http://www.bba-reman.com/

Don't waste your time.

 

For now, I have found that the VDO numbers must exactly match After I installed a replacement, the gas gauge did not work, (vdo numbers different). I installed my previous cluster and everything worked, but again, that one drains the battery. I guess i am going to buy a salvage one for $250.

F.

 

any luck? please update with us.

 

Lawrence and All:

I had the same problem with my '01 C 320. I followed these simple instructions I found on another forum and it did the trick. Both modules work great and it cost less than $5. Now if i could only get my tele-aid module bypassed life would be perfect. Anyway here is the link to show you how to fix your problem.

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w203...ower-seat.html

 

Almost all mercedes radios work with the key off and removed just hit the power button and jam out. The light stays on always if you are talking about the little red blinking light. I dont think your radio is the problum amg. Also the fix that was posted will work but the seat prolly wont hold memory and things after the car is shut off that is why it has a constant 12v is to save the seat memory.

 

your probably not going to get anywhere suing mercedes benz. You drive a car, cars break, thats what warranty's are for. If you dont have a warranty because of age or mileage then you have to expect that things like this will happen. Electronic parts are very complicated especially on a mercedes. People buy expensive cars for cheap and expect them to break cheap, thats not the case. C-classes and the poor mans mercedes. you get what you pay for. Same repair cost for cheap cars.

 

The reason so many Japanese cars are still on the road is because they don't have reliability problems like this. This is a known failure that's been ongoing since the model was introduced in 2001.

[QUOTE=mbmastertech;3489754].Electronic parts are very complicated especially on a mercedes.QUOTE]

Other makes have more electronics than a Mercedes and don't have near the same volume of problems. Electronics are electronics, one isn't 'more complicated' than another unless the engineers don't know what they're doing. This is the 21st century, electronics are easily made reliable.

This is the attitude that is will eventually put MB out of business. What people 'expect' is for cars not to break repeatedly for the same thing. But when they do, they want an honest and fair repair. It should cost no more to replace a battery in a Hyundai than a Mercedes. But it does, and big time. The notion that because a car costs more to purchase then it will cost more labor to repair is a myth perpetrated by high end car manufacturers at the expense of the consumer. There is no logic in it. People are figuring that out and buying more Japanese cars as a result. Eventually the Japanese will duplicate the ride/feel/smell/looks etc. of Mercedes and Mercedes will be out of a job.

 

Electronics are not just electronics and they are definately not all the same. There are many BIG differences between them. An engine control unit in a honda civic is completely different than in a mercedes. Also replacing a battery in a cheap jap car is more expensive because they are not the same. Mercedes likes to use AGM gel batteries that are a lot more advanced that a regular more common battery. Repeat repairs are most often because of a tech that is not fixing the whole problem just fixing the effect of a problem. You pay more to fix a mercedes because the parts are more because there are a lot more engineering, and features in them. Trust me an electrical problem in a hyundai is a breeze compared to a mercedes benz. Its hard to explain that to people that do not work on car for a living. I have worked on BMW, mercedes, vw, mazda, and toyota. mercedes for the last 11 years. Some cars are more expensive for a reason, Better quality parts more engineering, overall better stuff. that does not mean it will never break. If you go on any other car forum for other manufactures you will hear the same kind of people complaining about how crappy the cars are. To say that japaniese car dont have reliability problems like this just sounds stupid.

 

Yes they are just the same. An ECU in a Honda does the same job as an ECU in a Mercedes, just programmed differently. There may be more or less sensors to deal with but all ECUs do the same function and are more likely than not manufactured in the same place....China/Asia.

But the labor time is the same.....correct? Someone on this forum recently quoted $140 labor to replace a battery in the US. That's robbery but consistent with MB dealer charges. Also, the same gel battery is a minimum 25% cheaper from the vendor.

Depends on the manufacturer To be fair, the early C class is not your average/expected Mercedes build quality. Mercedes' initial attempt at a high volume passenger car was not successful from a reliability standpoint. But you would have to be extremely prejudiced to say the Japanese brands don't consistently have significantly better quality and reliability than Mercedes. I've owned both and know the difference.

 

Sorry if this is off topic on electrical but it directly affects those working on the electrical issues.

The perception of quality and the definition of quality can only be determined by the customer.

Mercedes can not define quality.

Mercedes can listen to the customer define qualilty in engineering terms based on the how well MB listens to the customer, and produces a product that will consistantly deliver what the customer wants.

Example

• The customer wants the battery to stay charged
• The customer does not want to spend excessive time in the dealer for repairs.

And the list goes on.

I have a E500 2003 that I bought new. For the $70G's I thought I was getting a "quality" car. For me quality means only wear / tear items. (oil filters plugs belts etc). Warranty repairs should be almost non-existant.

However in 80,000 miles I have had ignition key failure, door locks, ball joints, total SBC brake failure, air springs and the list goes on.

Granted the car still drives like a new car because I repair with only MB parts each item. But the time in the dealer for service is excessive and cost is what I would consider to be a extra MB tax for the high price.

Telling a customer that a car is better engineered when the car is a little like telling someone with a broken refrigerator that is hot inside they bought the best refrigerator on the market. It really doesn't matter that the manufacture thinks or service people about the car, it only matters if the customer thinks / believes their car is a quality car that translates in to a purchase of a new vehicle.

