harshaiit

No luck for me on this...had to take out the car and so put back everything..it took me a lot of hours to get to the motor and one screw stopped me from completing the job....the driver side motor has a broken linkage arm and the passenger side behind radio is making a funny noise..guess its broken too...one the way to opening and closing broke a few trim pieces and somehow managed to put everything in about 2 hours...i am not sure if I will do this again...anyways great DIY

petercrase

After getting stuck at the next to last step in the process, because I couldn't get the black plastic frame out, I reassembled everything. Now my radio is dead. Took it apart again to check the connections, everything seems fine, including the 10 amp fuse on the back of the radio. Any way to reset the radio to get it to work again?
Mine's a 2002 C230 hatch, with manual transmission.

mleskovar

Been away or I would have answered this sooner. I read your last post where you gave up on that screw and reassembled. Don't give up, now that you've done it once the second time will take 1 hour max. I mentioned on another post that the best way to get that screw out is to just grab the whole plastic box and twist it just enough so you can get a straight shot at the screw head. I ended up going through the drill 4 or 5 times because different things were breaking or I'd miss what was broken.

mleskovar

Someone posted a way to twist it out. Usually you just pull straight out and the two tabs that hold it in break away. The tabs don't provide any rigidity because the frame is secured at the front face along the sides with four (or six?) screws.

There is no 'reset' needed that I know of. I know you checked everything that was plugged in but check again. Is there power to the radio....does the panel light up when you turn it on? If not you may have blown the fuse at the other end of the power connector.

petercrase

Thanks Mleskovar,

"Usually you just pull straight out and the two tabs that hold it in break away."

Pulling it straight out isn't an option, the front lip of the black plastic frame is sandwiched at the top between the dash and the dash support. I can try pulling it out at the bottom, and pulling down at the same time, but it seems I need to lift the dash up and out of the way to make it easier to remove without breaking it.

"There is no 'reset' needed that I know of. I know you checked everything that was plugged in but check again. Is there power to the radio....does the panel light up when you turn it on? If not you may have blown the fuse at the other end of the power connector."

Where is the "blown fuse at other end of the power connector"? Is it behind the radio, or somewhere else in the vehicle? There is no power to the head unit. I'll check again and make sure I didn't miss a connection. There are four connections to the back of the head unit; antenna and three others.
Thanks for your help!
Peter

mleskovar

It's been a while since I broke mine but if I remember correctly you need to force it down to clear at the top then continue pulling it out at the top until it lets go. Once you get it out and see the tabs that were holding it between the two horizontal frame pieces you wonder how they ever get it in to begin with.


https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...e-box-map.html

NYFlapjack2

After reading many of these threads and that troublesome double barbed locking plastic tangs on that radio chassis frame ....

I took someone's advice and stuck a large screw driver up in between each tab and the bar it was locked to and deformed them. Prying the barb away in effect loosening its strength. Then it pulled out with moderate effort instead of mega force. Yes top on might deform dash slightly on its way out but it flexed right back.

As well what was advised….once out ..before reassembly I cut the barbs off with a carpet knife. Because to reinstall it seemed like a real PITA. With out them tabs the reinstall was of no issue, & I seriously doubt you would have rattly dash issues because of those missing (I don't).

When installing my used OEM CDC in glove box I some how blew fuse #64 in the front SAM box, under hood, drivers side, that had my head unit dead. When I started car that caused a SRS light fault, due to COMM Errors too...but that's another thread. Fuse R&R fixed it, HU & CDC working fine and never blown or an issue since. SRS reset had to be done with CARSoft (or Dealer-Indie STAR).

petercrase

I will tackle the radio frame again when time permits.

