portcitymopeds

Hi there MBWorld,
1st time MB owner here, sort of fell into purchasing a 2002 MB E320 wagon in Bordeaux metallic this weekend. I was driving a BMW 525 for some time, had to retire it, and knew I wanted another German wagon. Has ~168k miles on it and is in generally fair-to-good overall condition. Primarily for use as a seasonal winter-rider for the New England seacoast roads. Still learning my way around these forums but this seems like the right place. I'm yet to bring it in to my shop for a preliminary overview and state safety inspection - so maybe I shouldn't get too invested yet (!), but, I have been starting to troubleshoot some of the relatively "minor" issues that I know exist on the car. I'm hoping for some help and guidance from those who are more familiar with this vehicle make/model family, and a bit of a sounding board as I think through some of these troubles. I'll delineate them here, maybe eventually I should start individual threads:

-"Tele-AID - SOS visit workshop" - low priority I understand the Tele-AID SOS system is a bit of a roadside assistance type thing. I'm not particularly interested in restoring the functionality of that system. I'm sure I can live without that. If there is a way I can disable that system altogether, such that it doesn't display such an error signal, that would be great. It would be nice if I could minimize the number of error signals ("malfunctions") that I have to cursor thru every time I turn on the car.

-"Display defective - visit workshop" - medium priority (may be interrelated with other issues) I'm not sure what this means, generally speaking anything that I would classify as a "display" does seem to function. Which displays are covered under this message? The dashboard (speedo, gauges, odo, clock), radio, climate control, etc. all seems to function (backlights do not work, but displays/gauges do seem to funcion - see other issue). Including, of course the LCD display within the dashboard display, seems to work just fine, because it is showing me this error signal in the first place! I've read that this may be interrelated with a coolant sensor and/or wiper fluid sensor, but I won't jump the gun and I'll try to state only what I know at this point. I would like to understand which display(s) this is referring to, and how I might clear this error message.

-"Lamp defective - check lights!" - medium priority (may be interrelated with other issues) when the engine is running and the headlight switch is turned ON, I get a beep and this error message presents itself. Seems straightforward enough, but I'm not sure which lamps are covered under this error message. Both interior and exterior? I of course did a quick scan and all of the "important" lamps, as far as I can see, seem to be working fine... headlight hi/lo, tail light, brake light, blinkers, license plate lamp, etc, seem to be working fine. Which lamps are covered under this code, and how might I investigate this to determine which lamp its referring to?

-License plate/instrument cluster/symbol lighting fuse branch - THIS is the highest priority issue that I am investigating! The biggest bummer so far has been that the dashboard backlights do not function. At first I sort of diminished the importance of this issue. It was a known problem with the car, a previous workshop had installed a basic blue LED light that projects onto the dashboard. Plugs into the cigar lighter. Not so classy, but it helped the car pass inspection, and its a decent enough workaround. Because this car will be used primarily in the winter in New Hampshire, where it is dark pretty much all of the time, I found that it was actually pretty distracting to not have backlights. Sure, I'm still getting to know the car, so I'm constantly searching for this and that button or lever... but having some illumination in the evenings at nights would be really great!

More specifically, when the headlight switch is turned on, the dashboard (gauges, speedo, odo, etc) backlight does not come on. Nor do the back lights for the climate control buttons ("instrument cluster", I suppose). I do not know what is meant by "symbol lighting", so I am unable to verify whether or not those work. What is meant by symbol lighting? Is that referring to the MB insignia on front and rear? I don't really see any means by which that would be illuminated in the first place, indeed they are not illuminated as far as I can see.

Interestingly, the license plate lights DO turn on, whenever I switch the headlight on. When I switch it off, they turn off.

