bwoolkalis

Hi,
looking for some help! both the driver's side seat and pass seat pulse functions(lumbar, bolsters message) not working (heated and cooling seat and movement of seat all work!)
Funny thing is that the red light on the pulse button comes on and you can hear all the relay click for every button but the air pump in trunk doesn't run. Just stopped yesterday checked both the fuses for both seats f9, f27 f40 f41 and they are good. checked f71 for the air pump and that is fine as well, even pulled it to reset the pump still nothing,,,however pump does work for door locks and trunk latch (by the way if anyone has a problem with "boot lid open" I know how to fix the problem..took me 2 days to figure it out after slamming trunk.)
I also disconected both batteries in an attempt to reset, still not working,
please help!!!

boost420

Pull the pump that is located in the trunk, I would be willing to bet that you will find one of the nipples has completely melted off. Mine had the exact same symptoms that you have. Pump worked, door assist worked, but no lumbar, pulse, or dynamic.

bwoolkalis

Thanks for the help, checked all nipples and their all fine. I cannot here the pump motor run at all even though all the relays click for every switch but yet motor runs for doors and trunk. I think this may be a computer issuse locking out the seats I will discontect the battery overnight and see if that resets it....any other ideas anyone??????

55slamg

i have the same issues on my 2005 sl55 amg, door locks and trunk work fine ( can hear the pump running in trunk ) but only here relays clicking when I try the pulse, dynamic, lumbar etc. Both drivers and pass side don't work.

bwoolkalis , did you get yours resolved?

danlnyc

do you guys actually use the pulse button? just wondering...I find them to be useless. All it does is go up and down makes me feel weird lol.

55slamg

no, not really, your right in regards to using the pulse, it's the only issue I have with the car as of now and the weather is ****ty here, so might as well spend time trouble shooting it

Television

OK what happens here is that a pipe can split under one of the seats.

Now when this happens if a pipe has split the CAN will turn off the outlet port for the seats to stop the PSE pump from running all the time.

The car needs to be plugged into STAR to have this port on the pump activated, often when the STAR is connected it will say " leak in drivers seat" this is a standard message that always comes up.

The pipe comes from the PSE pump to a tank in the left side trunk side, and the pipe goes into the car and comes out under the left hand seat, it splits and goes to the other seat.

With the pump activated if there is a leak then you will here it under the seat, if a pipe is split then it can be joined and sleeved with a larger rubber pipe over the top

bwoolkalis

Television thank you for your response, I took my car to a friend who has a snapon computer and we reset all the codes from all the computer moduels in this car but never saw the "leaking seat code" im wondering if its only the star computer that can reset it?? also is the dealer the only ones who have the star computer?
Thank you very much

55slamg

I removed the passenger side storage for first aid kit and had a peek, I noticed a air line that is tied to wire harness for the control switch. Air line is not connected to anything, this must be an exhaust air line? I went to DIY data online to see if I could find an air line routing diagram but no such luck. Thanks Television for your assistance, your more helpful and seem to be more informative than the stealer. I asked the MB service manager in Ontario Canada in regards to this issue and all he did was blink $$$ signs and was of no help at all, except that I needed to book an appointment. I find it some what odd that these so called fine German engineered vehicles have so many issues. I prefer to troubleshoot myself until it is beyond my realm, then take it in and be at their mercy. The service dept at my MB locations also don't approve of these forums as I was just told, I quickly replied to the MB serv man that at least people on this forum are more helpful then they are! I don't think he liked that remark.

Thanks to everyone posting, your replies are much appreciated. I'm a newbie and still learning the ropes of being a MB owner. Your saving me much time, $$$ and reassuring my confidence in troubleshooting these beasts.

Television

This fault will not come up on a fault search on STAR, you need to go to seats and see if the comfort or orthopaedic back rest is activated, the chances are it will not be as the CAN would have turned it off.

By raising the seat you can see the air pipe connector where it goes onto the control switch,, the box in the bottom of the seat is only held in with 4 screws and this makes the testing much easier.

