knighton

Roger. Good call. Plenty of 10x10 lumber there at the sawmill. This guarantees my safety. Thank you.

2008 ML 320 CDI

Let us know how things worked out.

Achtung_ML320

"Shortly before these issues began, the Blind Spot became inoperative. Perhaps these sensors/modules need replacing?"

the blind spot monitor sits on the same cambus as the ism controller. Ive seen issues that with that module going faulty first thing it takes out is ISM controller communication as if you know how cambus operates can cause a flurry of com errors.

I would check that module first as your ISM could be totally fine.

dc2k

Hi did you get this issue fixed? Having similar issues in the summer it’s perfectly fine, but during the Winter time mine starts doing the same thing glitches, can’t shift

knighton

Hi,

The ML is still sitting there. Here is the update:

If you recall the ML is far away from home, about 4.5 hour drive away. I have sinced moved more north and the ML is now 7.5 hour drive away.

I charged the two batteries to full capacity (both are brand new OEM batteries with only two weeks worth of driving on them) and put them in. ML started up and miraculously the car went into D and R and N without issue. I was driving the car around the sawmill. Stop/Start/Park/Neutral/Reverse and Drive without issue - 30 minutes worth. Wow. Great... but do I trust this ML to drive me home without issues? NO SIR. Twisty mountain roads with little shoulder to pull over if the car dies again. Cleared all codes and the car appeared to be fine and fixed.

Before I moved I ordered a used radar senor module. I had it with me. I thought i better install it because the "Blindspot Assist Inoperable" warning had been on for some time. So, I swapped out the right rear module and the car was still functional. I then swapped out the left rear module and all was well. Now I was confused. So I put the older module back in and started the car and BOOM! ESP, ABS, etc... lit up on the dash. I thought to myself, "Bingo! The left rear is the bad module." I then swapped out this bad module with the used one and all lights went away and... I was still able to shift into gear and drive around the sawmill. So now I am thinking this was the fix; a bad left rear radar senor module. AWESOME! However, I still did not trust the ML for the long drive home. Why? Because the "Blindspot Assist Inoperable" warning was still on the dash. Now i was really confused.

Car did not work.
Replaced bad module and car worked.
Warning still on dash, when it appeared I fixed this problem.

So I said to myself I will leave it here and come back with a flatdeck and haul it home, which I did... well, sort of. Two weeks later I return with a friend's F350 and car hauler trailer. The ML will go into gear allowing me to drive it onto the car hauler and I can haul it home and take it to my indie mechanic for a proper scan and fix or, I can at least dive deeper into it on my own time. FALSE! The ML started but would not go into gear. Stop/start/stop/start and nothing. Then, all the usual culprits return ESP, SRS, ESP, etc... then the car will not start. Doom on me. Battery is dead. A fully charged battery lost its charge over two weeks of sitting. Thought I had it made but once again I am foiled. 4.5 hours each way with the F350 and car hauler all for nothing. I pulled the battery and when I charged it at home it was 60%. WTF?!

Now I am thoroughly disgusted with owning a Mercedes. The ML is sitting there and I believe it might sit there forever. I have reached the limits of my patience and resources. I am driving my other car, which is a Dodge and this Dodge has been flawless since 2008 (147,000 kms). To make matters worse I am now 7.5 hours away.

The good news is I have sourced a hotshot service what will flatdeck the ML to my indie machanic (4.5 hours to the city of Calgary. I moved an additional 3 hours north to Edmonton). Hotshot service will haul it for $750 and they have a winch deck so they can drag the fu*king thing on to their hauler.

December 2016 I had a serious car accident. I had to learn how to walk and talk again. My accident required one surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff - right shoulder. This meant a solid 9 months recovery, possibly longer. This meant I was not able to drive my manual car. I am not a wealthy man but after coming close to death I thought I would treat myself to a luxury vehicle and buy a MB. My budget in late 2017 allowed for a 2011 ML350 Bluetec. It came out of nowhere. This make and model wasn't on my radar. It was owned by Korean people and Koreans are even more meticulous than Chinese when it comes to cars. Only 87,000 kms and impeccable service records. The ML was mint inside and out. The price was superb because the sales manager was a friend of a friend, was from Singapore (I lived in Singapore from 09-11), also loved wine and he too suffered a massive concussion from being T-boned in an intersection. The deal completed without a hitch and the ML was like driving a dream. I felt truly blessed.

After 50,000 kms of trouble free driving this issue surfaces and I am stumped and at my limits. Limitations are obviously 1). budget to fix the car and 2). knowledge of what the real issue is. If I had a $5,000 pot to tap into to fix the car then I am golden.

When the ML does get fixed it is unlikely I will ever drive it again as I simply do not trust this car and, it is unlikely i will buy another Mercedes. I have had excellent luck with cars my entire life except for this one. Since the accident my budget has been limited I am still not 100% and am slowly rebuilding my life. A large repair bill is not feasible anytime soon.

