2001 CLK Avantgarde - Wiring in boot decimated by rat

[ScottyG]

Hi,

I don't own a Merc (yet).I've joined the forum to try and get some info to help my brother in law out.

He bought a 2001 CLK Avantgarde around 2010. I think he paid around 5k at the time. So it was nearly 10 years old when he bought it but still a beautiful car. Sometime late 2016 he put it in his garage. For some reason he wasn't planning to use it for a while. Sometime soon after, he opened the boot and discovered most of the wiring in the boot had been chewed up and destroyed by a rat. It's been like that ever since because he's been working a lot and hasn't had time to do anything about it. I don't know much about car electrics but he thinks it needs a new loom, either for the rear half of the car or possibly the entire thing. The car is now 16 years old but still in great condition apart from this problem. If it were fixed, my best guess would be that it would be worth around 1,500 quid.

I'd really appreciate it if someone could offer some guidance on how much this would cost to fix. Even better if someone could recommend a suitable specialist who might be able to do the work. He lives in the Swanley area which is near junction 3 of the M25.

Thanks
Scott

 

[LostKiwi]

Sileck Motorsport rebuild wiring harnesses (they did my r129 engine harness and also the throttle body harness). They're based in kent and do mail order.
If you can get the old loom out and send it off I'm sure they can help. Failing that contact them (or a competent auto electrician and see if they can repair it in situ if you can get the car to them.

The bad news is the rear is not a separate harness as far as I can tell. The harness is divided left and right and runs full length of each side. There are at least 4 variants of left harness and 5 variants of right harness.

 

[ajlsl600]

da

Sileck Motorsport rebuild wiring harnesses (they did my r129 engine harness and also the throttle body harness). They're based in kent and do mail order.
If you can get the old loom out and send it off I'm sure they can help. Failing that contact them (or a competent auto electrician and see if they can repair it in situ if you can get the car to them.

The bad news is the rear is not a separate harness as far as I can tell. The harness is divided left and right and runs full length of each side. There are at least 4 variants of left harness and 5 variants of right harness.

thats why i plaster my visible wiring ,plastic, with WD 40 or AF 50 them rats,mice seem to hate the stuff, and i scatter the poison stuff under the car each visit home as well, always plenty of bodies drying up around the place but no wiring ate to date . you just cant keep emout of a warm dry place in the damp or old weather.

 

[GlosRichCLK]

The W208 CLK are very cheap now, so you might find buying a donor car, MoT fail etc, for £500 or less might be cheaper, then use the loom from that. Plenty on eBay and Facebook marketplace.

As long as the mileage is lowish, and its not really rusty then it should be worth £1500 on a good day to the right person.