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So as well as the issues with my driver and passengers seats not moving in the direction they are supposed to (see my earlier posts), I've since discovered that the sunroof tilts but won't slide, I only get one wipe from the windshield wiper in the intermittent position and one of the fog lights is out. The last issue is hopefully an easy fix but good grief, that's a lot of weird electrical stuff going on!
Thankfully the stereo is working and sounds pretty darn good - picked up some old motown cassettes this evening so I can forget about all these problems till I get home from this trip. Then I'll start searching the forum for fixes...
You are right - disconnecting the battery seems to be the best and cheapest first step right now. But in another thread, Strigoi advised that if the battery is disconnected then I will need the radio code so I'll look into that before doing anything. Will let you know how everything goes.
By the way, I was able to slide open my sunroof today and I got a second wipe out of the intermittent wipers...albeit after 10 minutes of inactivity when it wasn't even raining!
But in another thread, Strigoi advised that if the battery is disconnected then I will need the radio code so I'll look into that before doing anything.
I might have been wrong on that one. Your dealer should be able to get you the radio code if needed. The stock radio sucks though so no real loss if you have to go aftermarket.
I just remembered that when I swapped stereos someone had put the radio code on a piece of tape on the stock one.
Does your car have rain sensing wipers? Mine does (2002 E430). The first position is rain sensing. When you put in that position it does one swipe. When there is rain it will go on as needed. Spray with some water and see what happens. This might be an easy fix!
Barry
Originally Posted by philiproots
You are right - disconnecting the battery seems to be the best and cheapest first step right now. But in another thread, Strigoi advised that if the battery is disconnected then I will need the radio code so I'll look into that before doing anything. Will let you know how everything goes.
By the way, I was able to slide open my sunroof today and I got a second wipe out of the intermittent wipers...albeit after 10 minutes of inactivity when it wasn't even raining!
Last edited by lenobleb; Apr 27, 2018 at 12:47 PM.
As lenibleb said, you likely have rain sensing wipers. Put them in that same 'intermittent' setting (the first position on the stalk), spray some water at the area in front of your rear view mirrors and see what happens. Just be sure your hand isn't on the window! As a side note....I was on a long trip and had driven through rain. I had my wipers set in the rain sensing mode. It quit raining and I kept driving. A few hours later I pulled into a gas station and used a squeegee to clean the windshield as the car was running. The water triggered the sensor and the wiper nearly nailed my hand...be careful.
Well I just wrote a lengthy reply to lenobleb's post but it's not showing up here! Anyway, I was assuming that sensor on the dash at the bottom center of the windshield was the rain sensor but now I know better after Bowyer's post. However, a couple of the electrical issues are fixing themselves (sunroof, drivers seat) so maybe when it rains tomorrow the intermittent function will fix itself. If not, I may have found the radio code in the owner's manual binder - that will make disconnecting the battery a little less painful.
Just a quick update - Annapolis had some torrential rain last Friday which was enough to get my intermittent wipers working again before the long drive home. They still worked when the rain became a light shower. So now the only (known) electrical issue is the passenger seat not reclining.
Glad that most of the electrical problems fixed themselves but now I feel like the boy who cried wolf...my apologies.
Don't feel bad. I picked up my 02 E430 at the end of January. It had been sitting, unused, for about a year. When I started driving it, the ABS, BAS, and other lights would come on. I thought a wheel speed sensor was bad but the problem just went away. I think these cars just need to be driven.
Thanks for that...was feeling hesitant to post any more.
I did pick up a couple of passenger seat control switches at the local Pick'n'Pull today - they just got in a '97 and a '99 E430. Am hoping one of these switches will fix the recline issue in my car. Also got a set of 17" AMG's with some decent 235/45/17's off one of them which is exactly the same diameter as the stock 215/55/16's on my car right now, just a bit wider.
One of these E430's even has a very decent set of front seats with hardly any wear in them that look like the same light tan color as mine - the exterior color of the car is a metallic gold whereas mine is black so not sure if there is a difference in the color of the seats without seeing them side-by-side. They also have extra controls by the seat bottom so they might be what I've heard people refer to as the multicontour type. Another member sent me the link on how to remove them - need to read again because I don't know how often I am going to find a good set in this (similar) color and Pick'n'Pull only wants $37 for each!
So I went back to Pick'n'Pull today and took off the seat cushion from the driver's side - found a YouTube video that showed how to do that. Cost less than $7 including tax with my member discount and was a heck of a lot easier that removing the whole seat - the cushion is the same color as mine except the piping is white whereas mine is brown. Will get the passenger side next week when it's not so freakin hot here!
Anyway...turns out that this E320 at the Pick'n'Pull in Virginia Beach is a '96...with the inline 6 engine vs. the V6! How rare is that...I had no clue that they existed...here's a couple of pics:
So if anyone is still following along, here's the latest progress. I did get the other seat bottom cover from Pick'n'Pull the other day - purchased an 'E' (external torx) set of sockets so I actually removed the seat which made removing the cover easier.
Pulled the passenger seat control switch out of the door to swap it out with one of the switches from Pick'n'Pull - discovered a couple of broken tabs, the cover over the printed circuit board was loose and one of the connector pins was bent so it has definitely been removed before. Straightened the pin, snapped the back cover into place, plugged in the switch and now I can finally recline the seat - my wife will be happy! Tried out the 2 switches I got from Pick'n'Pull but they wouldn't have fixed the reclining problem - they must be pinned differently because the recline button raises the seat. If anyone wants them, one is from the '96 E320 in the picture above and the other is from a '97 E430. Both have different part numbers stamped on the back and I cannot say if all the functions are working as they should.
Lastly, the VA state inspection is due at the end of this month so I bought a bulb for the foglight but before pulling out the old bulb I jiggled the connector and sure enough, the light worked! The access panel to the foglight was a little butchered so needless to say, along with the loose bulb and the messed up seat switch, I'm not too impressed with the workmanship of whoever worked on the car before.
Next up...install those front seat bottom covers, mount the AMG's, figure out the best way to glue down the numerous loose edges of the headliner and then try to straighten the buckle in the passenger side roof rack?!
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