Car will not start after sitting in the garage unused for about 1 month. Tried jump starting it with full battery from my second car. Did not work.
C240 makes a clicking noise when the ignition key is turned. The drive belt move very slightly as it makes the cliking noise.
Car has 62,000 mi and had the same problem when brand new at 1000 mi, also after having sat in the garage for a few weeks then.
Original diagnosis from dealership was very vague. Something about a ground wire ... it was under factory warranty then so I did not sweat the details.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

Sounds like a low battery. Or, ahem, a loose ground wire. Maybe both.

Check the battery terminals. Clean and tighten, if necessary.

Check the other end of the ground cable from the battery. Clean and tighten, if necessary.

Check cables to the starter. You know the routine.

Your car may not start if the battery is completely dead, even if you jump it. Charge up your battery.

 

Thanks for your prompt reply.
I checked the battery terminals. They're clean and tight.
The C240 bettery is ready exactly 12Volts vs. the other car's battery's 12.5V.
I bypassed the C240's battery by connecting the other car's battery only. No luck.

Read something online that the starter wires may have buit up too much resistance, not allowing enough voltage to get to the starter.
Trying to locate the starter now and its ground wire. Took off the plastic cover and will look for it.
Any tips on where the starter/solenoid and its ground wire is in the C240?
Thanks

 

I can't help on exact locations. sleepwalker can probably load a pic, but I dunno for sure.

 

I bought a battery charger and tried to charge the old battery, which was at 75% and 12 Volts. Afer 7 hours at 10 AMPs, the battery was still drawing 8 AMPs when it should have been fully charged and drawing 0 amps. I took it to Advance Auto Parts who checked it and said i needed a new battery.

A new 850CCA battery fixed the problem. The other car's battery that I used to try to jump start the car had only 700CCAs which I guess were not enough !!!

Now, I have to figure out why my gas gauge, blinkers, windshiled wipers to not work. I checked all fuzes in the fuze box under the hood. None of the 5-to-40AMP ones seemed blown. There are bigger ones with opaque plastic that cannot be checked visually. I was about to check them with my electric volt-meter when I realized I had a 100K warranty on this car so I'm taking it into the dealership today for the gas gauge and wipers problem, which I'm hoping are covered under the extended warranty.

Thanks for your replies lugnut.

 

Glad you found a fix and even happier that you posted it. It's great for people to see what the actual fix for the problem was.


Hopefully you didn't fry anything when you were jump starting it.

 

hi tabourj
What turned out to be the problem for the gas gauge, blinkers, windshiled wipers to not work? I am currently having the exact same issue with my 2001 C240. Please help, what should I check or actually what was done to your car to fix that problem?