agedog2gt

I took my c300 in last week to have my passenger side tail light looked at because the top red light appeared really dim compared to the Driver side. I thought it was going to be as easy as a fix as just changing a bulb. The mechanic called me and said that the light holder that holds all the lights was partially melted. He compared it to a power outlet with too many power cords connected to it and burning out. He said that the lights need another ground that would correct the problem for now. Which it did!

He then went on to say that he looked up my vin # and said that mb will be calling me due to a recall on the "light holder" and to be on the look out or a letter from them.

Has anyone else had this issue? And is this recall for real? Any help is appreciated. Also where I can find any other related info.


Thank you!

Doanster

Timely post!!!
I had been getting an intermittent message to check my center brake light, which got me paranoid about the connectors melting at the brown ground pin, so I was going to splice in a new wire to the nearby chassis grounding post.
I'll now hold off and religiously check the connector for a few more weeks until hopefully the Campaign becomes reality. Thanks!

agedog2gt

The extra grounding wire will save you! I'd have one extra put on each light before it happens! Good luck my friend

Doanster

Right, but if the Campaign happens and they see my spliced grounds, they may deny the update. I might tinker some more to see if I can gracefully release the pin from the connector which would allow a clean tap that can be undone if needed

BTW, I got the check msg once today after three weeks of smooth sailing.

JimMBC300

When I first saw the reports of C300 taillight ground wire problems on this forum. I applied a low voltage contact lubricant to the connectors. No problem so far.

RLE

Why don't you call MBUSA with that question? And then, post the answer.

If this is true, this is encouraging because perhaps finally MB is stepping up to the plate in re: these designed in faults which also include the big bucks EIS failures.

My 2008 C300 at 37K miles has yet to develop these failures but that may only be because of the comparatively low miles.

Doanster

Apparently I wasn't diligent enough along with not looking on the pin side of the connector vs just the wire side.
Looks like I'll be calling my SA first thing Monday morning to inquire about the Campaign and if she says she doesn't know anything about it, ask whether they'll cover as a "goodwill" warranty item since I'm at 54K miles now.
If all else fails, I'll repair myself since I already have a backup set of lamp carriers and will just add the secondary ground wire.

Knightmare69

What's the info on adding a secondary ground wire? Are you guys just splicing the brown wire and grounding it to the chassis? I checked mine today while at the bodyshop and confirmed I too have this issue. Having them check prices on the replacement parts and ill be switching to led bulbs to see if that helps. I'm assuming its the heat from the halogen bulbs running the wire(s) too hot?

Doanster

That pretty much sums it up. Gauge of the GND wire is too small for the all the bulbs that could be on simultaneously. They could've isolated some via different circuits, used heavier gauge wire, or shortened the path to the ground via connecting to the closer post in the trunk.
Post #36 from the "Tail light connector melted" thread compares the heat to a soldering iron!

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...or-melted.html

Some quick Googling shows that other MB cars have suffered from this and it appears there may be a repair kit which is nothing more than a new connector that has an extra wire coming out of the GND pin allowing the clean connection to the grounding post.

HenryJr

I brought my car in 1/16/2013 and got it back 1/18/2013. When I picked it up Friday, I checked both of the tail light connectors and wires. I noticed that they didn't replace the wiring harness. All they did was add a new wire from the connector to the ground wire, replaced the light plate, and connector. See picture below. For those of you that brought your car in to get it fixed, was it done like the pictures below?

The left side:


The right side:

Knightmare69

I'm not new to wiring but what is that at the end of the wire? I've never seen that before. So they didn't rewire or place a new ground, they just shoved a bigger wire in there and spliced the original into it. Wouldn't that in the end still cause the same issue? I thought the point was to create a SECOND grounding point?