In this discussion and based on this thread and my MB, MB is in real trouble and it will show the near future if these problems are leaving customers with broken cars for frequent failures.

I wish each of you and the people trying to solve your problems the best in solving your issues, as it is not your fault they failed..

Ya'll have a nice day, and remember

THE CUSTOMER IS THE ONLY PERSON THAT CAN DEFINE QUALITY.

 

Well said.

 

2001 c240 ignition issue. Started after charging battery while battery cables still connected to vehicle. Vehicle will start and run fine until I turn off the vehicle and remove the key. When I re-insert key, car doesn't recognize key and won't allow me to unlock ignition until I disconnect and reconnect battery. If left over night, battery is completely drained. when battery disconnected and recharged the car starts ok. If I disconnect and reconnect battery car starts fine. Also, if I remove and reinsert ignition fuse the car will start. I hear a relay click when removing and re-installing ignition fuse, which makes me think a relay contact might be sticking and seizing until the battery is drained. I don't see any electrical items being powered when the key is removed, so I'm not certain of what is draining the battery. Any idea what is causing this?2001

 

I am not really sure what is going on in the system. I normally charge a car battery disconnected from the car, not connected to the electrical system. Jumping a car from a running vehicle also provides stable power to the system. Some chargers put out high voltage to charge the battery and it may or not have a filtered wave pattern. It might even be only half wave rectifiers in the charger. All the auto systems I have seen use a 3 phase charge system to prevent 1/2 wave lower amperage from charging the battery. What you dont' see is how high (voltage) the wave is on the charger. It might go as high as 30+ volts.

The average for a 1/2 wave charger might be only 15 volts if you read it with a voltmeter, but remember it would only be 30 cycles of 30 volts vs 60 cycles of 15 volts. They would read the same.

So without knowing your charger it may have had a peak voltage high enough to damage the system in your car.

However there is one thing you might try.

Disconnect all batteries, the starting battery and (don't think you have this in your C class) the aux battery also.

Let it sit for 24 hrs to totally run down any capacitors that may be storing memory in the system.

Then reconnect and run the new battery install from your owners manual.

This "might" reset your system to function normally.Good luck hope it works for you.

 

Thank you for this information. The charger I used is a KingCraft model with both 2 amp and 6 amp settings with 12 volts. I used the 2 amp setting to charge the battery. I disconnected the battery for 24 hrs and reconnected it after recharging. I still have the same issue. I recall hearing the radiator fan active after shutting the car off and returning a few hours later. I forgot to mention that in my first description of the issue.

 

One of the seat control units will be your problem. They get an internal problem which keeps can bus awake (keeps sending info), the the can bus remains awake then all other control units on the same canbus stay wake (command, control panels, instrument clustor etc). the control unit with the fault probably won't draw enough current to flatten the battery, but the result keeps enough OTHER control units on to drain the battery.

There is another solution, find the 12v+ (terminal 30, perminant power) and disconnect this, replace it with the switched 12v+ (terminal 15). This way the control unit works perfectly when the key is in the ignition, but when the key is out then the seats won't work. minor inconvinece but cheap option.

 

I realize this is a pretty old thread, but my gratitude goes out to all who have posted here, especially Hackman, who made it possible for me to drive to work this morning.
I have the dreaded canbus sleep mode problem, 1.3 amps constant drain, which I didn't even notice until I let it sit for a couple days waiting for a new water pump I ordered. The car decided someone was trying to steal it at 5:00 in the morning when the battery voltage got low. I'm sure the neighbors appreciated that.
I then found this thread, and disconnected the seat modules one at a time with no change in the current draw, and disconnected all kinds of stuff, no change.

But then I went back and reread Hackman's "woohoo" post, and this morning I unplugged both seat modules, and the SOB (POS) went to sleep!

All anecdotal rambling aside, I was also posting to see if anyone has a clue as to what's keeping the seat modules awake. You have saved me a hell of a lot of time digging around in the wiring harnesses, and I will probably have to go through and unplug the canbus connectors one at a time anyway, but I figured I could thank everybody and mine for more info at the same time...
Thanks again!

 

Ooops, I feel kind of dumb as I just realized there was another page of posts in this thread, and I hadn't seen the above post by Ausmbtech. I will try troubleshooting, or replacing the modules, or probably end up rewiring them to the switched power like he suggests. Great idea, thanks!

 

I like the proposed solution but am unfamiliar with the two terminals referenced. Are the permanent and switched terminals on the seat control units? If not, where can I find them? Many thanks.

 

I know this is an old thread, but i wanted to ask when disconnecting the seat module, do u have to disconnect just the black 4 pin connector on both the driver and passengers seat, or does it have to be both the black ones for the seats and the yellow connectors for the SRS on both sides..i want to apply the splicing fix but i want to be sure before i go ahead

 

I think it was fuse 9 in the trunk that contolled my seat. I found the battery control module in the trunk by the battery bad causing my problem. AFTER buying a new one I disassembled the old one to find a mechanical relay with bad contacts. I belive but didn't prove that was the cause of the problem. I made no attempt to find another relay or repair mine, I just sold the car and bought a new one.

 

Thanks, i'm not going as far as the fuse box just yet. I'm talking about the connections under both the driver and passengers seat