Electronic Gremlin!!

Old Jul 16, 2020 | 10:14 AM
  #1  
Ryan Devillers's Avatar
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Mercedes C Class Coupe
Electronic Gremlin!!

Hi guys,

First post on here, hoping some of you MB whizz's will be able to help. A bit of context, I do work on my own cars occasionally and have had MB's in the past but when it comes to more electronic based faults, I dont know where to start! That being said, Im pretty mechanically literate so if you have any suggestions, fire away!

I have a 2013 W204 Coupe C180 (I wish I had gotten the C250..) and she is actually running pretty well 99% of the time. However... I regularly have a major malfunction shortly after start up which literally causes the whole cars electronics to spaz! Usual symptoms are complete loss of steering (steering freezes up for around 1-2 seconds, especially scary in the corners...), the infotainment screen will flash/headlights will flash off and back on and I get a left front malfunction, right front malfunction, ABS, Airbag and consult workshop warning. FYI, this happens only once from any start up. I know this is 100% electrical as none of these areas have any issues i.e. all suspension and steering components are in very good condition.

This tends to happen very shortly after starting the car/driving off and usually when the car is upshiftup from first to second gear from what I have noticed. The transmission is smooth and has no issues and has recently had a full flush and service (this issue was present before the flush). The mechanic I took it to (euro specialist, highly reccomended by many) thought it might be the battery playing up so we replaced it with the highest quality one possible. No other codes showed up that he thought would be causing these issues and it seemed the problem was fixed, until it came back a few days later. I dont want to leave my car at the mechanic to rack up $200 an hour of diagnostic charges for a whole day for them to say they've got no idea.

Has anyone else experienced a similar issue? My thoughts are it might be some sort of sensor that is playing up. It could also something much more serious like a faulty/flooded electric harness?? Any help or precious experience with this sort of issue would be much appreciated! This is definitely a safety issue and i would rather not fear going around corners and losing control of my steering!!!
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Old Jul 31, 2020 | 05:53 PM
  #2  
Russell Ormerod's Avatar
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not a merc
No quick fix. Take it to a merc specialist and pay the price to get it diagnosed.
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Old Aug 16, 2020 | 09:59 AM
  #3  
Steve1017's Avatar
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W204 C180 Coupe
You are not alone. I have exactly the same issue here with my 2014 W204 C180 coupe. The warning light started with "ESP in AMG" & "ESP OFF" warnings, headlight flashing, at the same time with no steering power, feel like the electricity resetting, end up SRS warning, left front malfunction consult workshop, and warning went off. Everything resume normal. It happens only once when I accelerate from 0 and close to 20 km/h, duration of no steering power is around 3 seconds. I believe we have the same problem. Usually it happens only at the first start up after a few days of rest.
It had been one year, I plan to have a code screen in the coming maintenance service.
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Old Sep 1, 2020 | 11:47 AM
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W204 C180 Coupe
Please check, I will update afterwards.
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Old May 18, 2021 | 12:53 PM
  #5  
Riaan Voigt's Avatar
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2012 C 180 COUPE
Electronic spaz

Hi anybody managed to sort this one ?
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