Cleanbenz

I just got off of the phone with my dealership and they told me that there is not a campaign bulletin for this problem yet. I just discovered I have the melted connector also so I will keep you all informed

AkaSigFreak

That looks like a middle school science project gone wrong. A Mercedes dealership should be embarrassed to let that leave their service bay. Mine was repaired free of charge due to it being a safety issue by the dealership while my car was over a year out of warranty. it definitely doesn't look like that nightmare.

Project C

Now that really look like a primary school project

JimMBC300

The large conductor added by the dealer's repair should reduce heating at the connector. Still think that contact lubrication is appropriate to minimizing heating due to contact fretting corrosion. See following link: http://www.hlinstruments.com/RoHS_ar...-%20Delphi.pdf

Doanster

Car is at the dealership now. "It's a known issue and there is a new wiring harness/kit to fix it." Will see how it compares to Henry's pic above...

HenryJr

Yeah, the work that they did to my car was a $500 job. I have the extended warranty on my car, so I didn't have to pay that. I think its kinda crappy of how they fixed that and it certainly doesn't look like a $500 job. I could have done that myself for a lot less. I sure hope this issue doesn't arrise again later on down the road.

Doanster, if your fix was done differently, could you post a picture of what it looks like?

Doanster

Per my response in the Melted Connector thread, my lights appear to have just simply been repaired with new parts vs adding an additional ground. I am waiting to hear back from my SA...

Knightmare69

So I finally got my car back from the body shop and immediately went to work on the tail lights as while at the body shop I confirmed my connectors also had the heat/melting issue as you can see from the pics. I've already ordered new parts but they won't arrive for a while so I'm hoping this will for the mean time help my lights last a bit longer.

I should also note that my connectors on the ground side melted to a point where one connector was seized to the board and I had to struggle to pry out. This same side now developed a problem where the lights don't always turn on at all. Also when they are on, at certain times, even though the signal flashes on the outside. I'm getting hyper flashing with light in the dash. Also noting that if you wiggle the connector you can see a difference in light output.

I used speaker wire as that's what I had on hand, soldered and grounded to one of the bolts that hold the tail light lens to the body.

Doanster

Make sure those posts you connected to are actually grounded by using a meter. The post on my passenger side tail light has multiple ground wires connected to it and you can see the vampire/star washer that was used to bite through the paint to ensure contact w/ bare metal. Mounting posts for the tail lamps have no reason to be grounded, so I'd move the wires, scrape the paint away, or get those star washers. If the meter shows you're already grounded as-is, then you're golden and you can ignore my rambling.

Knightmare69

I haven't had time to test with a meter as I'm only back for a night before I have to travel for work again. However, the other night when I was home I checked the wires after driving a couple of hours and the ground wire was cool to the touch and not hot like it used to be. I'll test with a meter next time I'm home, I'm also expecting the LED bulbs I ordered to help with some of the heat issue.

Bosnia1992

As some of you are experiencing more and more problems with the melting of them, I took mine in today, the car and everything was fine before taking it in, come around 4pm central , I get a call from the dealership saying the car won't start, reads a lot of error codes, interior lights won't turn off. they set the battery to charge. it still wouldn't start. I have a loaner this weekend or until they fix the issue. they don't know what it is


1. what could it be?
2. did they fry the whole system by not changing the tail light connectors properly?
3. if it were to come down to it are they responsible for any expenses such as a possible car replacement, etc. ?
4. any other input is appreciated.



Posted from Mbworld.org App for Android

Project C

Maybe was an ignition issue

TexFinn

Well, I'll be damned...

Noticed last night that the passenger side taillight on my wife's C350 was dimmer than the driver's side. Checked the bulbs today, and they sure seemed much dimmer than the others. No error messages or any other electrical issues.

Pulled the connector and found the connector looking like in the attached pic. Brown wire and that side of the connector were HOT.

Car is out of warranty and I absolutely HATE going to a dealer to begin with, but I guess it's time to pay them a visit to see if I can get some goodwill out of them.

Project C

That happens to all the recondition import model from UK in malaysia.
Local model which i heard assembled in malaysia won't have that issue.
but the recon model overall looks more sporty.