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Hello, I have a 2013 C250 that recently popped up with an ABS and ESP inoperative, see owners manual error. So i go and try to connect an obd2 scanner, and the scanner receives no power. I checked with a multimeter if fuse 16 in the engine bay and the fuse in the trunk, both dealing with the diagnostic port, were blown...both worked fine. I can't seem to figure out why my scanner receives no power...any suggestions? Did i check the fuses wrong? Once i get the port to work, I can check what the abs and esp code is coming from...
Does the scanner itself work? As soon as I plug in my Foxwell NT530 scanner the thing turns on, I thought the key needed to be turned to on so i was surprised. Can you try the scanner on another car, or plug it in to a computer with usb cable to make sure its working?
So I can confirm my iCarsoft i980 does in fact turn on when plugged into a computer. Could this be a case of some abuse to the pins inside the obd port not getting a good connection? Usually, the fuse that powers the obd port is connected to the cigarette lighter which works fine, so I really don't see how it's a fuse issue. I will check the pins when I get a chance.
I did a little searching around and came across some people having issues with the 'Central Gateway" of the car, guess its a module of some sort. I have no idea, never heard of it before until 10 minutes ago. Seems this may cause the OBD port to not communicate with a scanner, also causes error messages with eps and abs. Heres a thread to maybe point you in the right direction.
So I did a little digging into that central gateway thing (also never heard of it until you showed me), and I don't think it's as extreme as that but It's not completely out of the realm of possibility. From videos online, the cluster, radio, and even ac go crazy, but that's not the case with me. The ABS and ESP inoperative warnings turned on about a week ago and never went away since then, which also followed the check engine light being on and cruise control being deactivated as well. While this isn't an issue preventing me from driving and most likely is just a faulty wheel speed sensor, I can't even see which wheel it would be on and I'd be playing a guessing game to find out which one is bad. I might have to open up the housing covering the obd port to check connections, so I'll keep y'all posted.
I would probably start there, grab a flashlight and look at the port to see if its damaged at all. Even check the cable of the scanner where it plugs in. I think you can always check the wheel speed sensors using a volt meter but its time consuming. Jack up the car, locate the wheel speed sensor connector and hook your volt meter leads, spin the wheel/hub and check for voltage increase as it spins.
Just wanted to give y'all an update after a while of sitting on this issue...So I took my C250 to a local Euro car specialist and the news isn't too great. For some context, I purchased my '13 C250 at Copart as a flood title vehicle. Upon first impression and inspection, there were no electrical issues, however, at some point, there seemed to be a leakage somewhere that allowed water to pool at the driver-side and passenger-side footwells which I was not aware of until after purchase. Turns out it was a clogged sunroof drain not allowing water to flow out of the rainwater drains located at the top of the engine bay and out the wheel wells and was easily fixed. At some point, water made its way under the carpets in some areas and short-circuited the wires necessary for communication/power from the rear trunk SAM to the front of the car which gives power to the OBD2 port. So no power reaching the OBD2 equals no way of diagnosing the ABS/ESP issue. This requires the seats and carpet to be pulled out to diagnose what part of the wiring harness has gone bad, which is a costly job. I will reassess my options with other specialists to find a price I'm willing to pay to get the job done, but unfortunately, I'll have to drive on this issue for now. If anyone has experience with something similar to this, please give your thoughts about this.
2015 SL400 (M276 Turbo), 2014 C350 Sport (M276 NA), 2004 SL500 (M113), 2004 Audi TT225 (BEA)
Originally Posted by ThisJhitNick
... If anyone has experience with something similar to this, please give your thoughts about this.
I have had issues with water infiltration causing bizarre behavior in a 2008 Infiniti G35x. Same situation: water in the footwells. It was after a heavy rain and my insurance company totaled the car. Replacing the wiring harness and potentially affected controllers would exceed the value of the car. Unfortunately, your car has already be flagged as flood damaged, so I doubt any insurance company is going to cover it.
My Infiniti: Water in Infiniti footwell.
Right now, I found water in the front and back footwells of my 2014 C350 and have taken pictures for future reference. We did have several days of consistent rain lately. I'm hoping nothing starts malfunctioning with the Mercedes.
Hey y'all, good news. So I was able to get a second opinion on the issue with another Benz specialist and luckily, he was able to diagnose the issue specifically at a much better price than what was quoted by the previous shop. Turns out that 3 main CAN Buses under the driver side foot well were partially corroded due to water that puddled near the wiring harness, which caused communications issues with things like the OBD port, drivetrain, and such. A bit of context, earlier I mentioned that the car was a flood vehicle, but it seemed impossible that any water could've risen inside the car. Turns out the issue was that the driver side sunroof rail that lead rainwater out of the car was clogged at some point between the roof and the grommet inside the wheel well, so that issue needs to be resolved again. The technician was even surprised as to how the car was able to be daily driven and running normally and said he didn't know how it was possible I was able to drive the car normally. The job took about 3 hours and change, as the only work needed was to take the driver side footwell carpet out, source the new CAN Buses from a local supplier, and replace them back in. He also ran a scan tool and told me about some other codes that needed to be addressed, like both the front left and right wheel speed sensors were causing the ABS and steering control issue that had been bugging me for months. Now that this issue has been solved and what's left is to clean out the driver side sunroof water drain again, there's no more headaches for now! For anyone who has a clogged drain, I recommend getting a coat hanger wire and bending it into a long wire to shove into the exit hole in the wheel well, which worked somewhat for me. Thanks for everyones help and I hope this helps someone else with a similar issue!
08-24-2023, 12:13 PM
