Hi I bought an CLK 230 Kompressor (W208) earlier this year.

year: 2000
range: 163 K

When I bought the car it was showing an error for the headlights but all the lamps where working fine.

The first thing I did was taking the car to the Mercedes service center, for an general inspection to find any problems and to reset the error message. After the inspection they found a couple of problems.

Both batteries needed replacing and they replaced them.

There was engine oil on the wire harness, and the wires where hard and brittle. They didn’t want to touch it because it would probably only make it worse, they recommended to let it be for the time being.

They then had to stop the inspection because they could not connect to the computer to read any error codes because apparently there was a fuse that kept blowing.

They spent 7 hours trying to diagnose the problem but they eventually gave up. We agreed to let it bee, since the headlights was working fine, so the error message for the headlights is still showing. And without access to the computer they couldn’t really look for any more problems. They didn’t charge me for the 7 hours because they couldn’t solve the problem.

I have now been driving the car for a while and have found more problems.

In the morning when the engine is cold, the throttle behaves strangely. After reading some old forum posts I think it might be the mass air flow sensor not working correctly so it will engage and disengage the kompressor incorrectly, and that is why the car throttles strangely. This problem disappears as soon as the oil temperature goes up. So to solve this I will let the car idle in the driveway for a couple of minutes.

Also the car will sometimes become very unresponsive. Nothing will happen when I press the throttle unless I floor it. When I floor the throttle the car will very slowly start to accelerate. I will then pull over and restart the car and the problem disappears. This will happen randomly a couple of times a week but I have noticed that it will happen more often if I toggle between the driving modes.

maybe this is also a problem with the mass air flow sensor if it stops working I think the car will assume it is getting very little air and will then limit the engine power. Or it is something else.

I think this problem is probably unrelated but twice now the washer fluid pump has gotten stuck and will keep pumping until the tank is empty. This is quite dangerous since it limits my visibility when driving. The only way I could solve this was to physically disconnect the pump and let it be disconnected for a couple of days. Afterwards I would connect it back on and then it was working fine again.

Finally last week I was driving and the car suddenly died. I was able to pull over on the side of the road. It would not turn on and I noticed a strange smell. After towing the car to the service centre they found that the kompressor belt had snapped and the kompressor had catastrophically broken down. Luckily we found a old replacement kompressor.

I was told this basically was bad luck but I have a feeling that maybe my faulty mass air flow sensor might have made it worse.

On the positive side my car is now much more responsive, it accelerates much faster and I feel it has more power now. So the old kompressor seems to have been working badly before braking down.

But this didn’t solve any of the other problems.

Hopefully someone has some suggestions for me so that I could fix these problems. I have been thinking about replacing the mass air flow sensor but it is quite expensive and I don’t think it will solve all my problems. I would prefer to diagnose the problems before I start to blindly replacing parts. I would like to solve the problem with the blowing fuse first so we can read the computer.

I will be happy to provide any additional information.

Best Regards Adam

 

Hey Adam! It sounds like your CLK 230 Kompressor is throwing a lot of curveballs your way. The issues you’re experiencing with the throttle and unresponsiveness could very well stem from those brittle wires and oil contamination on the harness, leading to intermittent sensor signals or voltage drops. A faulty mass air flow sensor might be contributing to incorrect air intake readings, disrupting the kompressor's operation and causing erratic idle and throttle behavior. Additionally, the blowing fuse suggests there could be a short circuit or an overload in one of the electrical circuits, which might be affecting multiple control modules and leading to the various electronic glitches you've described, including the persistent headlight error and washer fluid pump malfunction. I’d recommend running a full system scan to uncover any fault codes that could be lurking in one or more control modules related to these issues. There should be fault codes on at least one or more control modules related to this. If you have access to a full system scanner like Xentry, that’s awesome, but I personally find youcanic full system scanner easier and quicker for diagnostics, even though I have Xentry lying around somewhere. Running an in-depth all-system scan can help you pinpoint the exact causes and get everything back in sync.

 

Hi, thanks for the suggestions.

I called the service centre that swapped my kompressor, and they told me they could access the computer. So, the shorting problem might have been water-related. So I will give them another chance. Now, they will hopefully be able to get some error codes out of the computer.

I fear you are right that the wires are the problem. I was hoping my car wouldn't need a complete harness replacement, and I'm sure that won't come cheap. I have tried looking for repair manuals without any luck. Is there any guide or instructions out there to do a harness replacement? I have more time than money, haha. My dad has a small hobby car garage at home, so if I had some good documentation, I think I could pull it off.