dcjwlee

Take a look.

This is the connector for my right side tail light. The left side is perfectly fine.

It looks like the brown wire melted right through the plastic. The receiver on the bulb board is toasted too. (This is the wire closest to the OUTSIDE of the car, if you are looking at the connector while it is plugged it in it is the leftmost wire.)

When I removed the brown wire and plugged in the connector nothing worked.


Update: I'll be heading to the dealer for a new bulb board and connector Monday morning. I'll try to work on it when I get home tomorrow night.


EVERYONE SHOULD CHECK THEIR TAIL LIGHT CONNECTORS FOR ANY UNUSUAL SIGNS OF WEAR. They are VERY easily accessible through panels inside the trunk. The bulb board simply clicks off. This seems like a common problem and if caught early enough you can probably avoid having to get another bulb board.

snowmuch

It seems that more and more people are having this issue right now. My dealership just changed my out last week because my melted too.

AkaSigFreak

Mine started last night. I found info from June 2011 where I went to the dealership for a bulb out message, but couldn't find a burnt bulb. When I came back to me car- 3 employees where at my trunk with a set of needle nose pliers. They said there were issues with the connector coming loose from the harness so they were "checking" them for me. I can't completely remove my harness from the light assembly because I can't get the brown wire loose. If I partially reinsert the harness- my bulbs fully illuminate. I'm at 53,000 miles (3K out of warranty) so let's see what they will do.

AkaSigFreak

Do any of our MB gurus have access to determine if the is a Recall or TSB regarding this issue?
I'll PM my VIN if needed.
Thanks

dcjwlee

I have a gut feeling that the brown wire is the power wire. We will see tomorrow.

Sigfreak, if you cannot get the harness off you can at least get the board that holds the bulbs off. It clicks off at two points very easily. Just make sure you don't pull too hard before removing the wires for the turn signals (remember which goes where).

Ben'sBenz

If i remember correctly, brown is supposed to be a ground wire.

AkaSigFreak

Took it the dealership today. They replaced:
1 204-820-06-77 lamp carrier
1 211-545-03-28 plug
1 014-545-82-26 pin bushing
1 204-820-09-77 lamp carrier
1 211-545-03-28 plug
1 014-545-82-26 pin bushing
Out of warranty almost a year- replaced at no cost

Woohoo!

sebydeleon

Same happend to me, and the dealer in Dominican Republic changed the parts damaged and the other side that was good was changed too. Everything under warranty an free
Great service!!!

dcjwlee

Wow, how much would it have cost otherwise? I couldn't get a loaner today, although they said absolutely to the lady in the CL behind me, so I tried to buy the parts but the guy at the parts desk... was zero help to put it nicely.


If you could scan and send me a copy of your invoice after blurring any sensitive info so I can show my dealer that it was covered free of cost... Did they goodwill it through corporate or something? Did your problem look like mine did in the frist post? The ground wire burned through the harness.

AkaSigFreak

The plug is $40 each. The carrier is $26 each.

AkaSigFreak

krazn1

this is good to know... subscribed for future reference.

dcjwlee

THANK YOU SO MUCH SIGFREAK. I will be printing this out and highlighting the portion mentioning GOOD WILL.

LandSeaAir

SigFreak - Just wondering what kind of relationship you have with that dealership? I took my car to my local dealer once about a year ago for warranty repair, so I'm wondering if they would do this for me for free even if I haven't been a consistent customer.

I wish I could just buy the wiring harness cause right now on my car that's the only thing that's damaged.

dcjwlee

^Ditto

The parts desk guy could not find the harness for me otherwise I would have replaced it myself. The bulb holder was easy to find. Going in on Thursday so I hope they goodwill this for me too!

AkaSigFreak

The Service Advisor told me there would be charge for the repair. I asked to speak to the Service Manager and when I spoke to him- I advised it was a Safety Issue since my brake lights were working intermittently and he said it would be covered. It had also been noted in the computer that back in May/June 2011 I had received bulb-out error messages and when the dealership checked it- they were "checking" the harness because some of the connectors were "known" to come loose. Not sure if this helped.

dcjwlee

As far as warranty goes you are over 50K miles and it has been five years since new car purchase so you are well out of warranty as far as the yearly limit, right?

AkaSigFreak

Yes. And I do not have an extended warranty.

dcjwlee

Sigfreak, I picked up a new connector at the stealer the other day. Did you notice it was shaped differently and does not fit all the way in?

AkaSigFreak

That's probably why they replaced the lamp carrier too.

RLE

Four years. not five.

Headeater

Any suggestions? They tell me I will have to pay approximately a "couple hundred" dollars. Been there done that with my first oil change, that isn't going to happen again. I notice on AkaSigFreak that it says "Performed Campaign 2012070002". When I had taken car in for service one time they fixed the trunk opening too fast and I was never aware of a "silent recall" to correct the issue but there was a similar campaign number listed, is there one for this and I just have to push even harder? 3.5 years old car and 74K miles but I don't know how long this has been burning up. Probably buy a fire extinguisher instead.

dcjwlee

Unfortunately, one dealer's goodwill gesture doesn't set any kind of precedent for the others to follow.

However, a "couple hundred dollars" seems like an unlikely answer given that the parts are hardly over $50.... $35 for the lamp carrier, $15 for the harness, and like $1 for the pin that connects to the wire. It's an easy DIY and to be honest it shouldn't take a competent mechanic more than 30 minutes.

Most dealerships are more than happy to provide an itemized estimate and it seems like you should ask for one... I'm a little surprised that a SA would give such a vague answer.

Headeater

Yeah, no question I will make the repair myself and just buy the parts. I have filed a formal complaint with the NHTSB and see where that goes. Just disappointed that this has to happen. Am buying an SLK250 in the spring as a summer car and will head over to Rochester NY to comparison shop. Previously I would have stayed at Mercedes Benz of Buffalo. All over a "couple hundred dollars".

dcjwlee

Well if you like the sales team at buffalo and think you could get a better deal there you really shouldn't completely ditch mb buffalo. Maybe just find another service center?