Mercedes Benz one of the most prestigious car brands in the world, a huge thanks to its unfailing innovation when it comes to quality standards and technical perfection.

Driving your own "Benz" is like having a glimpse of the future because Mercedes Benz always comes up with the most advance designs and features for their line of vehicles. But what is a Mercedes for when it won't start in the first place? This failure to start may be caused by a broken Mercedes starter.

Before the advent of starters, hand cranks were used to start engines. Aside form being inconvenient because they required a lot of effort to start-up the engine, they also posed dangers to the operator. The need for a new invention was felt with increasing compression ratios and the engines becoming larger which made hand cranking a more dangerous and difficult task. The first automobile electric self-starter was invented in 1899 by Clyde J. Coleman in New York City. Because of its impracticality, Coleman's invention was then modified by Charles Kettering in 1910 by specifically replacing the hand crank with an electric starter.

Your Mercedes starter is an electric motor needed to turn over the engine to start it. A starter consists of the very powerful DC electric motor and starter solenoid that is attached to the motor. A starter motor requires very high current to crank the engine, that's why it's connected to the battery with large cables.

The starter solenoid works as an electric switch. When this is actuated, it closes the circuit and connects the starter motor to the battery. At the same time, it pushes the starter gear forward to mesh with the engine's flywheel. The starter solenoid is specially designed to handle huge amounts of energy mainly because the starter needs hundreds of amperes to produce the needed power.

When you turn the ignition key to the "Start" position, the battery voltage goes through the starter control circuit and activates the starter solenoid, which in turn energizes the starter motor. The starter motor cranks the engine.

There are opposing forces that the starter motor must first overcome before it could actually start the engine. These are the internal friction caused by the piston rings, the compression pressure of the cylinders, the energy needed to open and close valves with the camshaft, and the energy to run all other components directly attached to the engine.

When your car doesn't start and all you can hear is just a click, the problem must probably be is with your Mercedes starter. But when you hear a grinding noise instead, it could indicate that something has broken off the starter and is grinding into it.

Replacing a broken Mercedes starter is a task that requires a lot of caution. To prevent any injuries, make sure that you disconnect the positive battery terminal before disconnecting the set of wires on the starter. Then, locate the bolts that hold the starter in and remove them. After removing the old one, you are now ready to put the new one, rewire it and you're good to go. Of course, some starters need shimmering and these will require you do some extra work.

So before you experience the inconvenience of being stuck because your car won't start, make sure that your Mercedes starter is functioning properly and have it replaced immediately when needed.