem. Steps were very well explained, thanks Ivan.

FUNNY HOW U SMILE WHEN SAYING YOUR GIVING IT A TEST DRIVE,,IM SURE YOU CAN'T WAIT TO GIVE IT THE BEANS😅😅😅😅😅

We appreciate you making certain the ‘nator is stable over 5,000 rpm. No noticeable bearing noise. Very thorough.

Bro towed his car halfway across the country before going to AutoZone and having a 3 year old battery checked, or even just replacing it. Mercedes owner checks out.

When my son went over TDY seas, we disconnect the battery. Then driving down for vacation quarterly, hook up and drive it for a week. Worked every time.

I’m terrible with electrical diagnostics, so always enjoy your insight. Hey, even an AMG requires a test run before it can be returned to customer😉

Very few people seem to understand just how quickly normal car batteries are wrecked if they are allowed to run down too far! After being flattened (just very briefly) around five or six times, you are very lucky if one will start a car after being just left overnight.

Lead acid 12v batteries absolutely hate going flat and being recharged to full capacity. We see this constantly in the marine industry as boats will sink on land, killing the batteries with bilge pumps trying to pump out rain water. A deep cycle battery will tolerate it much better as that is what they are designed to handle but they are not designed to be starting batteries (under normal conditions).

Hey Ivan, I'm really impressed with the detailed technical notes on your invoice. Typically, what I see out in the field on invoices are just "R&R something" or "check something." When it comes to high-end European cars, especially those like a Mercedes-Benz AMG, you're definitely not shopping at the Walmart of auto parts like AutoZone. I'm not familiar with that make and model, but don't you need to do a battery reset when you install a new battery so the system may reset its charging system strategy?

HAD THIS ENGINE (CAR) BEEN TO ANOTHER SHOP... THERE WILL BE AT LEAT 10-50 MODULES REPLACED BY NOW AND WON'T EVEN BE THE SAME ENGINE (CAR) AFTER ALL. OWNER MADE THE RIGHT CALL! IVAN, GET THIS AMG.. WE KNOW YOU LOVE IT

Leave a battery flat for 8 months...even a week the plates start to sulphate .a car like that and skimp on buying a new battery?...tells a story...thanks ivan 5 star vid

Just wanted to say that I really appreciate your attention to detail and how thorough you are with your diagnosis. It is a sign of a honest and truly professional person. Wish every mechanic was more like you. Is easy to see why customers all over the country would rather go to the trouble of sending their vehicles to you.

Good video. Customer got a lot of value with the thorough parasitic testing, module scanning, and test drive.

Excellent diagnosis, as a Mercedes Mechanic I seen this situations a lot of time the most Mercedes owners leve the cars sitting for long long time and they expect a full battery after that and just one thing always use OEM parts Mercedes battery don't forget Ivan 😂😂😂😂

Good video for those of us that have cars we don't daily drive. Helps explain the how and why of a battery maintainer. Good explanation thanks!

Getting cars towed to you from as far away as Florida is a testament to just how good a mechanic you really are. That's something to be proud of.

I love watching your vids. So informative. Ty for all the information you give some of us techs🎉

That grinning and giggle that Ivan had on the test drive is the same way I feel when I take my Corvette out on a run through the gears! 😃

Thank you PHAD. Appreciate your expertise and knowledge.

I like doing a load test on the battery using a load tester & the battery in my dads 2000 model Holden VX Commodore which is fitted with the 3.8 litre Holden/Buick L36 V6 engine went flat after the car wasn't driven for about 3 months so I recharged it overnight using my 5 amp trickle charger then I load tested the battery the next day. It tested at its rated 650 Cold cranking amp capacity & it did take quite a few hours to recharge the battery,I have had stuffed batteries which appeared to be fully charged start a car but it only took 1/2 an hour to recharge using my old 4 amp trickle charger so it wasn't holding a deep charge. My dad has been driving his car no problems & he got 7 years out of the last battery. The reason that I say Holden/Buick is because it's different to the U.S. version, it's fitted with Holdens own ECOTEC aluminium alloy inlet manifold, it's fitted with Holdens own aluminium alloy oil pan & it's run by a Bosch OBD1 PCM albeit it's an OBD1.5 setup in the car since it's fitted with an OBD2 type of diagnostic port in Australia. The U.S. version is fitted with a composite plastic inlet manifold & Delphi OBD2 PCM !

