2002 S500
So like many of us I am always ready to buy a MB that's a steal.
Last week I was following one on ebay, seemed clean and the dealer couldn't get the battery boosted to open the trunk so he sold it cheap.

Well, nobody would ship the car if its stuck on park, so due to the post showing the rubber mallet doing the trick, I got on a plane with my mallet and got it in neutral.

So the headache begins, the dealer knew to boost it from passenger floor, so I had no tricks when I got there. That was the least of the problems, the key would turn the trunk but no matter how much WD40 i spray, it is not opening. It is turning easily and I am pushing up correctly, I even slightly forced the key since it was a hair off 3 o'clock and still nada.

With the booster cables attached, the sunroof worked, wipers and horn and blower but nothing else. The key will turn and dash did light up but Im sure its toast. The car was sitting for months, they broke the rear control arm dragging it onto a truck and the front bumper was damaged too. The car stinks like dog, exhaust cut off somewhere in the middle of the car, cigarette burns in the headliner, 2 airbags down and although carfax showed a decent history up to 4 years ago...The new punk that owned it never changed the oil once in 3 years at least, I literally can scoop out the sludge with a spoon.

So playing around with the car, the dash went blank and all the other electric options in the car as well. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, heres what happened ;

The booster cables were on (passenger floor) and I was attempting to start the car, of course all I heard was clicking (not starter, like a relay sound). I held it in the on position for about 4 seconds, the dash lights were flickering and suddenly all dark, nothing no power anywhere.

I have checked all the fuses, but not the relays. Both fuses boxes under the hood and back seat, is there another box in the trunk, is it possible I burned the ignition switch??

As far as the trunk, I spoke to a MB guy and his suggestion was to break the tail light. Ive read if you drill somewhere behind the plate you can reach the metal bar and open the trunk that way. Seems like a cheap option and one I can put a rubber plug over. the cigarette lighter thing didnt work, boosting did not, door switch no, mechanical key even though turning it wont open..

Can anyone tell me the best location to drill to reach the bar and help with the dash and all power going out, relay, fuse or ignition switch??

Thank you in advance!

 

The place to drill is behind the license plate

I still think some more fiddling with the key will get it to open , you need to turn and push just "so" - it sometimes takes several minutes to turn and push correctly

There is a big fuse under the passenger floor panel like an industrial fuse , that probably blew

Personally I would just part the car out

 

I was thinking of parting it out but I'm already shipping it back to Florida and don't have a garage to do so.
I found a decent ML55 engine, figured I would drop it in and fix whats needed, or sell it as a whole parts car..
Believe me I spent nearly 45 minutes straight on the trunk, I even had to walk away a few times so I don't lose my cool.
Good to know that drilling it will solve the issue and get me started on troubleshooting.
Thanks

 

Wow talk about a project car!

 

I assume it's eBay item 281686573708

You should have been able to start it by hooking up a battery under the passenger floor before the fuse likely blew , I don't think getting in the trunk will help you get it started

I seriously doubt putting in a new engine will help you / the engines on these cars are bulletproof it's likely an electronics issue

It likely had water Damage and the ecus and SAM are bad , or possibly the eis electronic ignition switch or security components are preventing cranking. These are all common issues You should have got power windows and seats to work with the battery power so might have a bad door control module too

 

WOAH 5.0L V8 for $1,500. Plus you got some fancy electronics to play with.

You should check the Fuse Block under the passenger footwell. There might have been a electrical short and blew a fuse inside. The Fuse isn't replaceable, for for testing purposes you can solder in a thin wire to act like the fuse.

 

If it's a bad eis maybe m and b can help you diagnose the issue

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w220-s-class/2355353-2000-mercedes-s-500-power-issue.html

They repair the eis

 

Sorry that happened to you. I saw the pictures and they are very misleading. The dealer knew what they were selling but did not disclose the actual condition.

 

Yes it is a big project but I like headaches... tusabes you got the right item number.

I always pay right away so when I got down to Indianapolis, I sucked it up and left a decent review. He gave me back a couple of hundred bucks and is holding the car till the shipper comes.
cybertronicify I bet you might be right, I woke up in the middle of the night thinking I blew the fuse in the junction box. I thought it was called a prefuse but after doing some research I think having the jumpers on it while trying to start, may have blown it. I'm not 100% sure because I cannot remember if I had disconnected the large red wire that goes back to the battery and jumped that wire only at the time it blew.
Does anyone know if I had the large red wire to the junction box disconnected, would the ignition switch get juice to turn on the dash and allow me to turn the key? Or is the dash powered after the 2 fuse boxes under the hood?

The car is very dry aside from the pungent dog smell, I know the battery is beyond toast.
I think the original issue was just a dead battery, the broken control arm and front bumper was from dragging it onto the tow truck in park when the dealer repossessed it.
All the other issues was from a previous owner who made the down payment but couldn't afford an oil change.
I hope this engine is bulletproof, the tablespoons of sludge I'm pulling out is driving me nutz. If I get it going fairly easily I might just invest the cash and drop an AMG ML55 motor in there for piece of mind..

Oh did I mention, the drivers door airbag was blown too...Wonder how that happened?

Thanks for the advice and helpful link.
I will keep this updated throughout the process.
Might be a week till it gets down to Florida and I likely wont get started on it till mid June.

 

Good luck!

Nick

 

Thanks, I'm sure it will be needed tremendously!

 

I see no point in this exercise. You will waste time and money, not to mention frustration, on a car with little value in good shape.

