CharlzO

Good evening all. Just looking for a couple suggestions to point me in the right direction. Brief background - just hit 120k miles, have had no issues since purchase 4 months ago. I don't currently have a copy of the service manual so I'm flying slightly blind, and the closest MB dealer is about an hour and a half away (and I hate throwing money haphazardly at people to get 'maybe' answers)

Tonight, I got in to head home, and noticed as I started, a variety of wtf's:

• Tire Pressure Monitor Inoperative flashes every few seconds
• SOS Tele Aid Inoperative flashes in between every so often
• Wipers activate intermittently - not the intermittent function, but rather, at random they just go off. Not a set interval, sometimes it's within seconds, other times, it's more like 20-30 seconds between
• High Beam/Low Beam switching is strange. Flipping to high sometimes had a delayed reaction, and likewise back. Also, while on High, they would flicker back to low and then high on their own every few seconds, or sometimes, just seem to dip back to Low, even with the high beam indicator still on
• Turn signals very erratic., Sometimes they wouldn't go off at all, other times, they would, but with no pattern to them at all. Click...click click...click....clickclick...click...........clic k click.... and so on.

I don't know if there are more symptoms beyond that, as those were the only ones readily apparently on the drive home. I did try stopping halfway, and restarting the vehicle to see if anything else changed, but it continued. I'm going to order a new battery, since that seems to be a common starting point for most cars these days. I haven't had a chance to load test it (happened tonight, after all), though it's been completely trouble-free until now. But on the off chance that it isn't the battery, or solved by a new one, are there any other spots to look for, or at? I'd prefer to at least attempt to diagnose or get a good idea before having to find time to get it to the dealership and see how bad that diagnostic venture would be. I've tried searching, but coming up with keywords that bring up results with similar issues has been so far elusive.

Thanks in advance

machadosl

Hi, juste check if any of the SAM modules are okay, most of the times this happens when they are exposed to water.

kombifan

Check front and rear Sams for water intrusion.

Did this happen during or after a huge rain storm?

CharlzO

It did rain a bit Sunday, though the symptoms didn't hit until Monday night, but after finally finding other mention, it does seems likely. I have an iCarsoft that pulling up the Gateway screen did give me an error that I'll attach, not sure if that means that it's that itself or another module. I did check the rear of the vehicle last night after I got home, as much as I could without major disassembly and everything is completely dry and no sign of water intrusion. That was including the spare tire well as I had heard mention that it could be a sign of other areas, and I pulled the panel off the passenger side fuse location and looked all over in there, not a sign of a drop.

Under the drivers seat looked fine, I didn't get a chance to look at the passenger side, maybe I'll try to get a look today on lunch. The drivers footwell though, did seem like the carpet MAY be a slight bit damp, and considering I have weathertech mats, seemed like that shouldn't be. I'm hoping to have more time to pull that open, but I do work 12 hour days and finding light is harder these days. I'm going to guess that it might be something there, which I believe also has a SAM somewhere nearby? Just going by previous threads and posts.

Other posts did mention the Gateway needs to be reprogrammed if replaced (oh joy to that programming bill for what should be a painless procedure). Some places mentioned a cloning service online but vague, I still need to look more there. However, if it's a SAM module, does that also need any special programming, or is it just the gateway that needs it when replaced? Or does the Gateway need programming regardless, to see the new SAM? I'm pretty DIY for most things mechanical, but the programming and data connectivity stuff, I'm not well-versed in how they work together.

Anyway, here are the pictures I took of what the scanner showed when I read the codes for the CGW, which doesn't really say much. but if anyone recognizes it with a "that definitely points to this" moment, worth a shot lol.




Thanks for all the suggestions, I'm still trying to read everything I can find in the meantime.

EDIT: Just to add, I'll check the passenger side in a couple hours on my lunch break, I didn't check that side for any dampness last night, but it might stand to reason that if the drivers was, maybe the passenger side will be too. Still new to this level of diagnostics, so apologies, and thanks for the patience as I ramble through

machadosl

Have you take a look at the SAM module under the passenger seat? This module is near the battery and acid vapor from the battery can cause corrosion on the nearby. Another point, that can be the cause, is if you had installed some new electric part as a new radio or sound amplifier and did not pay attention when moving the wires properly.

