Speck34

Hello ! New to this forum ! Wondering if anyone can help me just picked up a 2008 clk 550 , I had a scratch on the drivers door fixed, in the process body shop took out the door Handle , now when I turn off my radio and shut off the car the radio keep playing ! I can turn it off wth the power button , but it should turn off when the car turns off ,Anyone know what I'm an do ? Thanks in advance for help

Speck34

I should also say when I get out of the car and lock the door the radio is still on

Yidney

It's not supposed to turn off when you shut the car off, it's supposed to turn off when you open the door to get out. Does it do that?

Yidney

You just answered my question.

Yidney

I guess I'm not totally sure what the triggering mechanism is that shuts off the radio when you open the door. When you open the door to get in, do the lights inside go on?

Rudeney

The radio is powered at all times. It uses signals from the CAN bus to activate or shutdown its operations. Like most any car, the driver's door has a plunger switch located on the B pillar to determine if it is opened or closed. That is wired into the rear SAM which broadcasts the door's status over the CAN bus to any device that needs to know, such as the radio, instrument cluster, or overhead control panel (for the dome light).

The switch is open when the door is closed and grounded when the door is open. I suspect this is the problem. The plunger switch may be broken, stuck "closed", or the wiring is broken or disconnected. In this case, the rear SAM always recognizes the door as closed, so it never sends a "door open" message over the CAN bus.

First, do a visual inspection to make sure the plunger is physically operating. A common problem is to close the door with the seat belt in the path which can break the plunger or push it back into the pillar. If all looks good, then test it by observing the dome light. Make sure the dome light switch is in the "door" position (middle, IIRC), and then open and close the door to see if it reacts (note that there is a delayed-off on the light). If this does not work, then it's the switch or its wiring. If it does, then "something else" is wrong and will require more hands-on, professional diagnostics.

In either case, I doubt this was the shop's fault unless the physically broke the plunger. or maybe they taped things off for the paint job and left tape on it. If the plunger is broken, it's an easy and cheap repair. It;s part number A1688201910 and should be $10 or less. It just pulls out of the pillar (held in by clips that are part of its plastic housing). The wiring plugs in behind.

Speck34

Thanks Rodney ,Yidney , the lights do not go on but when I open the door the windows lower a bit , and I put the car in drive and opened the door with my foot on the break and the instrument cluster said i was in drive mode ,the dash says don't forget your key when I open the door so I guess the door is sending some signal,do you think it's still the plunger ? Thanks again !

Rudeney

I believe the window lowering/raising functions are controlled by signals from the door lock and not the plunger. How does the plunger look? Is it broken? Check the passenger side to verify operation of the dome light. If it works and the driver's side does not, the plunger switch or its wiring is your problem.

Speck34

Thanks agin Rodney ,sorry about the delay ,so the passenger side does not light up when I open the door , the interior lights go on when it's dark out, sorry I'm new at owning a benz gussing some setting , was wondering if the was a radio starring that keep the radio on all the time at purhaps a fuse

Thanks again for the help

Rudeney

Right int he center of your overhead control panel, there is a "C" shaped rocker switch that controls the dome lights. It has three positions - left, center and right. Left turns the lights on manually, center (or flat) is automatic and they will come on when the door is opened AND it's dark outside. Right shuts the dome light off completely. So, put it in the center position and in a dark place (outside at night, in the garage with not much light, etc.) Now, when opening either door, the dome light should come on. If the passenger door activates it but the driver's door does not, then it's the plunger switch.

Speck34

Thanks Rodney !

Had to wait till it got dark,both doors have working lights I guess it's not the plunger.

I'll have to take it to a shop ,unless you think it could be a fuse or something simple

Thanks

Rudeney

Hmm, do the steering wheel controls work for channel and volume? If so, then the radio is getting signals over the CAN bus, so it should be getting the power off command. I'm not sure of any fuses that would affect this, but check #64 (under the hood), and #36 (side of dash). If not any of that, all I can suspect is a defective radio head unit. You might try unplugging its fuses overnight to see if it does some magical reset, but that's it.

Speck34

Thanks again for all your help Rodney!
The steering wheel controls do work
I'll try the fueses
Last question if I want to change the head unit and add an aftermarket Bluetooth radio would that be easy or would I need all kinds of modifications like new speakers and wiring
Thanks again for all you help

Rudeney

You will need to run wiring from the dash to the trunk to tie into either a new analog amp or the speaker wiring from the Harmon-Kardon amp. The speakers should be adequate.