jlgarabe22

Hi everyone,
Long time lurker, first time I have posted a question as I tend to find a lot of my answers on the forum already.

Car:
2005 C230k
160,000 miles
NYC

My question revolves around the front right blinker - it is alway on starting yesterday and I have an error in the dash saying the right blinker is out, which obviously it is not. To save the battery I have unscrewed the bulb to the point where it is disconnected from the power connection but still is sits in the light. I have read a few threads where I might need a new front SAM but before I go spending $250 + someone to reprogram (which I am thinking will be around $1,000) I wanted to see if anyone could tell me the part number for the blinker relay. I turned the car key to the second position, turned the blinker on and listened in the front fuse box to hear a clicking in any of the relays and heard none.

Side note: just replaced the rear window defroster fuse because it was blown and wanted to know if this is related / if anyone knew the part number for that relay too.

Thanks in advance for any help!

KevinH2000

Although your problem is somewhat different, it is similar to the problem I had which is discussed in this thread. I took some wrong turns on the path to my solution. You can skip to the last few posts if you need to save time.

Here are some facts I learned from the experience:
1. There is no blinker relay.
2. A new SAM may not need to be programmed if you have a car with an automatic transmission.
3. It looks like a daunting task to swap the SAM on your own, but it is not that difficult if you take pictures and make sure you put all the connectors in the correct position in the replacement SAM. Each connector is shaped differently and you cannot make a connector fit in the wrong location.
4. If you buy a used SAM, buy one from the same year and model as your car. It seems like the only significant change you may need to make is to switch the transmission type. So, if you have an automatic transmission vehicle, buy a used SAM from a car with an automatic.
5. If you need to make a change to the coding in the SAM, find someone with a Star System and they should be able to do it for significantly less than $1000.

jlgarabe22

I saw your post but wasn't sure the final diagnosis / outcome but thank you for the pointers. Definitely going to try and tackle it myself.

KevinH2000

I'm now having the same problem (blinker stays on all the time) with my left blinker that jlgarabe22 had with his right blinker. I had previously replaced my front SAM with a used unit. It may be time to invest in a new part. However, I want to rule out any other possibilities before I replace the SAM again.

Any other suggestions for what could cause the blinker to stay on all the time?

Here's the post that describes my previous problem

KevinH2000

I replaced the Front SAM (with a new unit this time.) That eliminated the problem.