I didn't select the Teleaid option when I got my G. The SOS light overhead stays on and it reads "1 Malfunction". THe dealer told me to hit the "i" button located within the armrest. I did and the light went off whilst trying to connect to the Teleaid center. Since I'm not registered, the light came back on right after the call was completed. Is this right? Should I call the center or is there a proper way to cancel out the light without getting the Teleaid option.

Cheers

 

I guess maybe they could turn it off if you brought it in for service or something. I used to get that error message b/c my dealer forgot to fax them my TeleAid application. After TeleAid was enabled, the message went away; but I guess that doesn't apply since you didn't opt for TeleAid.

Btw, you don't happen to live in the city? I saw a G55 parked on the Upper East Side a few times.

 

Cheers. Could well have been mine.

 

Do you have a stuffed animal in the bar on the passenger side?

 

Definitely not mine then.

 

Remove the lightbulb

 

But it will still read "1 Malfunction" on the dash. Anything more constructive?

 

Yank the calbe going to the dash as well. C'mon -- I was just kidding. Fact is you must go to the dealer and bust their chops

 

Just get teleaid. For less than $200 you get the benefit of stolen vehicle tracking, emergency lockout service, and the concierge guys actually saved my *** by finding me a hotel room once on a road trip when I didn't have an internet connection.

Besides, Progressive (my insurance company) knocks $75 off my bill every six months for the vehicle tracking service Teleaid provides. That makes the service nearly free.

It's an absolutely tiny percentage of the cost of a G55 and it makes the warning message go away.

 

im having the same problem in my car. I didnt want the teleaid, if my car is stolen, it is going to be stripped...I dont want it back probably!

if anyone figures out how to get it to stop saying 1 malfunction, please share.

 

It has been reported in the past that the only way to make the malfunction go away and the light go off is to subscribe for the free year of Teliaid.

Sounds nuts to me. You would think they could do something to over ride this, but several techs have commented that it can't be done or they don't know how.

 

Update. This is straight from the Teleaid/MBUSA Telemetric people:

Question: If the customer declines service how do we remove the "1 Malfunction" message from the IP?


Answer: The "1 Malfunction" message will always remain on the IP if the customer declines the service. Legally it must appear as an indication to the customer that the service is not activated. If you scroll down that menu, you can see it says, "Tele Aid Not Activated" if you need to clarify the malfunction message for your customer.

 

I searched out this problem w/o Jan 12/09 with out much success but got 2 clues.
First, it was stated that US dealers say they cannot disable the Tele-aid and second, there was a hint of an issue with analog systems.
Whereas the US is ending analog usage for communcations, I wondered if this issue - which just started 3 weeks ago - was part of the problem and, whereas I live in Canada I wondered what Mercedes Benz Canada's (MBC) policy on this is.
After 2 tries I got a call from a tech at head office today. The news is good.
First, if you have a car as old or older than mine your Tele-aid is analog and the xcommunication system it was running on IS SHUT OFF by government fiat! When you start the car, whether or not you subscribe, it does a check and sends a signal to the system. Since it can no longer communicate with the system it flashes the malfunction alarm. A lot of cars are affected.
Now the fix is to change out the analog module to a digital one which is no doubt expensive and exactly what MBUSA and MBC want. If the car is out of warranty they will sell new moduls to a lot of people who cannot live without Tele-aid or are naive enough to think it must be fixed.
MBUSA, I am told, is so afraid of law suits from owners who buy cars in which the Tele-aid is disabled that they are I am told telling people as a matter of policy that they cannot disable it. Pure bunk!
Up here MBC is not as concerned and while not 100% sure if it could be done this tech guy called my dealer and spoke with a tech and suggested an approach.
I went up and he connected the computer and set up the diagnostics for my car and went into to where there was a screen showing the Tele-aid with 2 options "Present" and "Not Present". He changed it while I watched to "Not Present". The warning and light went off. We cycled the start 6 times and the Malfunction did not come on. Since then it has been started and stopped at least 6 time and we have no warning.
Hope this helps others as it is yet another pain in the butt toy MB installs that is full of issues that owners have to struggle with. The other is rain sensor. New module only 16 months old loses its way just like the previous 2.