mkoons

Sometime after locking or unlocking car with electronic key or with the manual key the parking & fog lights will start flashing.This flashing will continue indefinitely. Very erratic, does not always do this or may stop flashing on it's own or some time later will start flashing again. Don't know if this is a malfunction of the locking system or if it's the security system.
Anyone have any thoughts on this. Very frustrating.

503C43 ////AMG

The fog lights come on if you have had your lights on and then shut the car off and close the door. It is a "security light" meant to light the way at night.

Does the light flash if you haven't had the lights on? I have never seen the fog light flash

mkoons

Thanks for commenting 503. Let me restate this problem. When I say "fog lights" I am referring to the lights in the bottom of front bumper. The flashing may start hours after I have locked or unlocked the car. If the car is locked & flashing I can unlock & flashing will stop. Check the car hour later & lights are flashing.

DRBC43AMG

Electrical gremlins somewhere in there.... A relay perhaps?

nd4spd13

It's the alarm. When I lock my car with the window open, and unlock it through the window from the inside, the horn honks, and I believe the fog and corner lights flash. Try doing this OP and see if you get a horn or not. If you don't get the horn, then it would seem like something is wrong with the connection between the alarm and the horn, and for some reason your alarm is going off randomly, and if the horn does sound when opening the door "illegally", then you have some MAD electrical gremlins somewhere. This is why unlocking the car makes it stop.

mkoons

Thanks ND, I'll try your suggestion and see what happens. I believe I can turn the alarm system off and see if this issue continues. Of course, that is not a fix, just a band-aid.

Kropf

It's also now happening on the US East Coast (although my '99 C43 spent its first 10 years in San Diego).
My mysterious blinking started about a month ago...
It is similar to the alarm blinking, but not exactly as my alarm sounds my horn, but this situation is silent.
I've videoed it for 40 seconds on July 3rd as I walked around the car.
While blinking, the red alarm signal light on the dash blinks at a different rate.
The blinking will stop with either a key fob 'Lock' signal or an 'Unlock' signal.
It will sometimes stop on its own, but may start up again like 5-15 minutes later with no action on my part.

mkoons

Hi Kropf,
Sounds like we have the same thing going on, although my flashing has almost stopped this last week. My car will also lock itself when I am out of car, so I have to be careful about removing the key when I get out of car to get gas or I could be locked out. I am going to have to take car into dealership to solve this, I'll post my results from that.
My car was mfg on 11/1998 ViN 33G2XF818281 Originally sold in Spokane,WA but I purchased it here in So CA in 2005 at which time it only had 32,000 miles. I see you have Eibach springs; what is your impression of them?

KJI3jflarryfe93

I guess it's your siren acting up, the built in battery is probably going bad or somekind of short curcuit?


if your car locks itself when you fill her up, something is wrong with your car perhaps the central locking pump having some problems.

Car will only lock itself if you don't open the doors within 30 - 45 sec. after unlocking it with remote.

I guess you have to remember to take the key with you all the time when you get out of your car.
I haven't experianced this problem on my car.
Seems like we all have different problems with our cars?

DRBC43AMG

I think it is less than 30-45 secs. In mine it's more like 10-15 secs. I confirm that if you leave the key on the ignition and close the door, it should never lock (normally and not unless your car has a mind of its own)

Kropf

There is no problem with my siren.
If I open a door when the alarm is armed, the siren howls AND the lights blink. The Panic button also works fine and triggers the siren.
The subject of this thread is only the lights blinking (with no siren).


Interesting. Mine has never locked itself (other than when it's documented to do so - when pressing the unlock button, but failing to open a door or trunk within 40 seconds - mine relocks in 41 seconds and the dome lights turn off a few seconds before the relock).

I lock mine whenever I'm away from home (and recently have the random flashing light problem). But at home, it's unlocked in the garage, and has never locked itself, nor have I ever seen the lights mysteriously flash when unlocked (and I just spent many hours in the garage this past weekend).


Mine was built 07/98, VIN ... 33E3XF771731. Originally sold by M-B of San Diego Oct. 1998 with 78 miles.


As stated earlier this year: "I put slightly used Eibach Pro-Kit springs in the front only (keeping the #2 pads), and the look and ride improved greatly! Front dropped about 1 3/4" (1.75").

