Edward Shorter

Friends,
I have had this 2007 S550 Mercedes here in the UAE where I have worked for 12 months and have spent double on repairs as what I spent on the car.
The latest and only outstanding problem is three times now it has failed to start or even crank. Shops here are great at replacing parts but have difficulty analyzing the rare and sporadic problems. They have replaced all three SAM and the engine computer and the starter and both batteries.
Three times in the last three months, it has not started or cranked. The instrument panel said to take it to a dealer without changing gears the last two times.
So the first time I had it towed 200 kilometers to Abu Dhabi and they kept it two weeks and installed three used SAM. I drive it home and it started a few times. But a week later, it would not start or crank in the next shop. They showed me the solenoid was getting some electricity when they turned the key, but it would not click or engage the bendix to the starter. So they replaced the starter and the battery. Maybe the solenoid was not getting enough electricity?

It drove for another month and two days ago, would not crank or start. I waited a couple of hours and tried it again while wiggling the gear shifter. It started and I drove 200 yards and it stopped. Started several times more but only ran for two seconds. I got it into neutral by wiggling the gear shifter and had it towed to the shop again.

They could not get it into neutral to get it off the back of the truck. They started all over again checking both batteries and the fuel pump and all three SAM. They said the SAM were not getting power?
I read lots or information on these forums and due to the problem being sporadic, I suspect a corroded terminal somewhere. But where? The car is in the shop now.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks!
Ed Shorter from Virginia, USA

konigstiger

You do not mention if this is a dealer or independent shop, used SAMs may indicate independent. Need to find a shop using Xentry (MB diagnostics) to pull fault codes. Off the cuff shifter or intelligent servo module ISM @ transmission “may” need replacement.

Edward Shorter

Thanks for the reply. I read several of your replies earlier and was very impressed.
I have had the Mercedes in several shops but I have not had it in the Mercedes Dealership. I did meet with the service manager there and discussed the earlier problem of my “dirty transmission” and begged them to virginize and reprogram a spare conductor plate and valve body I had shipped over from the USA. But he did not want to do what I asked them to do, but insisted on running a series of time consuming and expensive tests that I had already performed with my own scanner. Probably would have sold me an entirely new conductor plate and valve body for about $6,000. And since my car has Japanese specs, they wanted me to pay almost $400 to register the car there before they started the tests for the dirty transmission not shifting gears properly.
So I found another shop that removed my transmission and rebuilt the torque converter and removed all 8 control valves and cleaned under them. That corrected the shifting problem I had for 6 months.

The spare SAM s I have now came from a shop that my transmission shop sent my car to after the second time it would not start, I was told this shop had the ability to copy my programs and reprogram them into the used parts he installed.

The car drove fine for a month after he did all of his work. There is a lot of trouble over here in the UAE with the different languages. And the culture refuses to understand that some Americans actually study the internet and troubleshoot their own cars. I purchased my own scanner. But the laws here forbid me from working on my own car.

My car is currently in the only shop here in Ruwais which is not very talented with Mercedes. Abu Dhabi is 200 kilometers away.
I have printed the SAM drawings you provided to another individual. But I do not have access to any wiring diagrams.
I have a second key and thought for a minute that may fix it if the battery is weak in the first key.
I can take the shop everything I have tomorrow and try to talk them through some troubleshooting by speaking to someone there that does speak English.
I just do not know where to start the troubleshooting now.
thanks!
Ed Shorter

Edward Shorter

During the second failure to start, we used our scanner and we also suspected the ISM, intelligent Service Model. We had a transmission shop replace that and the car still would not start. So they sent the car to the shop that claimed to have replaced all three SAM. He did leave the used parts in the trunk and I still have them. He also left a used ignition switch and key in the trunk. But since the new ISM did not help the car start, they took that part off and returned it.
Recapping the first failure to start. It was in a very popular Mercedes repair shop having the flexible drive shaft discs replaced and they sent me a text saying it would not start. They gave me a quote on replacing the ignition switch. But later said they were able to reprogram it.
It just really sounds like something is loose or corroded somewhere. I think we are going to have to trace power from the ignition switch to the SAM.
Where should we start troubleshooting?

thanks so much!

Edward Shorter

What scanner or computer would I need to purchase to be able to virginize a used conductor plate or reprogram an ISM?
thanks!
Ed Shorter

Edward Shorter

Thanks for the offer. It seems I need another programmable part every couple of months. And I and the car are 7,500 miles from the USA in the United Arab Emirates. I paid $11,000 for this car and have spent almost $20,000 on repairs in 12 months. Shops over here try very hard and are very sincere. But these complex and sporadic problems are hard for them to fix.
i was going to retire in January and buy one of these in the USA. But my experiences with this car in this hot climate have changed my mind.
thanks very much.

antiguangenius

wow I have one for over 2 years and never paid anything on it,,,, all I did was oil change thats it... I did update all the modules in the car when I first got it, so maybe that helps, I only did this because once I went to the corner store and came back and the car will not shift from park and it did that like 4 times, but this time it took like 1hr to shift before that like 5 to 10 mins would just shift, later that day I updated every last module in the car, never happened again this is 2 years later

Edward Shorter

Can you imagine my frustrations? I bought this car from an Emarati. But he drove it to my hotel in downtown Abu Dhabi at night during rush hour traffic. So I was afraid to drive it. I had only been in the country a month. I bought it and the next week I see maintenance due and an error code on the air lift system.
There are no corner auto parts stores here and it is against the law to work on your own car in front of your dwelling. I was charged $1,000 each for four air shocks and then the compressor and then the air manifold etc...,
They have wore me out. Each week I would need to get a rental car. The shops are 200 kilometers from where I work and live.
I bought a used conductor plate and valve manifold and had it shipped over from the USA and could not find one shop anywhere that would virginize it and reprogram it or install it.
My wife flies over every three months from Virginia. And I now have an inexpensive scanner and a large craftsman tool set. But everything breaking on this car seems to require reprogramming. I would really love to fix this last problem and sell the car and retire.
Summer temperatures here are from 105 to 117 degrees and I think the heat is hard on a lot of he components in this 2007 S550.
thanks!!

antiguangenius

wow thats insane that no one there can virgin it, virtually useless to you now, car suppose to can manage that temp, maybe its coded wrong, has a coding for hot countries, maybe the sell did bad maintenance

Edward Shorter

There is a lot to learn about this country.
my email address is Di2self@msn.com
lets not tie up a valuable forum with my whining.
The government and Emirates have been really nice to us. But 80% of the people here are on vacations or work visas.
They have an excellent visa and immigration plan.
But most Emirates are wealthy and immigrants from third world countries perform most of the hard and menial jobs for about $6 an hour.
Emirates have learned how hard the heat is on these vehicles and how difficult they are to diagnose and repair with inexpensive, but dedicated workers from third world countries.
so, if you have ever heard the stories of rich Arabs driving a new car out across the desert and it breaks down so they leave it. That is almost true, but they are much wiser. Before that car breaks down too many times, they sell it to some gullible foreigner. That would be me.
Di2self@msn.com