When i was shopping for a luxury vehicle to treat myself i also looked at the X5 and the full size Range Rover. Looking back i should have bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee. My best friend has one (2015) and it was been dead reliable in every condition. He drives long distances way up north (800+ kms each way in the middle of nowhere, 2 weeks in and 1 week home) to work on his oil drilling rig. If his Jeep were to have an issue at least someone even way up there knows how to fix a Jeep.

If i do decide to fix the ML and if i do decide to drive it, it will be city driving only. I simply do not trust this car to drive it any distance.

This is the update. I am expecting a $4-5000 bill once it reaches my mechanic. Joy oh joy.

knighton

Forgot to mention:

When i returned to the car with the fresh battery and once installed, found the car to have no faults and perfectly drive-able, I noticed the Keyless Go stopped working. It was as though the electrical gremlins moved away from the radar blindspot modules and ISM to the Keyless Go, changing the way the car was faulty. Seems the car must be faulty in someway and decided for that day, to not allow me to use the Keyless Go but allowed me to drive the car.

2008 ML 320 CDI

I thought you had managed with the breakdown and moved on. I understand you've gone through a lot but don't get discouraged. It is probably a pretty minor fault manifesting itself as this huge problem. In the olden days something small would go wrong and you'd carry on driving until that small thing causes a big, obvious and costly failure and then eventually you'd get stuck anyway but at least at that point the failure would be obvious. Nowadays the vehicle protects itself and its occupants against potential damage or danger but often you can't identify the problem. Which is better? I don't know.

Is your vehicle in Calgary now and is it being worked on? How do they get the vehicle onto the flatdeck if the vehicle can't be put into neutral?

knighton

Thank you for your encouragement and yes, I am discouraged.

The vehicle is 2 kms from the Montana border, near the Roosville crossing, parked at a sawmill south of Grasmere, BC. The car will be dragged up onto a flatdeck using a winch. I am not going to drive 15 hours round trip to install a freshly charged battery to see IF it will go into Drive.

Perhaps I have been truly unprepared for MB ownership from the start. Seems to me I require the Xentry (sp) software (clone) to properly diagnose any and every problem. Pre-accident I was mentally more acute and would have solved this issue long ago. When the car gets to Calgary who do you recommend I take it to? I have been going to MidTown Service but all issues started just minutes after their last service (brake, tranny, oil change/flush). Having said this, when your German car breaks down and your only choice to have it repaired is in a major city, how can one be prepared for this? My plans for a long drive vacation to Vegas, Monument Park, Grand Canyon and Scottsdale have been erased. Last year fueled up next to an X5 diesel owner who had a break down on a road trip into the States. Fuel pump died. Left him stranded. Nearest shop was the BMW dealer in Scottsdale, hours away. Towing and repair bill was thousands. Had to wait two days in a hotel for the pump to arrive. He said the X5 was now his city only car. What a shame as my Bluetec is superb on long distance trips or was. 40 mpg and comfortable.

2008 ML 320 CDI

In this case I would take the car to the MB dealership and request their DAS fault diagnostic and a quote only (no repairs) and then make decisions from there. I've done that before with MB in Calgary (LoneStar) when my aircon was erratic. The diagnostic and test cost me something like CAD180.00 and I knew then with a lot more certainty that it wasn't the controls as I had thought, but instead it was the aircon pump. Discuss a booking with the dealership beforehand and then together decide on a set of parameters such as time and cost.

Maj. Dundee

When you replace the battery and have Keyless Go, you must follow a specific procedure. Read step #8.

Now you will need a scanner that can read all modules to delete the code/s stored in the Keyless Go module.

Marcianello

Did you fix it?

knighton

As a matter of fact I did. When I finally pulled the rear bumper off to inspect the radar blind spot sensors, both of them were completely corroded, I mean completely. Each sensor disintegrated in my hands. It was a wet, sloppy, and disgusting mess of plastics and electronics. I found used ones from a seller in California, plugged them in, and problem solved.

It was an "easy" fix with a difficult diagnosis. I was suffering through a brain injury as well making critical thinking or any sort of thinking, a near impossible task.

I now believe as a consequence of this issue, the Parking Sensor Module is toast. I will need to pull out the front seat to test it but I think it too is toast. They are relatively inexpensive to find a used module, < $100.

Last year the turbo went on it (about 100,000 miles/160,000 kms) so I had it replaced and decided to do all the deletes and put on a tune. GOOD GOSH! The ML really moves and for the first time, it is a fun vehicle to drive. The highway passing power is immense whereas previous, highway passing meant risking my life.

I would like to SINCERELY thank everyone for all their help.