I just realised i miss the second part of your recent video and i finished watching furst and come back here, love your works❤👍

your test drive made me smile

You nailed this one with the siren ivan. I was literally typing to check for the oozing siren and you said it . Had to remove mine on my 05 xfire

You had me worried there for a minute. It was getting close to the end of the video and no test drive? I wouldn't pass up the opportunity to test drive that beast either!! Great video Ivan! Nice car!! lol

Sometimes I walk into work & my boss says, how are you John, and I respond, "things are good, been watching a lot of pine hollow Automotive diagnostics!!!

Great diagnostic, Ivan! What a beast of a car - sounds almost like a Lamborghini :-) No parasitic draw, but the objective procedure took out all doubts. Simple repair :-) Had a similar problem with my humble Ford - battery started to give up after 8 years and had to be replaced (no parasitic draw, no charging problem - just 5 years of city drive, with little motorway in between).

I've always had a need for speed! At one point I had a Ford van and a Chevy Cavalier so I had to buy a motorcycle to satisfy that need. A couple of hours of thrashing the motorcycle was great therapy!

I am wanting to say that car is on the same chassis as that Chrysler Crossfire you repaired previously. GREAT VIDEO!

Thanks for the video Ivan.

I learn so much just by watching you.

Great job! When things are so complicated, people are afraid a basic solution isn't possible or enough. I have a friend who works for a dealership, and he told me that because of government regulations (MPG maximization), cars don't charge the battery any more than absolutely necessary. He said they stopped putting ammeters in trucks because they charge the battery so little - people would see the ammeter on zero and think the alternator wasn't working.

You got to be a rather 'special kind of diagnostic guru' You are indeed. Towed from Florida. Even if he owned a tow truck that is a definite WOW!

Thanks Ivan!

Replaced many a seat control modules on Mercedes in my day, for parasitic draw. Hope this helps

I hope you took this for a spin. These are high 12 second cars believe it or not. And one of the most bulletproof drivetrains Mercedes ever made.

Brave man to put that top down

You look great on the test drive

Hello Ivan, Great video as always and completely agree main battery suffered to "dead". Q: Did you check secondary/small battery? As part of the anti-theft system, this battery may draw current from the main system. It is designed to have power if main battery power is removed. NOTE: the horn/siren will not pull down the system unless relay is stuck "open (passing current)" and it would emit sound. If it, small battery, is also "dead", it may pull down the main system prematurely while trying to maintain voltage. It should stop requesting help once main battery system reaches a predetermined cut-off, but may be an issue with parasitic draw on this vehicle. Would love to see amp draw "overnight" on your Pico scope. My theory is that with all the charge given to the vehicle, the small battery was happy during diagnostics. ??

I was so excited when i saw the car, then so disappointed it was going to be a parasitic draw, what a waste could have been a great video with am engine problem.

2021 on the battery. Customer should have purchased a New battery before towing all that way. More $ than common sense. imo

I can't believe he didn't try new battery first. That was a waste of time and money.

Beautiful car ,bit of a pain having to spend extra time with a test drive,but you have to make sure it is OK.

"Let's see if the convertible top works" - so dedicated to the testing process... lol

my 2015 mustang GT , I have to have a trickle charger on it all winter as I only use it 2 months in the summer , my 91 GMC show truck I dont have too .

I loved the smile on your face when you said...."This car is a beast""

I’m glad he tested the seatbelt light on that drive! 🇺🇸

Hey Ivan, I wonder how 'Rainman Ray' feels about you poaching Florida cars? Just kidding, of course! As usual, a straight forward, logical analysis and conclusion - bravo.

Well done

Hey, nicd job on this one. Tip, when you did the first battery disconnect for the amperage draw, you reset the whole system by removing the vehicles ground path. The trick is usally have a small wire clip attached to the voltmeter and the negative cable so it never breaks a connection.

for long time parking, battery should be hooked up to smart charger/maintainer like noco genius type. This kind of charger monitor the voltage in real time while the car is parked. Noco provide all optional accessories for hooking up as needed

On this Mercedes, the regular operation of the control modules of the multimedia center should be checked, it also goes into full sleep mode when the car is locked with central locking. If any component in the control module is non-functioning and broken, then it does not go into sleep mode and continues to consume a large amount of Mamps. This car has about 40 Ma. about a lot.

166K. It's nice to see a car that has been driven and enjoyed. Hopefully, it will get garaged and treated properly in its senior years once it reaches its destination.