I then put the Eibach Pro-Kit springs in the rear (again keeping the #2 pads), but the ride became very unpleasant. The rear dropped 2 3/8" (2.375") and the ride became so unpleasant that that same night, I put the original rear springs back in."

As noted, I later put #3 pads in the front on top of the Eibachs, and #1 pads in the rear on top of the stock C43 springs - leaving a bit of "rake", which I like.
https://mbworld.org/forums/members/k...p1030268c.html

KJI3jflarryfe93

dude, do you have factory towalam, no interior glasbreak sensors on B-pillars?
I don't think there are any sensors built inside the doors that goes off if a purp gets inside the car.

# Do you get any alarm sound if you open the hood after you have activated the alarm, you have to wait a minute or less to get the alarm in motion?

# Trunk sensor should go off if you make a test.

However, i don't think there are any sensors in the doors.
Sit inside the car lock it with remote, wait a minute, then open the doors one by one from inside, let us know what happens.


it was a ruff, ruff, ruff estimate i did för 30 - 45 sec, maybe it's less but it feels like a lifesentence..................

Kropf

Any news or update?

I thought I had discovered an interesting condition...
Since I have all LEDs in the parking lights and aftermarket HIDs in the lower driving lights (all of which flash when the problem re-appears), I tried leaving them both on one night, locked the doors, and watched for 30+ minutes from the diner window. Not a single flash episode! At another time, I left only the LED parking lights on for a couple/few hours, and no report of flashing. Since the LEDs could be on for days without draining the battery, I could live with that work-around.
But, after not seeing the flashing for awhile, the problem has re-appeared, even with my parking lights left on. So, I'm not sure if there is any connection at all.

mkoons, do you have LEDs or stock parking light bulbs?

mkoons

I have all stock lights. My flashing has not been as frequent lately. Sometimes while at work my car is locked of course, I'll come outside & the lights are flashing, so I hit the unlock button & relock & it stops.

I'll be going to dealership 1st week of Sept, need plugs changed & have to get some new Pilot Super Sports on first.

Will post my results.

Sulaco

I am having this exact issue and it is DRIVING ME INSANE.

It was doing it when I first got the car, and did it for months without me finding out what's wrong with it. I went around checking every bulb/wire on the lighting system and all the door locks, etc making sure everything was fine.

Siren works fine. Alarm functions normally if I trigger it in any way.

I crashed the car, got a new key, and the flashing went away. For a while.

It's back now. It goes on for so long it kills my battery in this cold weather. I thought I just had a bad battery, but it passes the tests (and I can't afford a new one right now), so I just kept jumping it off and going along with it. Few days later (after driving it 100 miles in a day, most days) its dead in the morning.

Finally my old-man neighbor walked over and knocked on the door and told me that "most nights the lights are flashing on your car. They flash for hours!"

They did it today while at work. Killed my battery again.

The headlights, fog lights, corner lights, tail lights, and all interior overhead lights flash. The brake lights and instrument panel lights do not flash.

I am curious. My horn has always only done the high pitch when I honk it. As far as I know, cars have a low pitch and a high pitch horn. Could it be detecting one of my two horns has failed? Neither goes off with the alarm, though.

mkoons

Sorry to hear you are still having that problem. I was going to take car to dealership but it stop flashing. Haven't had a problem for almost a year. I am still careful about not leaving key in ignition when I get out, it has locked the doors itself a few times. Overall, this car has been very trouble free, every thing works.

tparvez

Hey man how are things??

Just wondering how you solved your problem for the flashing lights???

mkoons

I never did solve it, just stopped on its own after about 6 months of aggravation.

svt ricco

This just happened today, just the tail lights minus the front turn signal/fog lights... I'm gonna try to disconnect the battery and see if it does anything.

Kropf

Thanks to my C43's newest owner, I have the answer!!!!
With much thanks to my '99 C43 - AMG Orphan #99's current owner Joffrey Roa in New Hampshire, who I just met up with last week, I quote his texts to me...‎
‎
Located just under the driver side front wheel well is the alarm siren. In this siren are lithium batteries that leak over time and destroy the electronics inside the siren. This causes the weird alarm issue.‎

I replaced that siren. The weird thing is that you won't find the part number anywhere at the dealer.:

There are lithium batteries in the siren as a back-up just in case thieves cut the battery. The siren would still work.

