mleskovar

I don't believe they are available on the internet. AFAIK they're only available from dealers in a bag with all the links and not sold separately.

fookoo303

its cheaper at the dealers. i just paid 17 dollars at the dealership. I found them online for 14 but shipping was 7 dollars.

Razman

Hi, I think this is spot on, can you guide me on how to get to the linkage without having to dismantle the whole dash?

Thanks!

mleskovar

No. There are no shortcuts, the parts are buried.

MarCedeS

I have a 2006 and the air conditioner is ALWAYS nosey…I was told by the dealership that is the #1 complaint about the C Class….

C280 Sport

I just noticed I have this same issue today. My 2005 does this. Its sqeeky sound like it needs to be oiled or something? No matter what speed its on it does it. And also when on full blast the fan blows less and then speeds up again and it does this every like 5 seconds or so.

dead_eye

This thread is great. Thanks to call for contributing.

However, I'm stuck on step 6. I have a 2003 coupe. I've got the pop-up cupholder piece out. However, I can't release the two tabs to fold over the piece with the cigarette lighter. It seems to still be attached somewhere on the center. What am I missing? I am able to release the tabs and the center between the tabs won't move.

Thanks for your help.

james90755

THIS IS A GREAT THREAD!! It didn't take much interpreting at all.

All went well until the re-assemble. On the row of buttons above the radio, I have ABS, Lock/Unlock, up/down for rear window shade, the rear headrest button, and the anti-tow thing for the alarm.

The ABS and lock/unlock work reliably.
The rear headrest button worked only once during test.
The shade works up reliably, down is wied. It moves just a few inches, then stops. Subsequent button pushes provide a clicking noise near the shade, but no movement. Again it can always return to up position using the up button.
The anti-tow button worked once, but not again.

Strange. Not sure how to look at this. I re-seated the connector a couple of times, no change. Thinking.............

Any thoughts form the group?? Any type of software reset?? (I did do the recalibrate procedure in the write-up and the newly fixed motor operated properly.

Oh, and my problem was the 2/11 stepper that controls the RIGHT heat to the feet and the motor had a stripped gear, not a broken linkage.

mleskovar

Sorry, have to ask....did you manually raise the headrests before retesting?

The problem is with the shade mechanism....common. I've read where dismantling and cleaning/re greasing fixes the problem.


Maybe you returned two leads to the wrong plug ins....headrest and tow?

james90755

No problem. I tilted the headrest form the horizontal position to the vertical position, but I did not increase the height of the headrest.

I'll give you the shade mechanism. I have NEVER used it.

Doubtful the leads are mismatched. They are all on one connector and it is keyed. Hard to screw that up.

I let it sit for four hours and just went back to test again.

Headrest works maybe 1 out of 10 times. Shade=same problem. The tow button is interesting. For a one second button depress, I get nothing. If I hold the button 5+ seconds, when I let go I get the LED in the switch ON for a few seconds, then off again. The correct behavior is a toggle each time the button is depressed.

Thanks for putting some thought into this with me. The hard part went easy, the easy part is being a pain.

One other thing, when it was all in pieces, I did turn on the ignition to test my stepper replacement. I did get supplemental restraint system service required message on the dash too... but this went away once I had it all back together again. I am guessing some of what I disconnected uses a comm bus to communicate. this error has not been seen since I reassmbled everything.

mleskovar

My year is different, one large and two alike female connector/leads with three possible males if I remember correctly.


Sounds like a SAM is fried. Yes they are on a common buss.

james90755

If I remember, the buttons are all controlled by a single 9 wire harness. When I started I pulled the harness then went to mark it. I had an oh ***** moment when I saw two female receptacles right next to each other that looked the same. Upon extended observation, I realized that they are keyed differently, though visually they looked highly similar. Go figure.

I guess I can go test continuity of each lead in the morning, but I wonder if that is a waste of time.

I will have to read up on what a SAM is. Is this CAN (controller area network) bus by chance. I understand the concept since I have used this professionally (electronics manufacturing). I haven't a clue how to troubleshoot it though.

Lucky for me I have a spare set of wheels!!

mleskovar

Yes. Not uncommon for them to fail. They seem to be highly susceptible to spikes and battery changes often trigger a failure if not done correctly (remove ground first, replace last).

james90755

Any suggestions on troubleshooting? Do these types of events throw troubles codes that can be downloaded?

I am heading down to continue the saga...

mleskovar

I'm sure the MB diagnostic system would find it but I haven't seen any troubleshooting methods on this site other than symptom based educated guesses. Spend some time searching this forum and you may find something similar.

james90755

UPDATE:

Sunshade: Sticks. When helped, the motor can close it.
ABS=Works reliably
Lock/unlock=Works reliably
Headrest=Works sometimes, 50/50 chance it will operate as expected. I am guessing this is NOT dash teardown related. (like the sunshade)
Tow switch=Not sure, will have to read up on this.

$145 for the stepper motor replacement. I got 10% after telling the parts guy I was going to go home and look for a coupon I thought I had (knowing I probably did not). I do this on service as well and typically get 15% off. Try it sometime, it works.

Thanks for all your suggestions mleskovar. Its nice to have an extra set of brains looking at things. I am happy to return the favor to the forum.


James

SZMB

Excellent thread and step-by-step DIY. My CLK320 has just started making this annoying popping loud noise randomly upon starting the car. The noise seems to come from different locations, my guess is that there could be more than one stepper motor has gone bad. BTW, you can get these little stepper/vent flap motors online from www.autohausaz.com for $64 ea with free ground shipping.

Smokie2010

SORTED!!!

Man I was putting it off for Months and just decided to get stuck in today. This Thread helped an awful lot, was my motor that was broke the linkage was fine. I bought 2 motors and only needed 1 so have one if anyone wants it, was €120 but I'd be happy if I got half that for it. I'm in Ireland so if anyone comes across this thread and wants me to do their repair PM me.

Wharton

I have fixed the stepper motor problem alright, but now SRS warning sign is on all the time, and I get a message on screen that I should visit the workshop. Any ideas on what might have gone wrong?

mleskovar

That symptom can be caused by one of the cable/plug connections to the switch block above the radio.

Wharton

That means I have to visit someone with a MB STAR system to find out for sure, right?

mleskovar

You should have removed those plugs when replacing the stepper motor(s)....did you check to see if you connected it properly upon reassembly? If the answer is yes then you need STAR.

Wharton

Yes, I did remove all the cables from the panel above radio, but then to test the motors before I assembled the console, I plugged the AC control cables -- those are below the radio--, and not the one above the radio: there is only one in my car, although there are sockets for three.

And yes, I connected the cable back to the panel in the end, but the message does not go away.

Is there a way to reset the system?

mleskovar

The only way to reset the system is to correct the problem (in some cases) or use STAR. Someone recently got the same error as you and fixed it by properly seating the plug to the switches. My car has three plugs to that switch block.

Wharton

Thanks for the advice. I will post updates once I am through the "experience".