That car like Mine needs a AMG battery and Auto Zone Battery is not recommended. I played the battery game and after trying Napa and Auto zone and a Die Hard they all gave me issues. Ended up Buying an Interstate AMG Battery and it has lasted 7 years. I just replaced it this year out of concern not failure. The Interstate Guy told me that it still had 50% life left. I told him buy it from the shop if he want’s it. I want a fresh battery so he Ordered me a Fresh one from the Factory. And just so you know unmodified that car will Snap a Speed in 10.5 seconds. And for all you nonspeed enthusiasts that is 0 to 100mph in 10.5 seconds. 🤘🏼🤘🏼🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

Your empire is expanding

Even Ivan was surprised that no modules had any codes.

A partially sulphated battery can also wreak havoc on electrical modules especially the ecm -ecu ! I get alot of good use from battery's just by using a battery tender when stored !

Any battery that goes flat is toast because they’ll never recover properly, good video for theses that don’t know 👍

Ivan must not watch the car wizard, you’re playing with fire with those convertible tops lol 23:27

Yey! Ivan is back with a mercedes 🙃 Edit: getting a good diagnosis is worth his drive, + this is great content for us, never seen anyone test a battery this way, a great tip for everyone if you ask me!

Pretty sure reserve capacity is measured in minutes Ivan. That battery is closer to 50 AH, which is still substantial and will allow the car to sit a good month before too much headache. But careful with that calculation! Nice work keeping them on the road!

I figured early in the video that an '09 Florida Merc probably would have a damaged module from water intrusion causing the parasitic draw. I wasn't prepared for there to be no parasitic draw or for a code scan to pass 100%! That's why you diagnose: sometimes it really is a unicorn!

I have a 2004 amg Sl55. The alarm is a known parasitic draw. On mine the internal batteries corroded and completely wiped out the circuit board. I keep mine on a trickle charger at all times.

Fun fact... Volkwagen used to ship cars with solar panels put on inside of windshield (2000's ?) and plugged into always on lighter socket. This would keep the battery charged in transit. May not be a bad idea for this car if it sits idle for long periods of time.

People that own expensive cars, they often have responsibilities that take them away from home for weeks to months at a time. You know, business trips, vacations, overseas filming, court appearances, jail sentences, all that kind of stuff. Hollywood folks see this happen a lot. On the opposite extreme, my son has a 2019 Honda CR-V. He eats in his car quite a bit. And his battery went bad. How so? A few bread crumbs landed on the parking brake switch. Eventually they worked their way into the switch, moving it about one millimeter. Enough to close the circuit. Enough to drain the battery down a bit, every day. After a few months if this extra draw (never measured it), the battery gave up.

You can't park a vehicle for any time over 1 month without having the battery capacity severly lowered unless you put a battery maintainer on it. I have one for when I'm driving one and the other one sits for sometimes 1 to 2 months like now. The one in the back yard has the maintainer on it, yet even after 1 month it started right up with no problem. My maintainer's max output is 5 amps. It starts out at 14.5 volts, 5 amps for 2 minutes. Then it drops to 13 volts, lower amperage depending how much the battery needs. Good one Ivan.

That is quite a nice tarmac shredder yes.

Yet another great tutorial Ivan. I have although been wonder how to do a battery capacity test on my newer car as it turns off lights and high drain items automatically. I guess I'll have to buy a high rate discharge tester. Any cost nothing tests you have up your sleeve please Ivan?

I have gotten in the habit of adding water to my car batteries about every other year. Got 2 past 4 year mark in south Alabama. They loose a surprising amount of water. Given how expensive batteries are is worth the few cents in distilled water and time it takes to recondition.

I was trouble shooting a similar issue on a Nissan. The battery seemed fine but died every night. And like this vehicle very low parasitic drain when in sleep mod. I finally took the battery completely out of the vehicle and charged it fully then let it set over night. Dead. Internal short I’m assuming. Least technical item and hardest to pin down in a short time. But I got to play with my fluke and a few tools so.

A true miracle . . . a Eurocar with no active codes!

I wonder what one of those battery testers would have shown. I have a TopDon one that's pretty cool. Shows resistance, capacity, voltage, health, etc.