More troubleshooting on this issue: I found the relevant (I think) fuse boxes and checked fuses. In the auxiliary fuse box to the left of the dashboard, fuse number 11 is license plate/instrument cluster/symbol lighting. First scan, I missed the fact that there was NO FUSE at all (lol). Second scan, I noticed that the fuse was NOT THERE. At first, I said "oh, great, that's an easy fix!". I installed a fuse, it didn't blow, I turned my lights on, and the dash lights came on! The dimmer worked and everything. The climate control backlights and radio backlights came on too! Seemed sort of dim, but it was well before sunset, so hard to make a conclusive call on that yet. The center console (window buttons, etc) did not appear to illuminate, but I'm not sure if its supposed to(?).

This was helpful in allowing me to somewhat assess the state of function of these systems. At first it seemed like problem solved, but I knew it was too good to be true. Likely a reason that fuse was left out, probably intentionally. No doubt, within a few minutes, I heard the fuse blow and the lights went out. Not sure what triggers it, frankly most of the time it seems to be when I switch the headlights on, the fuse will blow (seems obvious enough). Honestly sometimes the fuse lasts a few hours and several trips around town. Sometimes it blows immediately. It seems there is an intermittent fault somewhere in one of these circuit branches. For now, I've left the fuse out and reverted to the cigar lighter backlight . Not a total failure - I haven't solved the problem, but I know a bit more about it.

Ok, so the part that doesn't add up yet is that the license plate lights remain functional whether or not the fuse is installed(!). This seems unusual, since, if I am interpreting the fuse map diagram correctly, that should be covered under fuse 11... so if fuse 11 is not there, the license plate lights should not work. Is that accurate?

Finally, I have fairly extensive service records for the car, which is good. There is one service note that seems it may be related to this problem, but doesn't tell me much. Here's what it says "Service description: Check wiring around plate light bulbs causing short. [Customer] has exposed hatch hinge wiring, inner panel is also off. After replacing fuse & checking right plate light wiring, short circuit went away. Unable to locate short, reinstalled paneling." So, that seems somewhat related. Sounds like they tried to find the fault, couldn't find it, but by inspecting, wiggling wires, and luck perhaps, they rendered the system in such a way that it was at least temporarily not blowing fuses - perhaps only for as long as it took to get the car out of their shop - so they put it back together and said "run it!".

Hunch territory: There's no mention of the cigar lighter LED dashboard light, so I'm assuming that happened later. The previous owner did imply that a service shop installed that LED workaround, not her, so ostensibly not the same shop, because its not mentioned in the repair invoice. I'm wondering if perhaps, at another shop, the license plate lights have been provided a new power source that comes on when the headlight is switched on, but does not come off fuse 11. That would allow the license plates to work whenever the lights are switched on (pretty important from a safety inspection perspective), and allow the owner to leave fuse 11 out of the fuse box to avoid the short circuit problem. That would of course render dash lights (and symbol lights?) inoperable, but with the LED cigar lighter workaround, that problem is also solved. We're getting very much into hunch territory here. If the wiring bundles I've pictured below are related to the license plate lighting, its possible those are damaged and were overlooked(?), and I might need to take a closer look. I suppose my next steps are finding some wiring diagrams, and determining where major wiring harness junction points may be, such that I may disconnect some lighting branches at a time to try to help isolate the issue. Further, I'll need to determine which panels need to be removed to access such portions of the wiring hardness.

I hope this is framed well enough to get some input and assistance and guesses from you all. Thank you!




Recently acquired 2002 MB E320 wagon

Right-side wiring harness from cabin to rear hatch. Dirty, but in mechanically sound condition.

Left-side wiring hardness from cabin to rear hatch. Dirty, and the harness bundle appears to be smooshed and somewhat malformed. I suspect this may be related to wiring faults(?)

Plutoe

you purchased a vehicle that has been butchered my previous owners return the car to standards then get a good tester and documentation to fix your issues

bbirdwell

Obtain a good STAR diagnostic system; it will pay for itself in a few uses. Run a "Quick Test", clear all of the faults, then retest for faults a day or three later. "F" is a current fault (Boo! Hiss!). "f" is a stored fault (did it fix itself?). "i" is information of value to you.

