Mika83

Hi,



I posted here last week about my mute stereo in my freshly aquired W208 (MY2000), the stereo went silent after i cut the cords to the after market phone cradle that the previous owner had mounted right in the middle of the center console. After some advice of a few board members and on my own accord i decided that if i disconnect the cradle cables from the PSE unit in the trunk, or possible bypass the PSE completely from the fiber optic ring the sound in my stereo would come alive again.


I removed the LHS trunk lining to expose the PSE unit but lo and behold i did not find it there!

I took some photos with my cell phone to show you guys, i am hopeful that someone with the know-how of these cars could help me out here..

The first two shots show the LHS and RHS of the 'electronics bay' that lyes underneath the plastic cover, to me it appears that there are one fiber optic connector on each side going down into the floow. Is that so? What is their purpose?

The rest of the photos show the LHS wheel well and what appears to be some sort of plastic cover. A thick cable runs into it from the positive pole on the battery. Can anyone tell me what's in there?

There was not much more behind the lining besides what's shown in these photos..i have seen shots of the PSE unit in other posts here but i did not find anything of the like in my car..i just cant get it. Where can it be located if not there?


I am extremely thankful for all help guys, i know that at this point i am just asking a bunch of questions without being able to contribute much, but hopefully some day that can change when i get more technically familiar with the lovely w208.


Again, thanks a million for any help!

/ Mika

2PHAST

The PSE is behind the drivers side trunk trim panel, it is not located where your looking. To remove a DB2 item out of the ring, you need to plug the hole left from the item, the ring has to be complete, otherwise everything in the ring will stop working.

Mika83

Please correct me if i'm wrong 2Phast, but that's exactly where i thought i were looking. Behind the driver's side trunk trim/lining. At least to my (amateur, admittedly) eye the PSE was nowhere to be seen. Is it possible that it's behind that foam insulation that's wrapped all over the wheel well?

I know the photos are not the best quality, but are you sure i am not looking in the right place? That IS behind the driver's side trunk trim. *confused*

Thanks for the input anyhow, i suspected that i had to plug the D2B connectors with something..should there be something left in the trunk to plug it with or do i need to go to MB in order to get that part?

Thanks again

MarcusF

Drivers side on a left hand drive car. As for why it stopped working, if you have some telecomm background, it's a physical bus topology. Think 10BASE2/10BASE5. Remove something without a termination plug and it stops.

Mika83

Marcus,

That's where i looked, i bent the trunk lining on the left hand side outwards and was not able to locate the PSE there. Exactly where is it supposed to be, and approx how large is it? If you'd know that is.


It stopped working because i cut the cables to the phone cradle, incredibly stupid decision i learnt the hard way. It was just sitting in a really bad place, obstructing one of the middle A/C ducts and occasionally by rattle and shakes activating the driver's seat heater. So it had to go i figured (and still do, althought perhaps in a more clinical way).

If i'd just be able to locate the PSE unit i'd disconnect it completely, and complete the circuit with some sort of connector.

MarcusF

I checked the WIS and it looks like I have it wrong, Here's a photo.

Mika83

Marcus,


But isn't that the "air pump" that drives the A/C air distrubution, multi contour seats etc? If i recall correctly it too is called PSE and should be located on the right side of the car, and by the looks of it on that diagram it does look like some kind of pump.

I could of course be completely wrong, and i do reserve myself for that..If that is how the PSE phone unit looks like i know what to look for.


Does anyone else have any ideas about this?

Mika83

I'm gonna go right ahead and bump this..


Anyone?

bobbyjo9

The phone PSE is a black box measuring about 1" thick, 5" wide, by 12" long. It will have 1 hard wire wire pug attached and 1 orange fiber optic plug. It is a large item so you cant miss it once you find it. I know the cab and coupe have different mounting brackets so I would assume different locations as well. I have the cab and it is located on the driverside behind the trim panel below the radio antenna.

Mika83

Thanks for your help bobby, it's much appriceated. I will take a second and more thorough look behind the driver's side trunk lining as well as behind the dash. I think that the phone system in my car is aftermarket so i really dont know what to expect..maybe there's some kind of DIY setup in my car. I am really getting too confused and annoyed by this; seems from what i've read that hooking up a random aftermarket stereo head unit is no option on the CLK either, due to the D2B network.

Why do they need to make a car this d*mn complicated?!