Cycopath

I have an 03 CLK55 and noticed some intermittent electrical issues.

All of these issues seem to come and go...

Radio doesnt produce sound (comes on, can select station) but it doesnt play anything, says no cd changer is connected

The passenger heated seat will randomly not work.

When trying to adjust the driver mirror, the control works for the passenger mirror no matter what side is selected.

The driver headrest wont adjust.

Could all of these be tied to the same issue somewhere in the electrical system? Some things to look into maybe?

Thanks

ac_schnauzer

I think many here have complained about the same issues you are experiencing and I believe there is no one single cause to all the problems.

Regarding the radio not producing any sound, the amplifier is most likely toast. I haven't read of any solutions to any of the other problems. But if you find something please help by posting your findings.

Cycopath

thats the thing. dont really think its the amp. on occasion, the radio will work fine and sounds fine. plus, the times its not working, it doesnt recognize the CD changer either.

i am thinking there is a short somewhere in the electrical or a computer issue...something thats causing multiple things to fail

Johnpidge

Cyco

Get it put on a Star machine - dealer or a good independant should have one and see whats going on - my passenger seat has a bit of a mind of its own - heater works fine but sometimes the headrest goes up by itself and the controls don't work properly - I think someone pushed the seat control to go forward as they were folding the seat back??

I've heard some connectors have come loose under the seat in one or two's cars!

Rashman

Have someone look at the control unit located under the passenger seat.

This control unit controls some of the CAM communication cables.

Believe it or not, but it is relatively common for the passenger seat to slowly crush this control unit against the carpet and damage it.

I had this happen to my 63!

My dashboard lights would flash randomly, mirrors wouldn't unfold, radio didn't work sometimes, headrests, turn signals...all sorts.

The dealer put their best electrical guy on the case, and after a lengthy investigation, it was traced to this control unit, which was indeed crushed somewhat by the passenger seat.

A design fault, it would appear.
There really isn't much room under the passenger seat, and why they thought this was a good place for a conrol unit is beyond me.

Once the control unit was changed for a new one, all my problems disappeared.

It surprised me because I have never moved the passenger seat since I bought the car and can only assume it was damaged already when I got the car.

On the plus side, I have a brand new control unit swapped under warranty.

Needless to say, I will be making sure the passenger seat is not moved too far back at all!!

Cycopath

thanks for the tips, i will bring it back to the dealer again to hopefully be fixed this week

Rashman

Cool, no worries.

Hopefully that'll be the culprit.

Cycopath

what is the cost on that control unit?

Rashman

I never found out as it was replaced for me under warranty.

They had seen this kind of thing happen before, or at least knew of this sort of thing happening, so they replaced it under warranty with no questions asked.

200-300 bucks, at a guess?