tcounts

Maybe someone has a clue here...I'm lost.

I bought a used CL500 from a man and there was no sound from the left side speakers at all (front & rear). I found the problem after we agreed to trade so he gave me $500 back on the car to make up for it...whoops, my bad.

I took the car to the Mercedes dealership and they said I needed a $1200 amp and charged me $250 for the diagnosis.

I tried to have my amp repaired at two places but the problem persisted. The last amp repairman said he didn't understand the problem because he thought the amp was fine now.

I bought another amp online for $300. When I plugged it in I was still without my entire left channel. I am concluding it is something else malfunctioning.

It must be my head unit or is there something else that could be broken? Is there a way to test? I'm going back to Mercedes and ask for my diagnostic money back because I think they mis-diagnosed the problem to begin with. Any help or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom

AMG2GO

I am guessing you have checked the obvious "balance" on the radio and it is still bad.... It sounds like the head unit may not be outputting sound on one side... rare... but possible. It could even be a cable... I mean whats the chances of boh amps being bad on the same side? its probably not the amp. You have this problem no matter what source is playing? NAV commands and stuff are OK?

benzmodz

Has anyone considered that the door harness might be faulty and that there is no continuity at all to the left side (broken ground or some such).

Someone may have had a ***** woofer in it before and actually cut some of the left channel lines.

My approach, 20 metres of wire, one end in the door sill where the floor harness joins the door harness and the other end at the amp and check for continuity.

Sitting on a diagnostic is three fifths of jack. Someone needs to have a look and figure things out.

tcounts

Yep, I checked all the obvious things; NAV, CD, Cassette, Balance controls, Reset....all to no avail. Still only R-side channels. Left is dead dead dead.

Thanks,
Tom

tcounts

I thought the input to the amp was via fiber optic. Would there be a harness to the door? Or are you saying I'm getting signal out of the amp but the direct speaker wires might be cut? I'll check the pins on the amp to see if I'm getting a signal out! Now, to begin my search for a pinout...if anyone has a pinout diagram PLEASE send it to me or post it for all to enjoy.

Thanks,
Tom

AMG2GO

Yes, good call by benzmods.... take some wire and hookup the amp directly to a speaker and see what happens....

You really need a wiring diagram of this system. See if some parts or service guy at MB can make a photocopy of a service manual for you....

benzmodz

THIS IS THE D2B VERSION NOT THE UPDATED MOST VERSION, the colour markings are in German.

SW = black
RS = ROSE and so on.

tcounts

After much trouble...and thanks specifically to the fine members of this forum, I found the problem. It was a broken wire all along.

Anybody want to buy a spare CL500 amp?

Thanks again everyone!
Tom

AMG2GO

I think you should take it back to MB and get your money back! what the hell it was a misdiagnosis and it didn't solve your problem, why should you have to pay for it? did they diagnose it or you? if they did then take it back. If they give you trouble call MBUSA. Make a stink...

Otherwise I will take that P.O.S. off your hands if you pay me like... $100. :p

tcounts

After mis-diagnosing it, causing me to find another amp (one heckuva hard thing to do..harder than I would've thought), and all the pain and suffering of figgerin' it out, they finally fixed it.

If it wasn't for the pinout diagram left by benzmodz I would've never diagnosed it properly. I ohmed out each pair and found the left side completely open. I knew I had the problem licked then and left MB with the labor to get it done. I didn't really want to pull the car apart without knowing where to pull without breaking clamps & hooks.

Keep your eyes peeled on e-bay for a nice amp!

Tom

derryg

Dear Tcounts,

I hope you are still on this forum as I have the same problem same side with my CL500.

As it turned out, I went to MB as you did they gave me the same analysis for $132.00.

If you still have said information could you email (derryg@yahoo.com) me as to where wire was located and maybe I can get my money returned. Thanks in advance and thanks to this forum.

tcounts

I'm re-attaching the pinout for everyone to share as long as it lasts on the site. I'm happy to e-mail it to anyone looking as well, just give me a shout and I'll get it right out to you. I can't stress how much this helped in solving the problem.

Cheers,
Tom

SteveMcintyre

Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead but does anyone know where this broken wire was located? I have this same model car in my shop right now with the exact same problem. PM'd the OP but no reply yet. Thanks in advance for the help!!!

dorianw@filmwer

Did you find out the location of the broken wire?


Dorianw@filmwerksintl.com

awiner

The wires that generally break are located inside the accordion hinge in the door or thereabouts very closely. This is a common problem after several hundred door open/close cycles.