JoeGons

Hi,
2001 E320 W210 Central Locking
I have an interesting problem.
I have read several posts that are similar but none combine all my problems.
a few weeks ago I opened the car normally and started up.
I noticed that the "dome" courtesy light did not go out (fade out) as normal.
I turned it off with the switch overhead and drove home
I then found that I could not lock the car.
The next day I noticed that I could open the trunk (boot) with the center console switch but all the other symptoms remained.
The doors would not lock or unlock with the dash switch nor remote.
After a few days, the system started to work normally.
Today I opened the car (front driver's door) with the remote, opened the trunk and a few minutes later when I went to lock the car, NOTHING.
Now, I cannot operate the doors OR the trunk by any electrical means and the dome light stays on after closing the doors.
I will be checking under the back seat tomorrow for dampness etc. and all the connectors to the pump.

While I'm there, what's the best treatment for the electrical connections under there in this situation?

Is there any other place I should look at that might be related to this problem?
Thanks,
Joe

raymond g-

check for standing water in the battery well
check for moisture in PSE foam surround
pull every fuse, check continuity, wipe down and clean each contact, use contact cleaner
check for gutter blockage which could overflow and enter battery well
may need to check relays too (life fuse) depending on how severe the symptoms reach
check and verify health of battery while you're there (specific gravity, fluid level, voltage, sulfation, etc)

Plutoe

Looking for moisture is good, however i would also make sure that the key batteries are also good(radio shack)

Also check your owners manual and make sure that the key settings(universal or not) did not change.

JoeGons

Would you believe that this morning it started to work as normal.
I left the car unlocked overnight.
That is no fix though.
There must be a problem at some connection or contact.
Problem is there must be many places where this can occur.
I will start under the back seat as recommended and hope to stumble on the culprit.
I had a problem a few years ago with the pump but it did not affect the courtesy lights.

JoeGons

Well, I checked under the back seat.
There was NO moisture nor signs of moisture in the past.

I cleaned and lubed the connector to the pump and checked the fuses.
The system is working as normal.

Leaving the remote out of the equation, what can I look at that controls the courtesy lights and the door locks?
Is there a central locking controller that is also connected to the courtesy (dome) lights?
What's the link between the two?
You can open the doors and the trunk (boot) with switches on the dash and center console?
But the dome, courtesy light?

For now, I'm a happy camper.

mike430sport

what you need to do is look at the switch on "both" driver and passenger front doors. open the door and look where the lock from the door grabs on the body to keep the door closed. Right next to that there is a little black push button switch. Sometimes that plastic switch breaks and pushes into the body, causing "No Contact" dome light stays on and also creates issues with door locking.

JoeGons

Thanks for that.
I think I will need to look in that direction as it is not the pump.
It has been working for over a week but I expect it will return.
When it does, I'll check the door switches.
I'm away at the moment and will not be back for quite a while.