Failed Smog NO CEL
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 34
Likes: 6
From: San Diego, Ca
1994 Corvette
Failed Smog NO CEL
Hello all,
I failed smog today. But it was because there is no CEL lighting up upon doing the bulb test when turning the car on. I never noticed this when I purchased the car out of state from a private party. The car runs great and there are no codes. I have a 2003 E55 w211. Could the led be out? I would doubt that. This car was also repaired several years ago from rats eating lots of the engine wiring. I did repair the cluster lighting a few months ago as there was a crack in the ribbon. But I thought that ribbon was only for the lighting part of the cluster. Kind of funny that I'm posting about a CEL NOT lighting up when most people post the opposite lol.
I failed smog today. But it was because there is no CEL lighting up upon doing the bulb test when turning the car on. I never noticed this when I purchased the car out of state from a private party. The car runs great and there are no codes. I have a 2003 E55 w211. Could the led be out? I would doubt that. This car was also repaired several years ago from rats eating lots of the engine wiring. I did repair the cluster lighting a few months ago as there was a crack in the ribbon. But I thought that ribbon was only for the lighting part of the cluster. Kind of funny that I'm posting about a CEL NOT lighting up when most people post the opposite lol.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 1,085
Likes: 442
From: Melbourne, Australia
2010 ML550 VIN WDC1641722A564750, 2010 B180
There's always the risk with a 2nd hand car that the CEL has been disabled deliberately to hide something. Change the bulb, test for current and then I suppose it's go from there. Test the CEL when you've done that by triggering it - not sure what the best way would be - maybe remove a few coil packs and see? Testing the functionality of it given the previous wiring damage would be key. Not sure if there's a scan tool out there that might help you but worth a look.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 34
Likes: 6
From: San Diego, Ca
1994 Corvette
There's always the risk with a 2nd hand car that the CEL has been disabled deliberately to hide something. Change the bulb, test for current and then I suppose it's go from there. Test the CEL when you've done that by triggering it - not sure what the best way would be - maybe remove a few coil packs and see? Testing the functionality of it given the previous wiring damage would be key. Not sure if there's a scan tool out there that might help you but worth a look.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 1,692
Likes: 488
From: Spain UTC/GMT +2 hours
W213 All-terrain
Hello all,
I failed smog today. But it was because there is no CEL lighting up upon doing the bulb test when turning the car on. I never noticed this when I purchased the car out of state from a private party. The car runs great and there are no codes. I have a 2003 E55 w211. Could the led be out? I would doubt that. This car was also repaired several years ago from rats eating lots of the engine wiring. I did repair the cluster lighting a few months ago as there was a crack in the ribbon. But I thought that ribbon was only for the lighting part of the cluster. Kind of funny that I'm posting about a CEL NOT lighting up when most people post the opposite lol.
I failed smog today. But it was because there is no CEL lighting up upon doing the bulb test when turning the car on. I never noticed this when I purchased the car out of state from a private party. The car runs great and there are no codes. I have a 2003 E55 w211. Could the led be out? I would doubt that. This car was also repaired several years ago from rats eating lots of the engine wiring. I did repair the cluster lighting a few months ago as there was a crack in the ribbon. But I thought that ribbon was only for the lighting part of the cluster. Kind of funny that I'm posting about a CEL NOT lighting up when most people post the opposite lol.
Or, some chewing gum obstruct the CEL LED.
Anyway, the Fault code can be retrieved with any scanner.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 34
Likes: 6
From: San Diego, Ca
1994 Corvette
So I hooked up my Xtool scanner that has lots of options to test actuators, etc. I did the bulb test and everything lit up on the cluster except the CEL. Wondering if is the cluster.
