bernard farquar

I have looked back in the search , but not found this particular set of symptoms. I have an 03 e320, with the audio 20 head unit, i have installed the "puck with tail" which has been working fine for two years or so. About a week ago, my sound system started cutting out, often with a scratch of static. At the same time my puck with tail light goes out, and the teleaid buttons in the console turn red, sometimes the buttons go completely dark. I found one thread that said fuses in trunk might be corroded, but the are clean, and I re-seated them anyhow. I think I am looking at replacing the tele-aid module, but was wondering a couple things.

1) can someone with the SDS tell me where the problem is? i.e. will it throw specific codes as to the failing module.

2) if I replace the tele-aid module with a used one, will the car recognize it, or will I have to have some SDS magic done to make it work.

Any help?

Thanks in advance.

Plutoe

1---yes
2---no or yes

bernard farquar

so, to update this issue still going on. I took the car to the dealership, who said that the radio head unit was the issue, and told me a replacement would be 1200.00 and I should just put in an aftermarket unit. I replaced the head unit with a used one, and have the exact same issue. since I find it unlikely that two head units would have the exact same failure, I came to the conclusion that the dealership didn't put much effort into diagnosing my 13 year old car, and just wanted me to go away. I have since replaced the audio gateway (amp) to no effect, same problem. I am now trying to figure out where the teleaid module is located, as apparently I will be replacing each part of the MOST ring in turn to fix this, and that is next on my list. after the teleaid module, I think the CD changer is the last piece of this puzzle, if I am not mistaken.

Anyone have any experience with a similar problem? I have been shopping for new head units on Ebay, but don't really like the thought of a buggy chinese android unit that will in a best case scenario take out my logic 7 souldn, which I like.

bernard farquar

Final update on this problem, in case anybody is trying to diagnose something similar using the search function.

Original problem was stereo cutting out, with a short static burst sometimes, sometimes just cutting out. display would cycle blank when it happened, teleaid buttons in the armrest compartment would go red, then dark. I had the problem misdiagnosed at Mercedes of Seattle, (which has fallen far from the service levels of prior ownership, when it was Phil Smart Mercedes, but that's a whole other thread).

I replaced the head unit, and then the audio gateway (amp) to no effect, then replaced the teleaid module (with one from a 2004) and the problem is solved! The one thing the dealer did manage to do was comply with my request to tell the car that the phone was "present" so now the phone book loads with my "puck with tail" and now it is working better than ever. No dealer configuring was needed once the new unit was installed.

I guess i now have a perfectly good spare head unit and audio gateway, so EBay, here I come.

ZIPPAK

Does it have a voice module if so my voice module was the problem on my S550. The dealer told me it was the amp and satelite receiver was bad and they would be happy to replace them at $4300. Glad I didn't do that and got my local audio car sales to run a optical loop and found the problem. Now it works great.

cmriv

now i know why dealerships across the nation are so horrible, and the one i'm at is one of the best.... That's a lot of money to be mis-diagnosing.... you better be darn sure you know what the root cause is because ya can't be playing with peoples money!!!!!

2MERKS

Persistent people who work it out save money in the long run
- Confuscius

bernard farquar

No voice module, as my car does not have the voice command feature, that was an option, but not one this car came with. It was the "teleaid module"

bernard farquar

Phil Smart Mercedes, was great. They treated every customer like they were worthy of respect. Now that they have changed ownership, it's much more of a "get em in get em out" feel to the service department, and I think my experience shows that they either don't know how to operate the diagnostic system, or don't care to perform the services they are paid for. I will likely be buying a carsoft, or some such STAR knock off, and struggle through on my own.