2001 CLK 320 Convertible: Electrical System Voodoo
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2001 CLK 320 Convertible: Electrical System Voodoo
Hi all, it's been about 15 years since I've posted. In the meantime, I've put over 280,000 miles on my car, trying to get to about 315,000 so I can get my 500,000 Km badge from MBZ. The car has been a dream, really, up until just recently. When I started the car a few days ago, here's what happened:
Car misfired, so I turned it off and started it once again (yes, the 'check engine' light came on and stayed on).
Central instrument gauge light panel was dark orange and not standard eggshell white/cream (did you know they change colors?? I didn't.)
Warnings lit up all over the place: low/replace coolant; brakes not working; needs oil; visit workshop; and, the gas gauge stopped working.
Turned it off and started it once again. All good, no problems. Made an appointment for my service rep (they're good), and he checked it: Prognosis: 'every fault code known to man popped up on their computer" but they couldn't find anything wrong at that moment. He believes there's an 'intermittent short' in the instrument cluster that will be nearly impossible to find, and it will cost more to repair than the car is worth. That said, being retired he told me I'm not driving it enough (only put 800 miles on it in the last year... pandemic didn't help).
I love my car, figured it would die someday, but not this way (it's beautiful, been kept garaged for 20 years, and still a joy to drive with the top down.)
Any thoughts on what might be wrong will be more than greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Ron
Car misfired, so I turned it off and started it once again (yes, the 'check engine' light came on and stayed on).
Central instrument gauge light panel was dark orange and not standard eggshell white/cream (did you know they change colors?? I didn't.)
Warnings lit up all over the place: low/replace coolant; brakes not working; needs oil; visit workshop; and, the gas gauge stopped working.
Turned it off and started it once again. All good, no problems. Made an appointment for my service rep (they're good), and he checked it: Prognosis: 'every fault code known to man popped up on their computer" but they couldn't find anything wrong at that moment. He believes there's an 'intermittent short' in the instrument cluster that will be nearly impossible to find, and it will cost more to repair than the car is worth. That said, being retired he told me I'm not driving it enough (only put 800 miles on it in the last year... pandemic didn't help).
I love my car, figured it would die someday, but not this way (it's beautiful, been kept garaged for 20 years, and still a joy to drive with the top down.)
Any thoughts on what might be wrong will be more than greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Ron
