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I was changing out my parking lamp bulbs and noticed that the wires are stripped at multiple places. Mostly near the bulb receptacle and at another position about an inch beyond. Observed this on all 4 lamps. Why does this happen? Is it due to high heat? Couldn't tell whether it was stripped due to the plastic melting or due to some other reason. I covered it with insulation tape as much as possible but the wire of one of the lamps on the drivers side was very hard to reach. That light is also flickering which I believe is due to the stripped wires getting shorted.
How can I replace the wires as well. Is it a DIY type job? Any videos would be helpful.
The wiring for these "eyebrow" 4 bulbs are known problem areas. My 60K mile C300 had broken, naked small areas, not as extensive as you experienced. Some members note overheating signs to insulation and the bulb holder itself. My wiring however looked like the insulation just failed, crumbling pieces and cracks...almost like the soy based "green" insulation fiasco of 2 decades ago. The use of ultra fine gauge wire doesn't help either. I also turned OFF my always ON lparking light option.
I used outdoor silicone clear caulk ( auto RTV works but more rubbery and less durable ) to coat/cover the wires. Taking the bulb out with wiring gave a slightly easier work area ..still helps to have forceps or the like to remove bulb/holder. I changed my bulbs at this time since they had some miles on them and I didn't want to go through working in this tight space or mess with the wires again. I used incandescent bulbs..some LED's work without an Error Message (Search). Has worked now for 30K miles.
To replace the wiring (Search for "headlight wiring") necessitates removing the headlight assembly which means bumper removal, so you can access the wire loom I believe. My fix seemed to work as mentioned. Good luck
The previous owner of mine had recently replaced both front headlights with new so my wiring looks fine. But i will say 2 of the bulbs had blown out already, one on each side, so instead of replacing with the Mercedes blue bulbs i just replaced them all with regular halogens.
the wiring could be damaged from heat or maybe someone previously replaced the bulbs and pulled on the wires incorrectly and damaged them.
Unfortunately the wiring harness is inside the headlight assembly so not sure if replacing the damaged sections of wire is possible without removing the lens to get at the wires. if anything the headlight should be removed from the car if youre going to try and work on. Its hard enough getting the bulb out withthe headlight installed nevermind work on the wiring.
The sell a brush on liquid electrical tape. I have never used it before but I would try it in certain situations. If you can pull out the damaged wire and brush this stuff on carefully may be worth a shot. May take a few applications, brush it on lightly to not make a mess, let it dry, go back and layer on a little more.
I looked through my parts diagrams and it does not look like Mercedes lists just a replacement bulb connector for the parking lights. They dont even list the harness. Seems they want you to replace the entire headlight assembly.
I did come across an aftermarket harness on ebay. Just to see what it looks like.
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