Strange Happenings on a Hot Day

[ToeKneE_33]

It was a hot afternoon yesterday at the office as I got into my oven hot W212 E300. To my horror, the car wouldn't start. The dash lights would come on at the 1st push, but nothing happens on the 2nd push. No cranking. Headlights wouldn't come on and the horn also won't sound. All classic symptoms of a flat battery.

 

I had an associate with me, and embarassingly, had to leave for lunch in his car instead. Upon returning to the office, getting ready to pull out my jump cables from the boot, I tried starting the car again. This time, the V6 roared into life without hesitation. I was like, wth?!?!

 

An hour later, I had to leave the office. The car started and I moved off, but the engine check light was on. It seemed to be in limp home mode as acceleration was limited. The car was also jerking. A few minutes later, the ESP malfunction warning light came on, and this time, the power was cut and I can only coast to the side of the road. Upon restarting, the ESP light went off and I can drive off again, but the light soon came back on again and I had to coast, stop and restart. This process repeated 3 more times, with the last time stranding me on the hard shoulder of PIE.

 

After that it continued in limp home mode from Changi to Orchard without further incident. After my work appointment, I drove to my workshop in AMK. Had hardly enough power to climb the slight inclines on the CTE. After plugging in, my mechanic found fault codes thats says "ESP malfunctioned due to undervoltage". After resetting the engine check light, everything was back to normal. I heaved a sigh of utter relief. To be safe, I asked for the battery terminals to be tightened.

 

So the sequence of events suggested that the battery went MIA for a while that made the car unable to start (later confirmed when I found my trip meter was reset), and also disrupted the electronics of the car that made the ESP and engine ECU go haywire.

 

So it seems that our W212 does not like the typical Singapore summer heat! Worrying.