I'm constantly under the bonnet working on the Polo which is usually just on the street outside our house, and I seem to be getting a lot of attention for it. Recently I had our local shop owner come to me and asked me to fix some problems with his Mercedes A190. I was both surprised and proud that someone would trust me of all people to work on a Mercedes, but agreed to try and help anyway. Also the first time I got to drive a Mercedes, even if it was an A-Class and only about 10 metres

There was a blown bulb in the instrument cluster but I decided not to attempt that, as apparently one needs special MB tools to even get the cluster out. So I went straight to work on the cigarette lighter which apparently didn't work - which I confirmed by my multimetre which gave random readings between 0.4 and 12 volts. A bit of googling and I read that disconnecting the battery for a short time seemed to fix many electrical problems with Mercs, so I tried it - disconnected the battery (which is located in the drivers side footwell?!) for about 5 minutes.

Reconnected it and the cigarette lighter got a constant 12v, which I was happy with. But now the engine wouldn't turn over. And that's how I successfully broke a Mercedes within 10 minutes of getting the keys

I got a clicking sound when turning the key, so figured the starter wasn't getting enough power, and the battery terminals looked ok so I figured the battery was low. So I gave it a jump with the Polo and it started up again However we had to give this Merc a jump about 6 months back for a dead battery, and I'd suggested he get the alternator replaced as it didn't seem to be charging.

So I went back to the shop owner and explained the situation, and asked if he had replaced the alternator. Turns out he hadn't, in the 6 months since... and then asked if it'd be ok for another 2-3 weeks

And the first rule of mechanicing - don't touch what you don't understand.

Second rule - if it's something craply made like french or a merc - don't touch it either

yeah he's right

everyone will be your best pal when they think you can save them the huge garage bill , but wait till you mis diagnose it or bust something off they will be back at you moaning that his £££ alternator didnt fix it and sinse you worked on it the clutch is slipping and the rad is leaking blah blah

yeah he's right

everyone will be your best pal when they think you can save them the huge garage bill , but wait till you mis diagnose it or bust something off they will be back at you moaning that his £££ alternator didnt fix it and sinse you worked on it the clutch is slipping and the rad is leaking blah blah

Exactly why I no longer work on other peoples cars.

It is good for a while, you'll gain knowledge outside of Polos if that is what you are used to. You may also be able to make a few quid on the side. But you will soon learn not all cars are built with the home mechanic in mind. Things like Vauxhalls (eww) and BMWs use various sizes of E-Torx and other random bolts and can be a fair bit more complicated than a little mk3 Polo.

Tiny Polo jump-starting a Merc, I'm impressed that you worked it out and that you helped.

Can you convince him that blue chrome car mats help the battery maintain charge?

http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=341206&page=2#entry2673728

At pikeytech, we set the bar ages ago with a mk2 polo pull-starting a transit :)

Can you convince him that blue chrome car mats help the battery maintain charge?

http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=341206&page=2#entry2673728

Nah they only add 25bhp each

The only problem with jump starting was that Merc was parked on the left hand side of a one-way street, with the battery in the drivers side footwell, and my battery is in the offside half of the engine bay. Was pretty awkward trying to angle them and leave room for cars to pass, especially given the Merc couldn't start so I had to single-handedly push it up a kerb...

Lesson learned though. If anyone asks me to fix their car again I'll have them sign a contract which says I'm not liable for any further damages. And I also charge £100/hr labour.