Hello,

Earlier today I was driving my 2009 C350 and several lights came up on the dash for the most part all at once. (They are pictured below). I have not had more than one message about a bulb come up at once, this time all of these came up which brought these questions to mind:

1. Have all these bulbs burned out at the same time?
2. What are the chances of me having a deeper problem than that such as a wire harness issue or something similar?

 

First of all, check if they have really burned out or it is just a false message. All bulbs are on one and the same piece of plastic which costs $15 so if all bulbs have "burned out", then it is possible that there is a problem with the piece which holds all bulbs together.

 

You could possible have a burned connector. Go check both sides, the brown wire if is burned! If so, must be replaced as soon as possible!

 

Yea I checked that. There is some signs on the plastic piece that is has melted a bit.

I did see that the brown wire had some signs of wear and looked melted a bit. Oddly, when there was some type of service campaign on the car, from what I was told the passengers side of the car was replaced but they only did a visual check on the driver side tail light and did not replace anything.

Another question, is it possible to plug the drivers side tail light into the plug on the passengers side and see if any of the lights work or will the car not allow that. I am not sure if anyone has attempted to do that.

 

if you have a melted connector with a burned ground cable, you will get this warning. Take it into a dealership and have them replace the bulb housing and repair the wiring like they are supposed to do on the recall for your car.

 

Do you think it would still be covered?

 

Enter your VIN on this page to verify https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/recall

If it is on the recall notice then MBUSA will have to cover it. From my understanding even when the recall was first issued and they didn't fix it right and it happened again MBUSA had to fix it again.

 

I checked that the other day and the only thing there is the air bag recall.

 

With your C-Class being an '09 it is within the '08 -'11 production range. It may have been noted as serviced which is why it isn't coming up but a MB dealership will still have to fulfill a Recall if it needs it.

I need to look at mine and have it done again as well as my left rear brake light is starting to stay on even when lights are off and car is off. I figure it's this issue cropping up again.

 

I believe it was noted as completed since the passengers side was replaced and the drivers side was "inspected". I just did not know if they would take care of it free of charge since the drivers side if having problems now after the inspected it I believe in like 2013.

 

Well, it can be tricky and you may need to stick to your guns a bit. In theory if it is the inadequate grounding issue they should take care of it free of charge, but that's not to say they won't try to shove it off as something else.

 

Yea, I called around to a few dealerships to see what they say. Here is a few pics that I took of the actual wiring and such.

 

I talked to MBUSA and they told me to take it into the dealer and get an estimate. I did that this morning and submitted it to them. They told me in 24 hours a Case Manager will contact me about this. We will see what happens.

 

its a known issue through mercedes with an active recall for that issue.. If they don't cover it 100% I would stop giving my business to that dealership.

 

I asked about that and what I was told was that it was already taken care of. Both Drivers and Passengers side. From what I remember was that the passengers side was fixed and that the drivers was inspected but was never actually worked on.

 

sounds like they did an incomplete repair.. Did they say if anything was replaced when it was "already taken care of"? Sounds like some quick service kid making $9 an hour threw the bulb housings in and didn't bother to repair the wiring correctly to address the issue.. Not the first time I've seen it.. Regardless, that is the issue that the recall is for and they should Goodwill the repair or address it under warranty for the recall not being done properly.

 

Yea I was thinking the same thing. I called another dealer in the Dallas area actually for a second opinion and they were the ones that said that "it looks like the passengers side was repaired but the drivers side was inspected". When I asked my service adviser about this he said that it had been replace. Now as far as what had been replaced, I did not ask, I should have, I assumed he meant everything.

I will see what the Case Manager says when he calls me about this. It seems pretty straight forward.

 

**UPDATE**

A Case Manager from MBUSA called me today. They informed me that this would be taken care of by them. I will be dropping the car off at the dealership tomorrow to have this done. Thanks for all the advice and help guys.

 

Glad to hear MBUSA did what they should with no coaxing. Hope all goes well for you and the repair.

 

I got the car back earlier today after they repaired it. Everything seems to be working correctly. My service adviser said that was the easiest process he has dealt with regarding MBUSA paying for something out of warranty/recall. They just asked him what the total was and for his email address and that was it.