Project cars are one thing, but this just seems like an exercise in futility.

 

I agree with Quadcammer, this things sounds like a beast. This sounds like the perfect car for and automotive technician's class.

 

No it's an ideal car to just part out

 

So I just landed in Florida and the shop I left it at got into the trunk somehow. Nobody was around to tell me how, but never the less still have issues.
I understand its in my best interest to part the car or sell it as is, understood. I do however think if I can get the car to start, I am more likely to sell it easier instead of parting it out which isn't really an option for me.

Ok so I used a relatively newer battery that I had on a trickle charger all night, so I assume the battery for testing was ok...I still have a no start condition.
I assume the alarm horn battery is not working since the alarm seems to go off and the brake lights flicker.
In addition, the lights on the dash go very dim to bright. I hear a large current draw at the same time they dim that goes in sequence with the alarm. I'm not sure if the alarm battery will cause a no start condition. The windows don't work, radio wont turn either but sunroof and ventilation seem to be working.
When the alarm goes off, the rear brake light stays on (the one inside on the trunk lid). I can shut the alarm off by locking and unlocking, lights stop flickering and brake/parking lights shut off. However when I try to crank, it will eventually go back on. Car wont get out of park either, not sure if that's the brake pedal switch since the brake light only illuminates when the alarm goes off. In fact not even sure if the alarm is going on/off at all! I don't know if flickering brake and headlights mean alarm. Attached is short clip of whats happening, it doesn't seem to show the dash lights dim and brighten though trust me they do.

Any ideas where to start, please and thank you!

 

Faulty brake light switch i've seen on a couple benzs, which will leave it stuck in park as well. It does sound like you've got a lack of power somewhere if the dash is dimming, are you sure the battery is good? Connections good? No blown fuses?

 

Also there could be an issue with the key/programming/immobilizer causing the alarm to trigger and a no-start, but this can all be related to poor supply voltages. Ensure you have full battery voltage reaching the forward fuse boxes and distribution points.

 

I'm assuming the battery I used was ok.

The trickle charger automatically shuts off and shows a green light once fully charged. The green light would not illuminate if the battery was not good.

All the fuses are ok, but I sill don't understand why the alarm goes on. I don't think its a key issue since the car recognizes the key and it moves to start position.

I can see the red light working on the key and the metal key works on the doors, so I'm assuming the key is the correct one.

I somehow think all the issues are connected but I will check on the brake switch as well and will double check the battery.

Thanks

Anyone here have step by step process of elimination to begin diagnosing this headache ?

 

Can this be related to the trunk being left open or this airbag on the drivers door hanging out?

 

You are getting multiple errors because the car was likely water damaged and has hundreds of electrucal faults

You can spend thousands to replace all the wiring harnesses ecu and SAM and then you'll have a car worth $4000. Not worth it

 

The car had never been flooded, it was just sitting for 4 months and did not run.
Likely due to the battery going dead and no way into the trunk, it was repossessed and I bought it.

I have no blown fuses and from what I've read the windows not working along with a few other components are connected to 1 issue.

In any event if someone knows all the variables that would prevent the starter from turning or the alarm from going or at least the lights flashing it would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

I didn't say it was flooded . These cars have a reed valve problem and just letting them sit outside in the rain will cause water damage to the ekectronics , there are literally dozens of threads on this issue

If you are determined to start replacing parts , buy the following on eBay (you can resell them If you don't need them) :
1. Driver side door control module (about $150)
2. Front and rear SAMs (about $300)
3. Shifter/key/eis/ecu package (they sell matched sets for $350-400 used from a wrecked car/ and you'll need to replace all of the parts for it to work )

start with the drivers side door control module (the power seat and mirror switches ) when these go bad they affect all areas of the car . If that doesn't work move on to the SAMs. . If that doesn't work replace all the security compnents (shufter key eis ecu) as a package

If all that doesn't work, buy a new alarm siren from mb. Don't buy a used one they are old and their internal batteries useless

If all that doesn't work, sell off the parts you bought and chalk it up as a loss

 

I appreciate the help tusabes, don't get me wrong.

What my primary objective is to get the car to run, so I will leave out the seat and window issue. I mentioned it because I thought there ma be 1 common issue that may affect those variables.


However before I start changing random parts I would hope someone might have gone through a similar predicament and might offer a way to test the SAM, drivers control module etc instead of replacing and then praying.

It's the first I've heard of a reed problem, I will spend some time and read up to see if I have common issues.
Looks quiet common, just found a YouTube video showing similar flashing lights and it was the SAM.



Thanks, its a start.

 

I'm not just making this stuff up , I've seen these exact same problems posted before, water damage are the causes and these parts are the fixes. You are dealing with a water damaged car and by necessity you'll need to change out several components / there is no one Magic component that is going to get everything working perfectly .

I've posted 4 reasonably priced (for a Mercedes ) items you'll need from eBay . It will save you much time buying them all at once to tackle the car in one shot , instead of buying one part, finding it doesn't fix it, then buying another. Have everything handy at once X

If it turns out you don't need them it is no problem to resell on eBay as everybody needs these parts every time it rains .

 

Got it!

I was just looking up the rear and 2 front SAM's on Ebay.
Pretty cheap, just need to find a good seller. A bit concerned not to buy one that was sitting at a yard getting wet.

I'm going to double check the power to all 3 boxes first.

I will keep this post updated as I find some time to play around.

Thanks for the help.