C230 Sport Coup

Are you kidding me? Blind spot sensors was the problem that caused all those problems? How the heck did you ever suss that one out?
My 06 is stuck in Park.
Just starting on how to fix it.
Nowhere near as bad as yours.
Might be the shift module.
I put a separate thread to hopefully get some help.

knighton

When I brought the car back to civilization, a friend helped me go through it. We torn the rear of the car apart inside and out. We went through the car to check every wire. In the left rear corner, my friend began unplugging everything he could see and WHOOMP There It IS! The incessant alarm/warning beeping stopped and the dash lights and warnings calmed down. I then took that Indiana Jones Style leap of faith, placed my foot on the brake, and pressed the Start button. It came to life. Started instantly and idled perfect. The sheer disbelief had me repeat this process 3-4 times with equal success.

We traced this connection easily to the radar blind spot sensors. Reconnected and the beeping continued. Disconnected and no beeping. Pulled off the rear bumper to find - as I said - two modules completely destroyed.

I don't know what I don't know. I didn't know what I didn't know and having a serious brain injury made everything much worse. But now I know and what I know is everything is fixable. And what else I know is if a guy with a brain injury, temporarily lacking critical thinking ability, can solve a Mercedes problem, I firmly believe you can solve your Park issues on your 06.

How did I suss this one out? You might think I am joking when I tell you I believe God decided I had suffered enough. At some point the damn broke and when it did, the car was fixed.

C230 Sport Coup

Thanks for the reply. I got the car to shift yesterday! I have icarsoft mbII which while almost useless to read the MEI ie ECU for regular engine codes
(end up using OBDII to read codes since in Benz mode it says all the codes are unknown) as it turns out, I discovered that holy crap, it can
read, clear, and get live data from almost ALL the modules on the CANBUS.
I went through all the menus, lots of CANBUS communication errors and such, plus a number of shorts etc
mostly historical. It kept mentioning both communication with A80 which is the ISM and the Direct Select blah blah ie the gear lever on the steering column.
I cleared the error from the ISM but it just came back. Live data only saw the P button being pushed no D or R.
Well, I finally got to the Steering Column module, same errors there. Cleared them, and BAM! It went in gear.
I think as someone said here the car was protecting itself or something since earlier on it wasn't able to communicate with the ISM and the ISM was not
getting the SCM. But I was able to read all modules in the car. And just clearing those errors in the SCM did it!
Drove around the block and parked it. Shifted through all the gears etc! Disconnected the battery because along with this I seem to have a short
somewhere. Hopefully clear all the errors from all the modules, (which apparently must be read individually) and see if any report a short
before doing more drastic stuff.
Not leaving home without the iCarsoft scanner!

The real issue I think is that there is water trapped in the chassis somewhere from last seasons rains! Been there for months.
You hear it sloshing around!
And now the rainy season is starting again.
Mercedes do NOT like water. We have an 02 C230 and the 06 ML350 and moved to Oregon from California a couple years ago,
We get 80+ inches of rain up here a years vs 10-25 in California
And as the garage was full and being used for storage it was not possible to garage the cars.
My poor c230 was parked for almost a year needing an alternator and new supercharger and a whole host of other problems which went away
once the car dried out. It has leakage from I don't know where exactly but the entire hatch was replaced along with the rear sunroof glass and likely gets in around he
seal on the hatch. I think since the ML still has water this is the real source of the problem,

So today or tomorrow going to tear the car apart looking for ways to get at this water. Start with the rear quarter panels, pull the interior paneling,
etc. Maybe even pull the seats the floor up and see what's what.
It may be necessary to drill some holes but where?

Also perhaps new seals for the tail lights as it seems perhaps they are leaking and
while I've checked the sunroof vents and the ones by the windshield better to check them again.

I managed to clear out enough room for one car and after a lot of arguments with the wife, she
has one side for her storage and I have the other side for my c230 and car repairs.
Thank god. Put a new alternator and supercharger in the c230 and new brake soon, and she'll
be good for a while. The rain destroyed my clear coat.
Now need to convince the wife to get rid of the excess furniture so we can get her car in too
or just more problems.
40+ mpg on you ML diesel? Wow. I might have to consider that if they are for sale in the USA.
Garage your ML, check the sunroof vents and the ones under the windshield. Monitor any leakage under the spare tire and quarter panels , replace tail light seals
and you will likely avoid these problems.

knighton

Rain/water IS an issue with Mercedes. I had water pooling in the rear corners thanks to leaky tail light seals. Pulled them out and siliconed the living heck out of all areas of contact. I actually had water leaking onto the fuse panel in the right rear, so I traced the leaking and well, I do not recall what I did due to my brain injury (short term memory loss) but I fixed the leaking.

I also had a faulty windshield seal, left side, and the water would pool in the driver's footwell. Discovered this first rainfall after purchase. Little did I know the amplifier is under the driver's seat and guess where all that water ended up? The amp was toast. Turned out I had to replace the amp, two door speakers and the COMAND system; replaced it with a normal Pioneer deck. Had to buy an steering wheel adapter too. $4,000 later but no backup camera thanks to the fiber optic cables powering the speakers and camera.

I must really like this 2011 ML.