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Hi everyone, last year I bought my E500 4matic and everything was working perfectly fine except the keyless entry (but I couldn't care less about that) and the car was also missing the engine fuse box cover (I also didn't care about and it proved to be a very stupid mistake...).
Last September I took the car to a car wash and all of a sudden everything was acting crazy, lights were not turning off, battery was draining overnight, even had the engine running after turning off the car. Had to choke the intake with a piece of cloth to turn off the engine...
After looking into several modules I checked the front sam and as soon as I disconnected it the parasitic drain was gone. I ordered an used sam from eBay with the same part number as mine because I was told that mercedes here would no longer supplies these. And now I'm stuck again because I know no one able to clone my old module into the new one or simply code the new one... Oh and my local mercedes dealer doesn't work on second hand parts...
I checked online and saw several youtube videos of people cloning sams using autel im608, but those are freaking expensive...
I'm located in Portugal and my question is: does anyone know someone around here that would be able to help me? If not, can I clone or code the module myself even if I have to buy some kit to do it? I can solder and I know my way around software well enough to feel confident doing it, I just don't feel like spending over 3k in the autel im608.
Any help would be much appreciated! This is my E500 before I had any issues with it And this is my front sam that I need to clone
Buondìa, I think you should be able to transfer coding from old to "new" using a $150 "LAUNCH cReader MB Elite" scanner from Amazon or eBay or a European retailer.
The key is old SAM must be readable across the OBD port.... if not then you can ship both old + new SAM's to an online shop to clone it for a small negociated fee ($200 to $400).
LOOKING FWD:
In the mean time go ahead and inspect/repair the leaky roof drain + windshield seam that often leak buckets into SAM's tub.
Obligado!
+++ TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS....
You know SAM is the power manager that switches power to most of the car... It's normal for drain to go away without SAM power.
Meaning your "new" SAM may resume the same issue making it obvious issue was somewhere else.
Now go ahead and troubleshoot with your MB scanner before reaching wrong conclusion ....
I find that nasty battery drain is caused by the many solderless CAN-B Modules that take too long to answer security check during sleep - Free fix once soldered better than new.
Last edited by CaliBenzDriver; 08-14-2024 at 11:12 PM.
I cannot seem to find any local Launch retailer that has it in stock, so if this is the correct one I'll order from Amazon.
PS, before assuming the issue was with the sam module the only error code I got was for the alarm siren, which was toast but after I took it out the drain remained, I checked a lot of modules, bcm, seat control module, rear sam, etc, and the only module that caused the drain to stop was the front sam. I tried fitting the "new" sam and the drain was still gone but the car wouldn't even start and I got diesel error codes, soooo I'm really hoping that this is the correct route to go. If not I'll have a ton of disassembly to do.
Thanks again!
Edit
Actually, I remembered something, after returning from the hellish car wash my car was missing the keyless entry handle button on the driver's door... If something shorted there, could it cause can-b system to go nuts?
I cannot seem to find any local Launch retailer that has it in stock, so if this is the correct one I'll order from Amazon.
PS, before assuming the issue was with the sam module the only error code I got was for the alarm siren, which was toast but after I took it out the drain remained, I checked a lot of modules, bcm, seat control module, rear sam, etc, and the only module that caused the drain to stop was the front sam. I tried fitting the "new" sam and the drain was still gone but the car wouldn't even start and I got diesel error codes, soooo I'm really hoping that this is the correct route to go. If not I'll have a ton of disassembly to do.
Thanks again!
Edit
Actually, I remembered something, after returning from the hellish car wash my car was missing the keyless entry handle button on the driver's door... If something shorted there, could it cause can-b system to go nuts?
yes, All 4x door modules are solderless and can cause chaos on CAN-B to help drain battery while parked.
Use the can bus bars and a scanner to help troubleshoot that.
One more shot....
removing F-SAM is not good enough proof it's causing your drain.
Once 3/4 of the car has no power... the drain better be gone.
I can not open Amazon spain without switching my US app into Spanish....
show us a picture/ description of Launch unit we know has a chance to work - Read more about module "CLONING " using backup/restore function.
F-SAM is made by Bosch: 70% chances it's compatible.
yes, All 4x door modules are solderless and can cause chaos on CAN-B to help drain battery while parked.
Use the can bus bars and a scanner to help troubleshoot that.
One more shot....
removing F-SAM is not good enough proof it's causing your drain.
Once 3/4 of the car has no power... the drain better be gone.
I can not open Amazon spain without switching my US app into Spanish....
show us a picture/ description of Launch unit we know has a chance to work - Read more about module "CLONING " using backup/restore function.
F-SAM is made by Bosch: 70% chances it's compatible.
🤞
I'm definitely gonna check the door modules, but since I already have a new sam I'll try and clone it just to be sure it wasn't the f-sam fault. Also, I'm not very fond of disassembling interiors, even if it is just a door card, but I'll do it if the f-sam cloning doesn't work.
I took a screenshot of the launch unit in the Amazon page, but the description is a bit basic though: It translates to something like this "Diagnosis of all systems for Benz, Maybach, Sprinter, reset function 31+, bi-directional, ECU coding, battery registration restore for free? (This is the auto translation to portuguese so it might be a tad crappy, I cannot read spanish as well so this is the best I got, hope it makes sense to you)
Yes this is the right scanner a lot of us enjoy using these days... Its known to have good coverage and free updates over wifi.
The fact that your windshield polyurethane seal was cooked by UV's... there's a chance water leaked inside the car at footwell area and F-SAM through the harness opening.
Yes this is the right scanner a lot of us enjoy using these days... Its known to have good coverage and free updates over wifi.
The fact that your windshield polyurethane seal was cooked by UV's... there's a chance water leaked inside the car at footwell area and F-SAM through the harness opening.
Thank you!
I'm going to order the scanner and see what I'm able to do with it.
Hopefully it'll be here next week and I'll try it asap. I'll keep you posted about any developments 😉
A lot of people who are used to older scanners forget to use the bidirectional testings and the datastream to read live activities .... don't just stop at scanning faults like cheap units.
08-14-2024, 09:24 PM