-Tele-aid. Yes you can disable it with STAR.
-Display Defective. You can diagnose with STAR; it will allow you to test all gauges and warning lights in the cluster. Be advised the cluster communicates with a lot of other modules.
-Lamp Defective. Any bad bulb on the outside of the car will cause this to display. I owned my first W210 (the '99 E55) for a couple of weeks before I figured this one out. I thought I had replaced all bad bulbs only to find one small light over the license plate that was out.
-License plate/instrument cluster/symbol lighting fuse branch. FWIW, my Instrument cluster backlights come on as soon as I open the door and remain lit at all times. If one of the bulbs is out, the display looks darkened. Pelican Parts has a good tech article on how you can replace all of the bulbs. Not difficult nor expensive.

Consider replacing the harness that passes through the hinge points. Go to mbepc.net, enter your VIN and search (you may have to refresh the page if it hangs) and that will pull up your datacard. In the "Model Designation" near the top select "click to see full data" to take you to the EPC. Once there, locate the part number(s) for the harness and see if you can locate a replacement harness from a dealer; be advised there may be multiple harnesses that supersede an early harness so watch the part numbers. FWIW, I needed a driver's door harness for my 1999 W210 E55 and obtained it out of Germany. Quite possible the harness for your car is still available. Another option is to pull your harness and rewire it; not fun but depends on how much you like your car and how much effort you are willing to put into it. Those flex points play havoc on the harness (a typical failure point is the hinge point harness on the W211).

Assuming many of the issues are related to the harness, placing the car on STAR diagnostics should show multiple errors on the rear SAM dealing with the lights. Attached schematics may assist.

portcitymopeds

bbirdwell, thank you for your very helpful response!

Great - I will look into a STAR diagnostic tool and consider purchasing one. Seems like it would be very handy.

I have a service appointment scheduled for October 25th (a bit later than I'd like), so on one hand, I'm excited about the car and I'd like to start chipping away at things... on the other hand, some of these issues may be more efficiently resolved at the shop. Of course, the shop may also point out "major" issues that I am so far unaware of, which would make me less eager in investing a lot of time/money into resolving the issues. So I may not purchase a STAR immediately, but it will be on my radar. Thanks for mentioning that.

Re "Lamp defective" - I'm not looking too heavily into that until I resolve the blowing fuse on Fuse 11 (dashboard fuse box).

It does seem odd that you've pointed out a difference in how our instrument cluster lights are working. In some cases, a 7.5A fuse doesn't blow and it allows me to assess which lights are/are not working. Dashboard backlight definitely works - looks good - drove home at night once and could see the digits nicely! Radio/nav works, climate control works. The shifter handle backlight does not work, and the uppermost climate control button backlights do not work. Could be part of the wiring fault that is causing fuses to blow, could be bad bulbs. This is completely reliant on headlight switch position, which made sense to me. I shut the lights off (center position) when I get out. I turn them ON (rightmost position) when I get in. If the fuse doesn't blow, the lights I've mentioned are functional.

The license plate lights work entirely independently of Fuse 11, but does come on/off with headlight switch, which is still puzzling to me, as I believe the license plate lights are supposed to be regulated by Fuse 11.

I did take the rubber outer jacket off of the troubling hinge point wiring on the upper left trunk hatch hinge. All the wires looked ok, actually, so that doesn't really seem to be a fault area at the moment.

I started pulling some interior trim panels off here and there to get a look. We do have indications that mice have lived here and there so that's not so great. I'm not too discouraged, though. It seems like the next best bet for isolating the failure that is blowing Fuse 11 is to unplug significant portions of the wiring harness where possible to isolate portions of the harness. I should be able to pull the dash, shifter assembly, climate control, radio, etc, and disconnect them... if the fuse continues to blow, that would eliminate those modules themselves as potential causes of failure, correct? It would not eliminate the portion of wiring harness leading up to the module, but it would eliminate the module itself.

Those schematics may be helpful but I'm still wrapping my head around them. I appreciate you sending them along... I'm looking for more of a wiring harness diagram or junction point diagram so to speak, so I can be a bit more deliberate about which panels I remove. So far I am impressed with how nicely the panels come off/on, but I don't want to have to pull EVERY panel off to locate junction points, if I don't have to. Does such a routing diagram exist? I know its somewhat typical for vehicles I work on.