CharlzO

Thanks for the pointer. No changes to the vehicle yet, still can't decide which radio I'd go with if I do anyway lol. I haven't had a chance to take a good look under the passenger seat. I did pull the little plastic piece off the vent to see if I could see much but didn't get a chance to actually look, so I put it back in place as it started to rain (go figure). And I had to run and drop mail off, and wouldn't you know, it didn't act up at all. I'll be getting up early tomorrow and going out to move the seat around and get a better look in there, see what I can see. From some other posts I've found, seems a common trouble spot. Will keep posted on my progress as I find it. Fingers crossed it stays stable so I have actual high beams on the way home tonight. Hard to see the deer in the fields with the low beam cut-offs until I'm right on top of them.

CharlzO

Went out today and got the passenger side opened up a little (that plastic piece sure is finicky to go back in). Everything was clean, but there was the remains of some liquid on the hold down bracket, so I do need to pull everything out and see what's up. Time to search the posts on water ingress to there and see where it might have come from (assuming it's water - I haven't tested it yet, still at work). Baby steps.

machadosl

I hope you can find what and where is the problem.

CharlzO

Well, it rained this past weekend and they came back. Still trying to trace what might be getting where. I tried snaking some trimmer line down the driver's side frontmost sunroof drain (saw it in a post somewhere), and... well, no idea where that is supposed to actually come out, but I did snake about 10 feet down and back and it didn't seem like it had any resistance. Also didn't exit the car anywhere either, so if it's supposed to be an open path under the car, then I took a detour. I didn't get a chance to do the rears. I did check the battery compartment, and there's no dampness there any more, so I'm thinking it's not that area that's causing my issues.

And of course this morning, it progressed to a dead battery when I went to go to work this morning. I would love to think that maybe the battery dying is the cause of my issues, but it does seem too coincidental with the symptoms only showing up after major rainfalls. But to be safe, I'm going to try to pick up a replacement battery anyway. I don't know when, or if, this one was ever replaced, and it's going on ten years old. Can't hurt, I suppose.

machadosl

I think you have to find where are all the electronic modules inside the car, at least one of them is being wet. The most common modules that suffer with water entrance are the one near the battery compartment and the one on the rear right side of the car, it is near the right taillight. Another one stands at the botton trunk next to the spare tire, this is very difficult to have access.

kombifan

Inspect and remove front and rear sam. You have water intrusion if your front Sam area was wet.

Remove and replace it. Check harnesses in the same area for corrosion and damage as well. Change battery only if original, make sure it is agm.

CharlzO

I definitely agree it's 99.9% a module. More like 100% but if I say that, then it's guaranteed that it's going to cost me to get it sorted out lol. But with the symptoms, it fits. I still have to get the airbag recall done, so I'm kind of resigning myself to having them diagnose it further when it's there, to see if they can give me a better idea of where it is. I'm still trying to find posts that better describe the drains from the sunroof, where they route, exit, etc. The battery compartment is dry, no sign of corrosion. The carpets aren't damp anywhere, but then I've got Weathertech mats so I wouldn't have noticed until I just took them out today. The tire well in the rear is bone dry and no sign of moisture back in the rear comparment on the sides. But it has to be coming somewhere, and it only seems issues after heavy rains, so there's something somewhere. Working so many hours makes it hard to track but I need to get there soon.

On the other side of the coin, it's still a MB battery under the seat. Not sure if it's original or a replacement MB unit from somewhere, all I can see from the top is just the generic part number label, can't see down the sides to try to find any other stickers that will tell me, and nothing embossed on either battery post. The car has started ok throughout the day at least, but the hunt is still on for the proper culprit. Tomorrow I'm bringing tools to work, and seeing if bit by bit I can start removing kick panels and other trim and such to try to find a lead.

CharlzO

Today's update: Got in this morning, dash lit up (didn't the day before) so I had hopes, but not quite. One crank, then died off. I'm thinking the battery was replaced once before with another OEM battery (carpet cut, the post doesn't have a date code stamped), but decided that without knowing when that was, I bought a new Duralast H8-AGM on the way to work today just to be safe. And then as luck would have it, ran into a massive downpour on the way as well. Normally this would really annoy me since I'm trying to dry the darn thing out, but I took the opportunity to reach down and feel the driver's side kick panel, and can feel some wetness behind it. Now I just need to get a break in the rain and try to figure out how to dismantle bits so I can figure out where that's coming from. It may or may not be the root cause of my issues, but it still would need fixing anyway.

CharlzO

Changed out the battery this morning. Issue has cleared for now, but it's early, and most likely coincidental. I haven't gone through windows yet, but everything else works for the time being. That said, the Ambient Air Temp showed the wonderful 185F reading immediately after the swap. After a fifteen minute drive, it had dropped to 89, and fluctuated between there and 99-100 and so on. Curious that it was working fine prior, and now it's acting strange. It did trip the check engine light, which I reset and after it settled under triple digits, it has stayed clear of codes.

