HGB

Hey all!

I posted here about 5 months ago when I was searching for a G.. you guys gave me some good advice, and I ended up with a 2005 Grand edition with 2 previous owners (Owner I purchased it from got it as a CPO in 2009) that had 83,000 miles. I was looking at a newer 2012 with CPO at the time for about 1.7x the price, so I thought the 05 would be a good value.

I got the truck inspected before purchase, found thigns like a power steering pump leak and a tie rod job was also needed. I negotiated that into the price, and brought it home from Los Angeles to my home in Kansas City.

I then enjoyed 3 months of solid ownership, where it was just as bulletproof as all my Toyota Trucks were. Little things here and there would occur, but nothing major.

It all started about a month ago when I came home from a work trip (was gone for about 4 days while the truck sat) and came to unlock the rear door, which would lock, but not unlock unless I pulled on it manually. This stayed this way for about one week. I was planning to have the actuator replaced, but before I made it back into the dealership, it started working fine again, and never happened again.


Next, I had experienced the main comand unit shutting off while driving, only to restart seconds later. The truck would work as fine, so I didn't mind.

After that, my AC went out. The compressor was replaced 6 months ago (under the previous owner) and now the condenser and expansion valve are both leaking... that's $2K that needs to be replaced, and I planned on doing that next week, until the following happened...

The big one..


This past Thursday, it rained HARD. Quite a severe storm, strong wind, etc. And quite a bit of rain entered through the vehicle... I was driving and some fell through onto my jeans. About 2 hours later, I get 6 warning lights on my dash... ABS, ESP, BAS, BRAKE BOOST ASSIST, BRAKE WEAR, and a Check engine light. My spedometer stoppped working and displayed 0 even though I was traveling about 40-50 MPH.

I turned the car off, and back on, and it worked fine and all warnings went away. About an hour later, they came back on and I could not get the vehicle out of park and into drive.. Waited 10-15 minutes and they went away again... only to return.

My appointment with the dealer to install the sunroof was the following day, so I waited and brought my truck in. THey installed the antenna, ran STAR and suspected it was the ESP unit. They found moisture/water on the outside of the ESP unit, so they pulled it, blew all the water from the connectors and reinstalled it. They said that they thought I got lucky as the warnings went away, and they told me they would wash the truck and bring it around for me to take home. I paid my tab ($130 for antenna replacement) and waited.. I look through the service bay window, and see a small crowd around my truck while they turn it on and off.. the advisor returns to the waiting room and informs me he'll have to put me in a loaner car for the weekend as they can't get the car into drive, and all the warnings came back on.

SO, I went with the tech while they pulled the ESP to try and see if letting it air out over the weekend would help, and managed to snap a picture of the part. HERE IS WHAT CONFUSES ME: On the part, is what appears to be a date, reading 05/07/2015. This car is a 2005. That means the part was replaced within the past year or two? And if so, why does it keep failing? Is it the water leaking in that was never addressed that caused it? Could it be another system leading to the failure? This is a VERY expensive part ($1700 is the cheapest I found online) so I would hate to replace it only to have more components, or this one, fail again. Is there a way to repair the ESP+BAS module or must it be replaced?

More questions- Are there any other pricy modules that could also be damaged from water in this area? If so, maybe it's best I trade in the truck? I really did not want to as I've spent thousands (nearly $6-7K) on parts from vlad at four by four club and others to bring this 05 back to life as various cosmetic and trim pieces were really showing their age from being in the california sun. I've also spent a couple more thousand in maintenance, changing all the trans fluids, etc. HOWEVER, if I'm looking at spending another $10K on the truck, it will not be wise at all for me, and will definitely hurt me. Keep in mind I have to replace the AC, and the expansion valve requires pulling the dash which is a ton of labor.. things are adding up.

I also don't feel right dumping the truck onto someone with these issues, so I would prefer to try to keep it as I've invested much time, money, sweat equity and tears.

Water leak locations:

IN addition to coming in through the antenna (which is now replaced so hopefully that stops) when I run the car through a car wash, both my calves, and my passenger's calves will get sprayed with water. It comes through with a bit of force, though not a TON of volume.