Thanks!

bbirdwell

Yes. WIS (Workshop Information System) and StarFinder software is with STAR diagnosis system. Type in a designator from your schematics (i.e. Z6 ground point) and StarFinder will provide a photo of the location. The WIS provides workshop instructions to include schematics (with the handy designators) and torque values.

raymond g-

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ml#post4081667

Bulb monitoring system only covers exterior lighting. Don't overlook the tail light bulb which has twin filaments.
Also, if any bulb has been replaced with an LED design it may still light...but may also trigger the bulb malfunction warning.

bbirdwell

Raymond g is correct. I forgot I tried LED bulbs and it triggered the error message.

portcitymopeds

Great, thank you, that is helpful! The LED bulb thing doesn't surprise me. Not the right resistance for the car to "know" its there. My headlamps do look pretty "white" so I'm suspect that they are perhaps LED. This is useful information, but at this moment I'm not prioritizing the "bulb out" message as much as I am the reality that Fuse 11 continues to blow, resulting in nonfunctional dash lights. Can you folks help me work through that?

Truly, I think I need a better understanding of exactly which lights / modules / circuit branches are included on Fuse 11. I am proposing that I will use process of elimination to narrow down where the circuit fault is. For that to be effective, I need to know each and every module that is on that circuit, otherwise my process of elimination may not be comprehensive leaving me wondering "what else could it be!?". It may seem an obvious answer, but I don't know the car well enough to understand the terminology: The fuse card says Fuse 11 (7.5A) is responsible for license plate, instrument cluster lighting, symbol lighting. Can you help me fully define these?

License plate - There are two lights just above the rear license plate. There are no lights above the front license plate. Is that it? (of course, I still haven't resolved why these seem to function regardless of Fuse 11. Even with Fuse 11 uninstalled, these illuminate with headlight switch.)

Instrument cluster lighting - This is sort of a broad term and I'm not sure what exactly is included in the instrument cluster. I think I'm going to use photos to help. I'm going to say the dashboard backlights are definitely included in this (right behind the steering wheel, speedo, tach, etc). Here's an image of the rest that I'm not sure are included or not - which of these, if not all of them, are fed off Fuse 11 under "instrument cluster"?

A - heated seat, hazard, window lock button backlights. These buttons do work but the lights do not turn on when headlights are turned on. Could be bulbs are out, could be a fault?
B - These work, and are backlit when headlight is on. Nice!
C - These work, and are backlit when headlight is on. Yea!
D - Shift assembly, window up/down, etc. The buttons work, but the lights do not turn on when headlights are turned on.

Oh, also, there are some lights in the cigar lighter area that do turn off/on with headlights. Cigar lighter works too.

Is that everything covered under "instrument cluster"?



Finally, symbol lighting - I'm honestly not sure what that means. Is that referring to the MB emblem on the hood and rear hatch? I don't see any lighting associated with those.

So, yea, I think once I know exactly what is included on this circuit, I can unplug things systematically and hopefully hone in on things. I'm being optimistic about how readily I will be able to access these devices, but I do have the dashboard puller tools, radio puller tools, have pulled the shifter assembly, etc. So if its easy enough to get behind these devices, I can unplug them and at least infer whether or not the modules themselves are at fault. If they are not, that suggests to me the fault would be further "upstream", perhaps somewhere in the harness itself, or at a junction point, or otherwise?

That's my train of thought at the moment.

portcitymopeds

Hey! Not bad for a hunch... a few posts back I posited that the license plate lights were provided power from an alternate source. It looks like that is accurate:


Wiring bundle(s) in the spare tire compartment. The grey/violet wires that lead to license plate lights have been severed. The lamp side is wired in parallel with a black/white wire (presumably taillamps) such that the license plate lamps are powered by the tail lamp circuit.