I tried pulling the floor for the front SAM access but my goodness things are tight fitting and annoying to figure out. The saga continues.

Evening Edit: Went out on my last break and crawled under to see if I could see any obvious drains, to which the answer was no. Then I remembered a bottle of water I had in the car, so I dumped some in the sunroof area to see what happened. Between moving around, I did see that both front drains do drain. I don't know if they recently started after poking around with the trimmer line, or if they've been working the whole time and then my problem could be from elsewhere. Next up will be checking the AC drain if I can find it, and cabin filter ones. Pretty sure at least that one would've affected the passenger side but might as well while I'm in the middle of this. I did find another issue that cropped up, something for another thread.

CharlzO

Car started this morning after sitting overnight. Only issue I've had was the ambient temperature was incorrect to start with, and then I realized it was going absolutely bonkers whenever I turned the AC on - it would drop to 30F like a rock, and then rocket back up when I was turned off, and triggered a P009A engine code (a temp mismatch between ambient and intake sensors). That cleared up this afternoon, thankfully and has stopped. I did notice going around a sharp corner though, that I definitely hear some water sloshing. Tomorrow I'm going to take another stab at getting the drivers footwell opened up and see if that's where I'm hearing, and then I can go about tracking how it got in there.

machadosl

I hope you can find out where this water is and where it is coming from. Sometimes, in a car that has a lot of electronics this is a nightmare to find.

CharlzO

The mystery deepens. While killing time at the marina today (still no launch, stupid flooding...) I finally managed to get into the driver's side footwell. That took some finesse but then imagine my surprise when I get the carpet up enough to get the fiberglass panel removed, and look down to see..... nothing. Bone dry. No sign of moisture at all, in fact. It also made me question whether or not I was really feeling wetness behind the kickpanel or not. When I heard water sloshing yesterday, it really did sound more like it was in the dashboard area, which of course is just silly. But now my next place to check is the AC drain. I did manage to locate that, miraculously enough. But without anything to catch any possible water if I pulled the hose off, I had to leave that for the day. Tomorrow morning, I'll take something out and clip the zip tie that's holding the hose on, and see if there's anything else I can find. Unfortunately, it also leaves me just as perplexed as when I started. For a recap:

Was a tiny bit of dampness in the battery hold down bracket in the passenger footwell, but no sign of deeper water. No sign of water in the rear SAM location, or spare tire well. No sign of water in the driver's footwell location, front SAM looks in mint condition with no signs of wetness or corrosion. Checked the sunroof front drains, both are draining (though I DID snake some line through the driver's side prior to testing, so maybe it was clogged somehow and allowing water to hit...something?). I did notice the driver's side empties behind the front wheel, whereas the passenger side seems to be emptying in front of the wheel on that side, don't know if that's by design? But either way, it's draining outside the car, not inside. I also double-checked the drain by the cabin filter, just to make sure that the water from there, and the drain from the hood vents work, and they drain fine. The only other drain I can think of, then, is the AC drain.

I replaced the battery with a new Duralast Platinum AGM. Immediately after replacement, the issue stopped. After a day, the ambient temp sensor wackiness settled itself also.

Makes very little sense to me at this point, but perhaps it's the AC drain plugged, water reaches a certain level, hits... I dunno, back of the Command unit and makes it go nuts-o? Perhaps the issue wasn't rain related, but rather AC-related (since if it's raining outside, I'm inside with the AC on to keep the windows clear)? Just taking guesses for now, since I won't know until tomorrow about the AC drain.

CharlzO

No water in the AC drain. I've purposefully avoided using it for a few days as is, so that doesn't surprise me, really. Well, other than there being that sloshing sound I swore I heard, that I can't find a source of. Maybe I was just hearing one of my bottled waters throwing it's voice? Frustrating not to know. I'll have to run the AC on the next nice day we get and verify it's draining underneath. I did blow through the hose and it does blow freely out of the car (I unhooked it from the container, left it hooked to the tunnel, and blew).

La_piovra

Wow ... Today my wife forgot to close windows GL 320 (it was really hot), suddenly storm started. We were not at home. Then she started to drive, after 1 mile, she called me. I'll skip what she told me in details but in general: steering was blocked, wipers stopped, brakes not operating, all dash in lights. So, I don't know from what to start. Of course it electrical but old nice car. Anyway, I'll do that This 2008 pre AdBlue diesel, so it will run

kombifan

Front and rear sam.

Will probably need replacing.

La_piovra

I wish that but it seems to me its more than 2 SAMS