Regarding the fuse tip on the dead radio, thanks, this worked! The fuse map (I did find mine in the left side dash compartment), shows two radio fuses. The one in the left side dash compartment doesn't exist in my car, and the one under the hood was burned out and the wrong amperage. Funny thing, the map called for a 15 amp fuse, but the burned one is a 10 amp. I replaced it with a 15 amp from my little bag of fuses in the spare tire well. Yeah! I have a 1 plus hour commute each direction to work, so I really missed my radio/cd player this week. Thanks sincerely for your help.
Peter in Stockton CA

craigndee

Wow, I just finished the stepper arm project on my 2004 C240 sedan. Racin Fool, your instructions were invaluable and much appreciated. I found a couple things I can add as tips for anyone who wants to listen. I found the hardest part was getting the radio frame out of the way. Thoses two clips are a bee-atch! When re-assembly they are an even bigger Bee-atch! After an hour of wrestling with it, cursing and swearing my head off, I ended up cutting them off as I was unable to get them in place. Worked great and it screwed down tight anyway. The screws that hold the stepper motor on are also a pain, you cant get to two of them. I ended up unscrewing them with bent needle nose pliers after managing to get them started. I went to Lowes and got 3 machine screws with a hex head to use for reassembly. I was able to get a small open end wrech in to replace the screws. Getting the stepper in with the new arm is a puzzle that takes time to figure out, be patient. I ended up with 2 screws on the floor mat when finished, LOL. Whole job took me about 4 1/2 hours. If I have to do another one it may take 3 hours and a little less cursing and swearing (only a little less). Reading through posts I notice a few people saying they can do this in like an hour. I can't see that in a million years! Don't think you may be able to do it that fast.

hahaitzmickey

ahhhhhhhhhhhh as soon as I read this thread. Mine started making funky noises. Going to attempt this DIY this weekend.

hahaitzmickey

@ mercedes dealership , just pick up a stepper linkage , for $26.40. Part numer a203 830 00 3, waiting in the lounge while car is being check for transmission leak. They have great muffins and coffee btw , ate 3 banana nuts already.

mleskovar

[QUOTE=hahaitzmickey;5009343].... car is being check for transmission leak. .......QUOTE]

Did you check the 'plug'? It's easier to fix than the HVAC linkeages/motors and for being an MB part it's inexpensive.

hahaitzmickey

[quote=mleskovar;5009369]Its the connection to the radiator that is leaking. They damage it and wont fix it. They hook up their ATF machine to the top end of the radiator to flush out the transmission fluid. To much pressure can crack those crappy VALEO radiator. They wanted to charge me $1189 to change out radiator. I told them "F U" and punched something really hard and left.
Went down the road and bought a Behr radiator and installed it myself for $200 bucks.

hahaitzmickey

For those of you who are stuck on that last screw. Here is the easiest solution in getting it out.

Get a powerfull drill and nice strong drill bit *dont' buy cheap *** bits* drill a big enough hole for you to stick your torx driver in after you drilled it out and just drill the heck out of it until you can fit your driver through and unscrew it. I believe the metal is Titanium. Not aluminum, so it doesn't drill so easily.

Good luck. Took me only 5 minutes to drill and unscrew it.

Make your life simpleR with POWER TOOLS!

C230 Sport Coup

Glad to see this is still up and pics still exist.
I had threatened to compile to a pdf...not sure if I'll get to it.
But my floor vent has been stuck open a long time.
Your feet cook in winter, freeze in summer.
I know this is a big job and I only have the one car.
How will I know what parts to buy in advance?

mleskovar

It's most likely a broken actuator arm, and I believe you can only buy them in a pack that includes all of them. Some people have come across bad stepper motors as well. Maybe buy one and leave it sealed in the box so in case you don't need it you can return it ($100?). The same motor is used for all flaps. While you're in there replace the other actuators as a precautionary as well.

TechSuperstar

Parts: Stepper motor linkage.

This is not a big job. The floor ones are the easiest to get to. You don't need to take the whole dash out to do those. Just do a nice floor cleaning first since your head will be down there a while

kevmb66

does a faulty stepping motor effect the blower motor working normally?

craigndee

No, the stepper motors change
The flow
Of the air coming from the blower by opening and closing flaps behind the dash. No blower motor operation could be caused by a few things. First check fuses, if they are fine it could be a bad blower motor resistor, or worse case the blower motor itself.