So, the theory is that to pass inspection, they needed license plate lights operable. The license plate lights were not operable, because there is a fault somewhere on the Fuse 11 circuit branch. A shop must have repowered the license plate lights off of the tail lamp(?) circuit, which solved exclusively the problem that the license plate lights were out. This, of course, did not solve the underlying problem, which is that there is a fault somewhere on "Circuit 11". As encouraged as I am that my hunch was accurate... this doesn't technically tell me much more about my core issue: That is, just because these wires have been altered, does not mean that the circuit fault is in the portion of wiring harness that leads to the rear hatch (nod your head yes to help me confirm that is accurate...?). Technically, the wiring fault could still be anywhere on Circuit 11. The service notes from an old repair order showed that the technicians were looking for a fault in the vicinity of the rear hatch, but that they didn't find anything. Its possible their search was misguided and the fault is entirely elsewhere. (Oh, and this is probably at least one thing that is causing the "bulb defective" warning light. Part of the reason I'm ignoring for that now... ostensibly that warning light will never go away until lamps are put back onto the circuits they are supposed to be on!)

That said, there was a moderate amount of mouse nesting in the spare tire compartment, so it would not be unreasonable to expect they had chewed away at some wires in this area, causing a fault. So far this does not appear to be the case, but a closer inspection is warranted.

It would be incredibly valuable to understand if/where this portion of wiring harness connects to the fuse box/rest of the wiring harness. If there is a junction (molex connector, whatever) that I can disconnect a significant portion of this "rear" wiring harness, I can determine whether or not the fault is in this portion of the wiring system, or if I should look elsewhere. Right now, I can see the wiring bundle heads up towards the front of the car... past the 12V outlet in the rear cargo area then behind some more interior trim panels. I lose sight of it after that. Not sure where the next junction point may be, if there is one at all?

raymond g-

If you have a computer which can handle this DVD it may be a great resource to have, outside of a true Mercedes diagnostic system.
There is no such thing as a factory service manual in print for your car so this is the next best thing.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/264313331124

you can also try checking your local, large public library who may offer free access to something like AllData online service manual.
my Seattle library had this and I found a way to bring in a USB drive and sucked thousands of pages for my E320 so I could use it
at home

portcitymopeds

Ok got it - for that price that looks great (direct download, too). Might need to free up some hard drive space. Thanks for the referral to that DVD

As for the alternative you mentioned - "true Mercedes diagnostic system" - does that refer to the STAR diagnostic tool that bbirdwell was referring to? Getting close to picking one of those up. Or does that refer to an OEM factory tool that I'd have to maintain.

I did rewire the license plate lights to put them back on the proper circuit, and repaired the tail lamp wiring - wiring has been restored to stock. So with one of those handheld Mercedes STAR tools... this thing would actually interface with the car in a way that it will tell me roughly where, or in which subsystem, the fault is? It seems like a sophisticated tool, but I don't fully understand how it works or how it would help me locate the fault relative to "the old fashion way" of unplugging one system at a time. If its going to tell me "investigate wiring harness portion XYZ".. maybe I should hop right on getting one.

I will likely start by downloading that ebay service manual Raymond linked to. I can at least peruse through that and get a better understanding of wiring harness & junction locations, wiring diagram, etc. If that's not enough info I can pursue a proper STAR tool.

raymond g-

no, the STAR/SDS system will not pinpoint every ailment. it can only interrogate the system which was designed to have a sensor on it with the appropriate response. it's better than nothing....it great to have and can save you hours of time whereas without one, you'd be spending time and pulling hair working on a process-of-elimination exercise.

my STAR clone went belly up last year so I can't refer to it now, so I'll defer to someone else who has knowledge. It's not a pinpoint crystal ball diagnostic appliance for every single problem but again, only limited to the sensors available.

be aware that super cautious experienced computer savvy folks may say that by using a virtual machine environment needed to run the DVD, there is mild risk of allowing surreptitious hacking to invade your machine. so the risk is up to each person to weigh. I've been using the DVD of the STAR clone for about 4 yrs now and no **** or ransomeware has appeared. shy of the laptop docking to my car, i love the DVD...though the interface and indexing can be frustrating if you use or intuitively understand their nomenclature. I do run my system through a virtual private network and bounce and change countries periodically.

portcitymopeds

Thank you for clarifying!

