Oops.... there you go: "No solder: no difference".

This module powers a high current windshield defroster set of tracks directly afront of it.

I guess you'll never know what was causing your issue - Usually it's the power supply pins that drop enough voltage to keep module in the twilights.

It's really fancy high-tech chips count. The heat level translates as "power needs being significant": a couple Amps.


++++ DEFROSTER = HIGH LOAD

MFK windshield defroster tracks

 

Remember that pressed in pins typically rely on the 4 edge corners of the pins pressed through the hole for connection. They are sharp, and cut into the copper tracking to connect by friction. Pins subject to vibration can loosen and suffer oxidation either by heat from poor connection or from environmental causes.

Some types of pins have a hole punched through the pins and it is flared outward to provide tighter connection through the hole. I have seen (and repaired both broken and oxidized pins. Best solution is to solder questionable pins to provide a 100% connection (instead of using the edges of the pin).

Ensure to use a soldering iron that is hot enough to heat the pin and copper track quickly, instead of "roasting" it slowly to get up to solder melting temperature (both the pin, the copper tracks, and the viaduct through the board act as a heat sink and the soldering iron needs enough of a heat reserve to heat the full work area quickly). "Roasting" will lift the tracks off the board (which is a bad scenario). Just don't use a soldering iron that you can cook a roast of beef with, lol.

I learned quickly that it's best to solder if there was a questionable pin (or pins) on system backplanes with literally thousands of pins. They are pressed in place and sometime there is the occasional poor connection.

Solder quickly, cool quickly. A good solder should wick smoothly onto the pin and tracks and be relatively shiny.

 

+1... hundred percent

 

Update 11/30: I ordered a used camera from eBay with the same part number. My car is a W218 Shooting Brake with the 350 diesel engine. The used camera came from a crashed W218 CLS63 S. I was hoping it would be plug-and-play. After installing the new camera, the dashboard showed all kinds of “inoperative system” notifications. I connected Xentry, and it indicated the camera had incompatible coding and required SCN coding.

Using DTS Monaco, I uploaded the coding I had saved from my car’s original camera. Tadaa—no more coding-related errors. However, this time it reported that the camera had lost its calibration. I printed the calibration template on A4 paper and used my camera tripod to align the template’s centerline height to 1275 mm from the ground. I positioned the tripod just in front of the bumper nose, and—tadaa—the calibration completed on the first try in less than a minute.

I drove the car, and the only error on the dashboard was “inoperative traffic sign recognition.” All other camera-related functions were operational. After about 30 minutes of driving, everything was working perfectly. I stopped in a mall garage during the test drive, visited a shop, and returned to the car. After restarting the ignition, suddenly all the camera-related errors—Inoperative Lane Keeping Assist, Distronic Plus, etc.—reappeared. That completely ruined my mood and made me think the camera might not be the issue after all—maybe it was the relay or wiring.

Back at home, I connected to Xentry again. This time it showed the camera was not coded correctly and wasn’t operating in line with my car’s configuration (I can’t remember the exact message, but it was again related to coding). I opened DTS Monaco, compared the variant coding parameters between the original camera and the replacement, and—tadaa—the only difference was the Karosserietyp (body type). It was showing “C” instead of “X.” DTS Monaco failed to change and save the body type to “X,” so I did the same attempt in Vediamo and—tadaa—all problems were gone. The car and all functions are working with no faults in Xentry. A 2000 dollar job costed me only 150 dollars plus a couple of cents for printing the calibration template. the power of DIY

 

great job diagnosing and fixing a used MFK to match your own chassis.

You found out how to circumvent the limits of manual coding... congrats!