ezzcoke

Hi all,
I am driving a 02 c240 and recently I got a msg from the dash board saying L F lamp needs to replace. When I took it out and found nothing wrong with it, I mean the wire are good and theres no blown. Please advise what to do next, really doesnt want to take it back to the dealer to fix...thanks in advance.

ezcoke.

drexappeal

Did you check all the bulbs in the front headlamp assembly? There should be the low beam (H7), high beam (H7), parking light (194), blinker (1156/1157/7507 depending on build date) and also check the left fog light (9006 or HB4 - same bulb).

ezzcoke

I tried to turn the left turn signal and only the rear left and the one on the mirror are blinking. the left front signal is not blinking. any idea?

ezzcoke

I did actually replace the front left turn bulb with a new one and still not blinking (1156NA)

tee_tz

It needs to be replaced?


Tee_Tz.

ezzcoke

is it like the DIY or has to be in dealer?

wingless

Is the lamp socket corroded, inhibiting a good, solid, connection?

ezzcoke

i took out the socket thing and it looks clean and good with a solid click...by the way, it just turn 30k miles....

mleskovar

I believe there's a tech bulletin that addresses this problem on early C class. They add some wires.

kcheng86

Yea... This happened to me before...something is wrong with the sockets..I took it to the dealer and they added a wire to it...its covered under warranty

c230 fi addict

There is a tb on this. If the car is out of warranty like mine was you will need to DIY or pay pay pay!! I hard wired mine...problem side first then the other side shortly after.

The problem is poor design.

email me and I will talk you through it
bdavis2005 @ gmail

PM's dont work well w/ me, I am not on the forum enough

sim_benz

i got the same message when my side-marker got screwed up, so check that...and seriously, dependin on the dealer and how well you know them, they will probably check it out for free, i mean youve been a loyal customer since you bought the car in 2002 right? (that wasnt really a joke...ive been with my dealer since 01)

the dealer with most certainly be able to fix it in about 5 minutes, if that.

ezzcoke

any idea how do DIY?

drexappeal

Hmmm...Did they add a wire or just change the socket? Seems strange for them to just arbitrarily "add" a wire.

mleskovar

The added wires bypass a circuit in the socket assembly. They are spliced into an existing wire under the hood.

drexappeal

Ah, that's interesting. Do you have 1156 sockets, 1157 or 7507? I'd be curious as to which sockets needed the wire addition. From what it seems like, it's the headlight assemblies that were fit with 1156 sockets (for the blinkers).

One thing that has always puzzled me are the assemblies that are fitted with 1157 sockets. Since 1157 sockets are dual filament, I've never been able to make sense of why the blinkers are dual filament bulbs (considering the blinkers are only used for signals and do not remain lit).

mleskovar

I have one of the early C's if that helps any. How would I check?

drexappeal

Bulb number should be somewhere on the bulb base. If you still have OEM bulbs, than it probably doesn't have it indicated, but will only say 12V 55W or something to that extent. Most bulbs do have the bulb number indicated on the base though.

exanimas

I had this same problem and the fix was exactly what he stated. Some of the older C-class headlights had really bad connectors from the bulb assembly to the headlight assembly, so they connect wires directly to the bulb assembly bypassing the headlamp assembly's connection all together. Not sure if I explained that 100% correct, but that's about the gist of it. Luckily, after the mechanic just bent the connectors back into place, only one of my turn signals needed this update.

mleskovar

Never had to change them....but I've changed out umpteen stop and rear light bulbs, headllights, and side markers. You have to laugh. The Germans spend all kinds of money on research and production to be able to let the driver know when a bulb is out and the Japanese just make it so the bulbs don't burn out. Duh.

drexappeal

Hahaha...that's hilarious...but somewhat true. Never even thought of it from that viewpoint before.

ezzcoke

i am a little bit new on this, can you give me more details or if you can step by step thing on how to get this wires bypassing the bulb, tks in advance...

tdrscott

I just wanted to add that I have a 2001 C320. Recently my front left turn signal stopped working and I got the warning message on the dash display. Interestingly enough, since then, the display always stayed on even when the car was turned off. I am thinking this is related to my recent battery drain problem if the car wasn't run for 24 hours+. Anyway, reading this thread, I was depressed that I would have to take the car to the dealership for such a small and seemingly inexpensive problem. So, I went out one last time to the car to check it. I was able to locate a small handle on the back side of the head lamp assembly that you can unscrew and easily pop out the turn signal lamp holder. I swapped left and right and then of course neither worked! So I took the bulbs out of each and slightly pried up the contact in the bottom of the holder and swapped the bulbs for good measure. Popped them back in the head lamp assembly and wa-la! Both were working again, and as an added bonus, the dash display does now go off when the car is off. I can only hope this solves my battery drain problem. Next option there seems to be the seat control modules based on what I have read. My other thought is the Tele-Aid/SOS feature which I dont use and seems to always emit a hum from the SOS button even when the car is off. Does anyone have experience disconnecting this so the hum (and consequently power draw) will stop??

mleskovar

There is an engineering change for the front turn lights. They add wires on both sides...I believe it's to give it a more positive ground as the socket assemblies have poor internal grounding. It causes intermittent (and solid) front turn signal problems. The hum is normal...there's a little fan in there that runs for a while after the car is turned off.

tdrscott

Thanks for the quick comment. Have you heard of the display staying lit all the time due to one particular fault and in turn, being a battery drain? I still have one fault, the SOS not being activated but the display goes off now. We'll see over the next week if my battery drain problem is gone also.