Also, when I pull the passenger side floor mat, on the bottom, there is water that collects (not an extreme amount, but it's definitely wet, and not just a misting.

Attached are various photos. The circled red one shows where I feel some water enters and hits our legs, it's from the side, so if you're in the passenger seat, it hits your right leg from the outside and if you're driving, it hits your left leg from the outside.

sterz85

I think your issues are all related to water getting inside the truck and getting electronics wet. You might need to replace some seals around the doors if it's coming in thru the side.

also, have you thought about taking the car to an indy shop instead of the dealer? they labor rates would probably be a bit lower.

and finally, have you looked into an aftermarket warranty?

ItalianJoe1

Don't think that's the date in that format, the 05M07 is 7th month of 2005. The HW and SW dates look to be similar. So it's 15th day of july, 2005. Backwards, but they aren't in the US.

Probably the original part. Water leaks are the devil, Have everything checked very well for corrosion. Odds are you have an issue with the interior CAN going down, if it's just the ESP module you'd be ok but it's kinda one of those 'replace it and see what happens' type of troubleshooting things.

HGB

Hi- I will look into replacing door seals.

I take the truck to a very reasonable indy shop only when it is something that the dealer does not have to do.. diagnosing these issues/programming needs to be done at MB, and my dealership has been very fair with me, so I will continue to support them in this manner. They also provide me with a loaner as this is my only truck. When doing basic services, spark plug changes, trans fluid drain and fills, etc, Indy fits the bill.

I would love to get an aftermarket warranty, but I have been unable to find one that covers a 12 year old truck with nearly 90K miles. The one that I have (warranty direct) has many ripoff report complaints and costs nearly $6500. I'd be OK with paying the $6500 as long as it actually would cover me. The reviews say everything must be paid out of pocket, then they will try to refute any claim for reimbursement. These warranties seem to be written in a way to find a loophole and deny claims.

Any advice as to a 3rd party warranty that is actually worth its weight, and would cover such an old, expensive car?

Thanks!


Hi Joe,

I looked into that earlier, as I had the same thought. What google suggests, is German dates are similar to ones used in US, yet some other euro countries have different date formats, but it doesn't appear to be the case on this one. I may be incorrect, but it says made in Germany so I figured they'd adhere to German practices.

Can you explain a bit more what you mean about the interior CAN going down? And just the ESP module is still about $1600-2200, so while I suppose that's 'OK' it's still quite the chunk of change..

What do you mean replace it and see what happens? The CAN? or the ESP+BAS module?

Also, how much is replacing the 'interior CAN'? is there a way to bypass any of these systems like in the pre MBUSA Europa G's?


Please advise as what you would do with this truck. Am I doomed to trade in? It sucks that a car wash ripping this antenna off and a massive rainstorm has caused this level of damage.

bbirdwell

HGB,
PM me your email address and I'll send you a bit of info so you will better understand the CANBUS in your vehicle. The W463 has two CANBUS connectors in the passenger-side kick panel that tie multiple modules into the network. You posted above that water is blowing in the doors when you take it through the car wash; it is possible you are getting moisture into those connectors.

The distributed digital control system modules and moisture do not mix. Stop taking your car through the "vigorous" car wash. Fix any water leaks *immediately*. Failure to do so can result in very, very expensive repairs.

In most cases the moisture will evaporate; an exception is if the moisture is inside a module. In that case,you can open the module to dry it and trust that no corrosion is present or you can just replace the module. Obviously, you need the diagnostic system and an understanding of the system to isolate the damaged module.

sterz85

try this before replacing the door seals

https://mbworld.org/forums/g-class-w...ater-leak.html

Adi-Benz

hope you get it sorted out!

romebe

Man sucks to hear that, I have an 05 G55 and have my share of nightmares, albeit not as bad as yours.

TuLsaViPeR

I PM'd you... I know exactly what you need to do.

sterz85

Don't be greedy please, share the knowledge!

TuLsaViPeR

I cant share everything I said but I will summarize it to this: Contact some Armenians. I will leave it at that, they will handle all of his problems.