I had to pull the siren out to get the part number because even with the VIN number I could not track down this siren at the dealer.

Also, apparently, a lot of MB cars from the C class to the S class use this same alarm siren from 1999 thru 2005. So now that the lithium batteries in th‎ose sirens are hitting 10 years and more then the sirens will start to fail. I believe your E55 still has the same or an updated version of this alarm si‎ren.

I just knew it couldn't be a wiring fault but it had to be something related to the alarm somehow. Pulling the siren was the big hint. The siren is probably half a pound so its very heavy to be just a "siren". Crack it open and you see the havoc that the leaking lithium batteries will have done.

The part number is 219 820 32 26. The one that was in the C43 is 220 820 32 26 ** but both parts look exactly the same down to the three pronged connector plug.

(** Upon checking the EPC, I think the original C43's was 220 820 28 26, as stated later in my post #24.)

When I met Joffrey, he also showed me how the new siren chirps like the newer Mercedes.

venturaexit

This is coming a bit late, but I forgot who was asking about exact location of the siren. I wonder if the part numbered 150 in the diagram is the Central Locking Vacuum Pump PN: 208 800 11 48

I believe the PN for the upgraded Siren is 219 820 32 26 (Thanks for this one KOWALSKI!) (And great post KROPF!)

Going to do this this week, first I will replace my faulty Tow Hook switch and Alarm Siren and see if that fixes it.

KJI3jflarryfe93

are you replacing parts yourself or taking it to dealership?
my mechanic told me, the new siren design requiers a different size nut.

# 150 looks like a relay for alarmsystem.

from another forum friend on British MB forum, I received this cool info programming my CL-locking.

" 1… Close to the car, hold down lock and unlock buttons on the remote fob , together, for 6 seconds.
2…The Red led on the remote fob will blink.

When you now unlock, only the driver door and fuel flap will unlock, if you press the unlock button once again all doors and boot will unlock.

Repeat 1 and 2 above to undo this action, this is called Global locking and Selective locking, these instructions are also in the User Manual."

now i can feel a lil' more safer in my car with the other doors locked

venturaexit

THANK YOU

Kropf

Checking the EPC (You DO have your own free subscription for http://epc.startekinfo.com/ Yes??), Group 82, Subgroup 525, part #150 is greyed out - meaning it is not valid for our VINs.
(Your C43 ...771743 is only 12 sequence numbers after mine ...771731 !)
For our C43s, I believe that you want Group 80 (Vacuum System), Subgroup 040 (Vacuum Pump and Connector), part #23 A 210 800 19 48 Central Locking Mechanism Pump.
Beware, footnote 423 states: ATTENTION!!! SPARE PART MUST BE CODED WITH HAND-HELD TESTER AFTER INSTALLATION IN VEHICLE!


Back to your parts picture, part #155 is the Alarm Unit Siren and the current EPC states the part number as A 220 820 28 26.
Parts.com lists that as Horn/Siren $125.25 MSRP $167.

Again, my post #20 quoted my C43's current owner, and I'm unsure about the part numbers he included... I couldn't find 2198203226 or 2208203226 in the EPC for our VINs, and checking on Parts.com, the two parts don't even look interchangeable - the first a Siren (maybe the "upgraded" siren?), the second a Climate Control Module - so any new purchaser should verify these numbers. Maybe he erred with the second number - I'll ask him.

As I was searching the Internet for these parts, I found the following related forum thread:
W203 - Alarm Problem (Fixed)

venturaexit

I'm picking up the Alarm Siren PN 219 820 32 26 today frpom BPA in North Hollywood, CA for $152.+tax (there will be a $25 restocking fee if it doesn't fit. I figure I'll risk it based on KOWA's experience as he got that siren as an upgraded part)

"12 sequence numbers after mine" -COOL! (I don't know why I said COOL, but this is the kind of stuff only us car people understand)

http://epc.startekinfo.com I will subscribe!

"Beware, footnote 423 states: ATTENTION!!! SPARE PART MUST BE CODED WITH HAND-HELD TESTER AFTER INSTALLATION IN VEHICLE!"
EVEN THE ALARM SIREN? can I just DIY THIS INSTALL?

Thanks!