Oh, I got it - so that downloadable/DVD on ebay would actually emulate the STAR tool, but on a PC. So that is to say, the PC on which that software is installed or operated would actually plug into the car? I thought it was sort of a standalone set of schematics, diagrams, and manuals I could peruse thru. Basically a hard copy manual, but not a hard copy... displayed on PC. If I still interface it with the car, and given the risks you've mentioned, around $150 for a handheld STAR tool seems worthwhile. Local auto parts stores may also rent them...?

I would guess that maybe the tool could "sense" a wiring fault in a lighting circuit based on an open circuit (infinite resistance) or a short circuit (not as much resistance as their should be...). Feels a bit of a risk to buy a tool that I will need to learn how to use, only to find it may not tell me more than "fault on circuit 11". Maybe not much of a choice. I'm also assuming the shop I'm bringing it to will have said tools (they specialize in European auto. especially MB), so they may be able to just run the tool for me and give me a report.

Thanks either way - this has been very informative in starting to learn my way around how I will need to be prepared to diagnose and work with this car. Not exactly the "old fashioned way" like with my '86 F150 or the many motorbikes I work with on a daily basis.

raymond g-

sorry for my imprecision in typing. the dvd is a standalone passive information database. it will not replace the STAR clone which actively docks with your car via the 38 pin connection...kind of what Spock does with his mind meld voodoo trick

portcitymopeds

Got it, thank you!

Totally into the passive information database. That definitely can't hurt and the cost is great.

The STAR tool... I saw some options that are completely standalone on a handheld device with a screen... others that interface with PC. I'd probably prefer a standalone one since my lap top sort of has to be plugged in all the time to work. A bit clutzy and becomes a lot of cords real quick.

Not super familiar with the mind meld technique but that sounds great

raymond g-

i will start reading up on C3 vs C4 et al. i thought they all still needed a computer but it was just wifi vs RS232 connectivity being the primary difference

Xentry/SDS/STAR allows some degree of programming of modules as well as resetting faults. eg turn on beep tone when locking car via keyfob, setting courtesy delay time of exterior lights, height of air suspension etc

yeah my STAR is clearly DOA so new one is needed to replace it

portcitymopeds

A bit of an update. Not much for progress.

Installed that service manual DVD. There is a LOT there, a pretty overwhelming amount of information. I've only been able to click around a bit and start to get my bearings on what is where and how to use it.

Bigger bummer, I have a new fuse that is continuously blowing. Fuse 3 in the rear underseat fuse box (10A) is blowing pretty consistently. This covers adjustable mirrors, dome lights, rear reading light (SE), remote trunk release, reverse gear recognition, seat ventilation (SE), and trunk light. This is a "new" issue. I wonder if some of my poking/prodding has disrupted another fault in the wiring harness? All I know so far is that disconnecting the power window / power mirror control cluster does not have an effect on the condition.

I'm starting to get pretty close to gutting the entire interior of this thing so I can visually inspect just about the entire wiring harness. Based on the several areas where there is evidence of minor-to-moderate mouse incursions, I'm wondering if they've done damage to the wiring harness here and there. I don't actually know that the faults are localized to portions of actual wire. But I sort of hope so (well not really, but relative to other things), as I think those may be somewhat easy to identify (if the wiring harness is exposed), and then repair.

portcitymopeds

Ok, minor progress:

I was able to remove some of the panels just above the gas pedal, below the dashboard. This gave me access to the connectors that connect into the driver's side fuse box. There are 4x connectors total. 2 black, 1 grey, 1 reddish. One of the blacks appear to be a feed to the fuse panel - a heavy gauge red and brown, presumably +12VDC supply and GND respectively, so I left. It was only by disconnecting the RED connector that Fuse 11 (7.5A) could be installed and did not blow immediately. Disconnecting the other two connectors did not have an affect - Fuse 11 would blow immediately.