I like when you use the Infared camera to detect current draws, although it wouldn't have helped in this case. Towed All the way from Florida for a defective battery? Thank you Ivan

I have a 2001 C240, and the alarm horn ( which looks very similiar to the SLKs, albeit mjne is behind the front wheel ) shorted out in the rain, and drained the battery. Apparently, it is/was a problem on those years Benz', where the wiring or control box shorts out.

Good old Autozone Battery. To a Fisher Auto Parts Battery. 👍 OOPS forgot great video Ivan.

Excellent !

Using a battery maintainer long term will cause the battery to sulfate. I have been a victim of this first hand, the best way is to use a battery conditoner in repair mode that only comes on once a week via a smart switch for a few hours.

no napa legend i never had good luck out of auto zone battery's

Out west with the heat even with a car that starts every day you can expect 2 years at most with a battery, very rare they last more then that

I own an SLK200 from 99'. Fun little car.

You are good mate, i love watcing you.😀

Hello from Hawaii. It’s midnight here in Honolulu. Perfect weather.

My neighbour went to Florida as a snowbird, leaving his Chrysler Crossfire with the alarm set. After a few weeks the alarm started to go off intermittently. It’s a very similar car to the SLK. Finally the battery just died and he returned later to a very dead car. We weren’t impressed. 🇨🇦

that v8 sounds good

Man, I’ve always wanted one of these. Wish they offered a clutch, though.

supprised the fuel is still good after sitting so long, thanks for posting

You should get a battery load tester for your shop.

In the recent Audi, past 4 days, stopped, you got to connect a charger or disconnect the batteries. . Because too many security devices draining the battery at all time. .

The internal battery in the siren tends to go bad and draws power from the main battery to keep the siren battery voltage up

I had a failing battery in my Saab 9-5 Aero, slower cranking until 1 day I knew I had to change the battery like NOW lol. Drove to the nearest auto supply place and swapped in a new battery, Saab obviously cranked easily but what did surprise me was how much better the car ran as a whole. Was the power reduced due to low voltage or was I just feeling the alternator working hard ? Should have kept that car, loved it so much.

Hey Ivan, it's not uncommon to find W211 batteries that are 15 years old - still starting ok, just failing the midtronics test!

Ivan, 115 reserve capacity is the number of minutes that the battery can furnish 25 amps until the voltage drops below 10.5 V. So (115/60) X 25 = 47.9 Ah. 30 mA for 72 hours is 2.16 Ah. 2.16/47.9 is 4.5 %, which comes very close your initial guess of the battery having only about 5% of its original capacity.

You road topless today ? ? Here in Shawinigan Québec, we had snow this morning 😆

A friend bought a 2002 Jaguar XK8 with a very strange battery draw which when the car was not started for a few weeks it would be too week to start. The previous owner did not drive it often and kept a trickle charger attached. I have a lot of electronics test equipment and spent an afternoon testing all the electronics for an excessive draw. The battery is in the trunk so I used a wireless multimeter displayed on my phone as we checked different fuses and fuse boxes but nothing was unusual. About one month later he was in his garage around 2AM and the car radio turned on! If the radio was on when the key was removed it would turn off then back on at 2AM for a few hours. If the radio was turned off before turning off the engine it did not turn on and the battery remained charged. I expect the proper way to detect something like this would be with a current recording meter left connected for a few days. With a new car this may happen all the time when the car contacts the manufacturer to send usage data or check for maintenance updates.

I have also seen intermitted parasitic draw only detectable with the oscilloscope on a German Channel (autodoktoren). It only happened after couple of hours after putting the car asleep

Depends too on the quality of the battery. A well built one with the same spec as a bad quality... the sticker doesnt tell it all

I think you should buy one of those Ivan.

Lead acid battries capacity is rated over 20 hours at .05CA or close. A 60AH lead acid can only sustain 60A for 15 or 20 minutes. Check the data sheet or voltage-time discharge curve of any lead acid battery. Google Peukert's law.

Holy cow Ivan. Looks like you smacked your thumb on something. They must have throbbed for a while. Now ya have me curious. Too bad a lot of folks still don’t realize if you park your vehicle for more than a month you should have a battery maintainer to keep the battery at full charge. I’m sure most people don’t know but this guys does. I would have loved to take that car for a nice little drive myself. Sounds sporty. See ya next video Ivan

The reserve capacity is not the Ah rating of the battery. That size battery typically has an Ah rating of 70Ah. The reserve capacity is listed in minutes and is how long the battery can sustain a 25A load at 80° without dropping below 10.5V (1.75V per cell).