I found all this out the hard way, I took it to a dealer for a check and it came back "leak in drivers seat", that was some 7 years ago. I took the seat cover of and by using an air brush compressor I blew the seat up and it stayed up for 7 days. I got my own STAR after that and went into the menu for the seats and they were not turned on.

pbalsamo

I have a question my Seats don't get any air to them "Not working" do they get the air from the psi pump in the trunk...Had some work done to the pump recently...thanks

norpcom

So I'm finally getting a chance to give back to this community and I'm glad as it has helped me so much. I've saved thousands using this site.

So if you have the leaking air line under the drivers seat like I did causing your lumbar not to work, do these simple steps:

#1 confirm your leak is in the line (you'll hear it but you might not be able to see it as there is a rubber sheath covering the plastic line and the wires

#2 if your leak is in this rubber sheath you'll feel air escaping the end and a hissing sound. you'll need to VERY VERY carefully cut the rubber sheath with a sharp utility knife. Make sure not to cut any wires. if your leak is not in this rubber sheath, congrats and don't cut anything

#3 at walmart (or any pet store) they have fish tank air tubing. That's right, the stuff that goes from the fish tank to the little air compresser that makes bubbles in the fish tanks. it's about $.97USD for 8'. Cut the tubing to the desired length.

#4 now you'll simply insert the car's air line into your "fish tank air tubing" on each end. Then zip tie each end. Not too tight... there isn't that much air pressure in these lines anyway. Actually I didn't need to zip tie mine at all to do the initial test, but because I didn't want to think about this again, I zip tied them.

#5 now zip tie the wires back together securely. If you wish, get some new rubber sheathing at the hardware store (I got black plastic). The main goal here is to make sure that when the seat moves, none of the wires get bunched up.

#6 test (move the seat, check your lumbar).

#7 enjoy!

email me if you'd like pictures.

thanks

dpickett63

Did you have to remove the seat cushion to do this? I'm having the same problem, except on the passenger side. It sounds like it is coming from the sheathing area.
Thanks,
Derek

sl600Rtech

I got the same issues and hopefully someone could post how to DIY fix before bring into the stealership!!

Thanks

funymuny

Thanks for all the info folks. My pulse and lumbar/bolster adjustments were not working. Finally got around to investigating. On driver side pulse light did not come on nor did anything work. Yellow connector was not together. I reconnected. Pulse light comes on but still nothing. Passenger side there was a very small, clearish color stiff hose (pipe?) that was not connected to anything and looked like I saw the nipple where it should go. In both seats, I could hear switches or something when buttons were pressed but that's it. Reconnected...nothing. Pulled fuse #71 and put it back in. Heard some noise in the rear (pump I presume). Now everything seems to work. I'll try again this morning but it was good for several hours yesterday. It looks like the seats were removed from my car at some point; a few pieces of broken plastic which I believe was around the seat tracks. Also noticed one of the Torx bolts laying under the seat and another one loose. Maybe the stereo guys removed at one point to replace everything? I need to get under there and vacuum that's for sure. Anyway, thanks again...Mark

papuhl

.

My sl550 doors and locks won't open and I have the bootlid open error message. Not sure where the air leak is ? Did you find the cause ? Thanks

SoftwareHollis

If you're experiencing this particular problem, you probably have a much bigger issue than a leaky hose. Odds are your PSE pump is dead. In my case, it was due to some water that leaked into the trunk ("boot") during a big rainstorm. Thanks to bad MB engineering, the PSE pump is vulnerable to that.

If you're lucky, it may just be a blown fuse (it's behind the right side seat in the storage cubby (which is probably locked...so you'll need to get access to the fuse through a plastic service panel below the cubby).

Search the forum for more details. I hope that it's just a fuse. The part is a fortune. I bought a used one on eBay. If your PSE pump is dead and it's NOT because of water, then you can have it refurbished for about $300. Otherwise, a used one will be at least $500