With the red connector unplugged, I checked the license plate lights (which is in now totally stock condition - fed off Fuse 11). The license plate lights are on! That means I can rule out the license plate light circuit from being at fault. The dashboard lights did not illuminate, which suggests that these circuits are connected to this red connector. Bottom line, it appears to narrow down the areas of possible fault down to circuits that are fed off of this red connector, presumably localized to something in the instrument panel. I think next is to further disassemble some of the dash assembly and instruments to disconnect them one by one...

Quick question, maybe I misread this - is it acceptable to power the car on with the dashboard assembly disconnected? I used the hook tools to pull out the dashboard assembly, but read somewhere that powering the car on with the dashboard disconnected could cause issues. Since then I can't find the post... should I disregard that, or is there something to it? No doubt, I'd like to pull the dash, disconnect the wire connectors, and power the ignition on. That would tell me if the dash assembly is at fault or not.

bbirdwell

You can drive the car with the instrument cluster removed from the dash. It looks sort of weird having a big hole in the dash while driving around. Whenever you reinstall the cluster you will get error codes so that will need to be erased. With the instrument cluster out of the dash functions such as cruise control will not enable.

portcitymopeds

Noted, thank you, I think that will be an important thing to test. I will try that soon. When you say clear the error code - is that erased exclusively with a STAR tool? Or by the button on the steering wheel? Disconnecting the battery for some time?

Feeling somewhat optimistic in that I've sort of narrowed things down(?). I'm just having a heck of a time making sense of the wiring schematics. I'm going to document the color and gauge of each wire that leads to that reddish colored connector and go from there.

Oh! Is there a depinning tool? I would like to go one step further, and I could actually de-pin one wire at a time from the plastic connector. Trial and error should(?) narrow it down to one specific wire/circuit color that I need to chase down.

portcitymopeds

Ok, a bit more progress.

I removed the instrument cluster (dashboard - speedo odo etc) using the hook tools. I disconnected each of the two connectors. With both unplugged, car started, headlights on or off, the Fuse 11 does not blow. For reference - assume the cluster is installed and in position - plugging in the LEFTMOST connector, the fuse is fine. Plugging in the RIGHTMOST connector, the fuse blows as soon as I hook up the connector. I'd like to run this test a few more times as a sanity check, but it does seem that the fault is local to the instrument cluster - further, some circuit powered on the right-hand connector. Does that seem like a reasonable conclusion?

A shame, as it appears the cluster was rebuilt in 2013 by a BBA Manufacturing in Taunton, MA. That was years ago though. So perhaps I look into a rebuild or replacement? Any recomendations on rebuild shops or spare parts shops? Would be great if someone had a spare I could borrow for a quick plug and play to test to see that solves the issue...

bbirdwell

Pin / deepin tools for the connectors are available on Amazon or ebay.
If you opt for a replacement instrument cluster be aware that the odometer readout will show nothing but horizontal bars until you have the cluster reprogrammed to match your car's VIN. That requires someone with specialized abilities and tools. When I obtained a replacement cluster I shipped off the replacement and the original to one of the folks here on the forum. He then erased the information in the old instrument cluster and entered my vehicle's Vin and mileage from my instrument cluster into the replacement cluster. Be advised that was over two hundred dollars for shipping and programming. Be advised that if you are a customer of Ben's Ninja he will program it for you as part of your membership fee.
You will need to determine which instrument clusters will work in your car. Go to mbepc.net, search by VIN, when that next page comes up with your vehicle's data card, the top block will have the model description of your car such as s210.074. In that block click the link that will take you to the parts catalog for your car. Search through the electronics portion until you find the instrument cluster and it will provide the part numbers which will work in your car. Again, when you do find a replacement instrument cluster that will work in your car you will need to have your cars VIN programmed in the replacement cluster and the mileage updated. As you can understand an unscrupulous individual could easily roll back the mileage on one of these instrument clusters so that is why it is very difficult to do so.

portcitymopeds

Ok, that's great info thanks. I suppose that would be the value of just having the dash rebuilt, the VIN would already match so long as they don't mess with that feature or functionality. I will likely call around on Monday and see if a rebuild service would include repairing whatever fault may exist here. Not sure what would fail on the interior of the cluster that would cause fuses to blow... but not out of the question either. The receipt from 2013 shows around $130 which seems a pretty good price ... so if its even remotely near that, and they can repair the dash as described, that'd be a win.