kevmb66

have already replaced blower, blower reg, and acc control...I have voltage to fan all the time, voltage to reg is intermitt.....blower bench checks good..Any Ideas? Thanks

maestrodani

Hello. I'm fixing my c230 floor actuator panel and a I would like to tell you that this is not an easy task. I'm a professional installer and if you have decided to do it yourself, I want to alert you before you start the job. I want to tell you that the only thing you can do is to check visually if any of the actuators are not working or the links are broken. This system is too complicated. Works in the following way: The climate control send a signal to the bcm (you can check this turning on the climate control, let it run for a few seconds and unplug the main plug from the climate control. You will see that the blower keep working for a couple of seconds, that means that the climate control does not handle the system straight, it does it thru the bcm), the bcm responds to the climate control and the climate control send a signal (not a 12v pulse) to the actuators (check also that all the actuators are connected in series, so they share the same cables). So, do not put any test light to the cables that goes to the actuators.Also the actuators, when you turn on the system, they check themselves to know in which position they are at that moment. They use to turn in both ways to get right position. If you have disconnected or replaced something, leave the main plug connected and unplug the actuator cables from the climate control for a couple of seconds and reconnect them and let the system make a complete check before presuming it is not working (it happened to me). Let it work for a minute or something like that. I hope that this information helps you.

ferdiyan

Hi,

I own a 2002 C240 and even though mine has the dreaded tick noise, I am ok with this and more concerned on the cooling effectiveness of the A/C.
Somehow compared to other C240 my A/C is not producing enough cold air.
I have already:
1. flushed and checked refrigerant --> OK
2. Changed the filter --> OK
3. Checked for leaks --> no leaks

As I understand, on this car the temperature is regulated by a combination of opening/closing of the flaps from the heater and the evaporator, thus a faulty motor/linkage would hinder the a/c to regulate the temperature.

My question is:
1. will changing the link or the stepper motor will solve my problem? If not, I would rather live with the ticking noise than having to spend 16 hours of my spare time diving in opening the dash
2. Is it more related to the condition of the evaporator surface? My guess is that if the evap is dirty, then there will be less cold air blown through the evap, hence less cooling.

PS: I live in the equator so I could care less of heaters.

Thank you beforehand,

Regards,

Ferdiyan

maestrodani

Hello ferdiyan
There are many factors that is making your a/c not working properly. One of the main ones, are the actuators. You can get your a/c compressor, condenser, orifice tube and evaporator working as new, but if the right actuator is not working properly, you are not going to get cold air in the cabin. You just have said that you have a noise. Well, may be that noise is all the problem you have. I would check the actuators. Why? Because even the blower is not working,you can manage the air flow in the way you want by running your car and using the external air flow, so, you can direct it to the floor, face, defroster or get it cooler or hotter. What is that noise? That noise is the actuator (motor, working properly) trying to twist the arm or link. That arm is trying to move the flap that is going to direct the air flow in the way you want, but, the arm is broken (that's the sound that you are hearing), so, you are not going to be able to manage that air thru the evaporator and get the cold air that you are looking for. For me, is the actuator arm. You can get it at the Mercedes-Benz dealer around $30 dollars here in the U.S.A. Comes in a package of two but if you are not a Pro, don't get into that. You have to disassemble the whole dashboard, you have to know all the tricks and it's going to take you all day if you are a Pro. If not, imagine...I hope this, will help you.



I own a 2002 C240 and even though mine has the dreaded tick noise, I am ok with this and more concerned on the cooling effectiveness of the A/C.
Somehow compared to other C240 my A/C is not producing enough cold air.
I have already:
1. flushed and checked refrigerant --> OK
2. Changed the filter --> OK
3. Checked for leaks --> no leaks

As I understand, on this car the temperature is regulated by a combination of opening/closing of the flaps from the heater and the evaporator, thus a faulty motor/linkage would hinder the a/c to regulate the temperature.

My question is:
1. will changing the link or the stepper motor will solve my problem? If not, I would rather live with the ticking noise than having to spend 16 hours of my spare time diving in opening the dash
2. Is it more related to the condition of the evaporator surface? My guess is that if the evap is dirty, then there will be less cold air blown through the evap, hence less cooling.

PS: I live in the equator so I could care less of heaters.

Thank you beforehand,

Regards,

Ferdiyan[/quote]

maestrodani

It's exactly like that ! ! !

ferdiyan

My worries will probably come true, which is to take out the dashboard and fix the actuators. I have had experience in dissembling dashboards partially on japanese vehicles, not an MB. One thing that I am dreaded is the tendency to snap or crack aging plastic parts and paying $$$$ at the end.