Even $200 bucks for a new unit, programmed, isn't so bad if it will solve my problem. I'd love to be able to test this with a spare instrument cluster (a quick plug and play to see if fuses stop blowing), but that may not be an option. Maybe my shop has one kicking around.

Thanks for the detailed info on parts sourcing. I haven't had the need to order any parts yet (wow), but when I do I will use that site and follow your instructions.

Benz Ninja. Now that is an interesting lead. I put in an inquiry to his site to better understand his rates and services. May be a valuable asset.

bbirdwell

The $200 I mentioned did not include the cost of a used cluster. That was several hundred dollars more because I was looking for a latest version of an instrument cluster for my E55.
If you go with Benzninja understand you will have to source a laptop and the mux/dmux unit out from Alibaba. If you do go with Benz Ninja he will remote into the laptop that you purchase. you will want a 500 GB solid state hard drive and he will install a dual boot system. One will be based on Windows 10 and will handle the w 211 and newer models. The other operating system will be Windows 7 and will have the HHT version of Xentry that is required to work on the w210 or s210. When everything is considered it is not particularly cheap. It will, however, pay for itself in several uses and you can always sell it with your car or separately to someone on the forum. He is very customer-oriented. I sometimes think that he never sleeps!
The diagnostic system is most commonly referred to as STAR but sub-variants of it are listed as DAS and Xentry.
For what it's worth when I bought my 1999 w210 E55 I spent about $7,000 on it. I then spent almost another $10,000 on it returning it back to like new condition which included body work, a paint job, suspension rebuild, and new headlamp lenses. New interior and plastic components in the interior were also replaced. Not particularly smart economically but very satisfying to have such a beautiful car on the road.
On a humorous note, I purchased the car with approximately 128,000 shown on the odometer. So, I bought a car thinking I had 128,000 miles on it. It took me a week or two to realize that my car was originally Canadian spec and it was actually 128,000 km on the car. So, the E55 I bought actually only had approximately 79,000 miles on it! That put a smile on my face.

portcitymopeds

Well, there are a number of compatible used instrument clusters (same part number) on ebay between $100 and $200. Some shops may be able to reprogram the unit as they sell them. I may still be able to have this unit rebuilt/repaired. Again, If I'm confident this will solve the problem of Fuse 11 blowing out, I'm happy to spend the money. Buying parts to "guess and check" is something I'm a bit less eager to do.

So I did put in an inquiry to Benz Ninja, but I'm not fully sure I 100% require his services just yet. I need to understand the costs before I can really make that assessment.

Sounds like you did great work to your car! I am not quite as eager to make this thing "perfect" - but these improvements seem worthwhile if not necessary. I'll be feeling pretty good if I can get this Fuse 11 circuit back online, without a fancy diag. tool no less (best not to boast too soon!). Still have to chase out the "new" issue of my power windows fuse blowing, but this diagnostic approach is starting to show some promise.

I paid $2,200 for this rig which seemed about right. Half of what it was listed for so that felt good too. Extensive service history, much of it done at the dealership. Documented repairs/upgrades totalling $4000+ this year alone... simple stuff... brakes, suspension, this that the other... so I'm hoping that put a decent dent in things for a while.

While this part of the project has become secondary until I resolve these electrical problems, I do plan on investing a bit into body work to take care of some rust in the wheel wells and significant clear coat peeling. I think I can sharpen up the car quite a bit - and it will be worth it - but that's on the backburner until I get these electrical issues sorted out.