Going to have to use Mercedes Service

[Steve@Avantgarde]

I dont see how coding the sam would be the route of a gearbox issue on this.

SAM's in cars of this age have no chassis data to start up. You can do a manual coding exercise by just telling the car what options are on it. EG, which country of alarm coding, does it have front fog lamps, that kind of thing. There is nothing in the SAM to tell it what transmission it has, EG, Manual/auto/SEQ which would stop it from driving.

It's a fairly basic car.

 

[Plezier]

My gut feeling is still that it will be cheaper to sell this for parts and buy something else than it would be to go further down the very difficult repair route?

Well would rather not have the carcass hanging around as will putting the house up for sale later this year once weather improves need a smaller place as don't need 4 bedrooms. Anyway Euro Stars (Mercedes Ruse) should be picking it up on Monday and hopefully we can find out what is wrong with this gearboxes robotics. Have had to bring the battery back to charge it up as them keep playing with it has run it down.

 

[Plezier]

I dont see how coding the sam would be the route of a gearbox issue on this.

SAM's in cars of this age have no chassis data to start up. You can do a manual coding exercise by just telling the car what options are on it. EG, which country of alarm coding, does it have front fog lamps, that kind of thing. There is nothing in the SAM to tell it what transmission it has, EG, Manual/auto/SEQ which would stop it from driving.

It's a fairly basic car.

Ahhh the SAM is not the gearbox issue the windscreen pump is not getting any power from the SAM and I am told that Star says that it's the front SAM Stereo is also not getting power and wipers intermittent only works when it feels like it. That is the SAM issue the gearbox one came along later.

 

[Plezier]

For anyone who might be interested Mercedes had the car picked up last Monday morning (26/02) saying it would 2-3 days at least and would let me know what they found well I heard nothing so on Weds phoned them and of course they had not even looked at it but said they would do so Thurs and again let me know again nothing so phoned them this afternoon (Friday) only to be told the agent dealing with it had taken the day off. He later called me back and said he had spoken to a colleague who was at work and again they had not looked at my car "but were doing so now!" and as Monday is a national holiday here it will be Tuesday before we know anything at the earliest so it looks like my C200 will have been out of commission for 2 months assuming they can fix it for a reasonable amount meanwhile I got some bits to get my MGF on the way to be sorted still need to get a pair of new radiator hoses which means ordering from the UK and getting a new cam belt kit with water pump for it as once it's up and running again at least we can rely on it. The bits were to fix the issues caused by the transporters who brought it here from the UK.

 

[Plezier]

Well Euro Stars Mercedes Ruse have now had my C200 for 8 days and as far as I am aware no one has looked as it yet. The service agent was going to call and let me know. So far I have heard that 3 times and not once has he called! Tried to phone him for an update and he didn't pick up the phone instead got a text saying that he would call back. Now I realise that I am not the only customer but come one. They don't work weekends and Monday was Liberation day (National holiday) but that leaves 6 1/2 working days that they have had the car and how long does it take to scan a car for issues? Even if we say an hour and we are talking 6 1/2 days!!!!

Was told good things about Euro Stars but honestly I cannot say that I am impressed now the question is ...................... is this normal for a Mercedes main dealership?

 

[brandwooddixon]

My experience is that dealerships prefer more profitable work such as servicing and simple repairs as these are often to a fixed, exaggerated time, anything on a variable time basis makes them less money as they can only book the time that it takes.
For this reason they tend to favour easier work.

 

[Plezier]

Well I had sent an email to the service agent and it seems it struck a chord with him as at 20:32 I got a call from him and it seems the hydraulic pump on the gearbox is not working properly. After a sharp rap on the side of it with a screwdriver it worked for a short while there are two options OEM at over 1200 leva or an aftermarket offering at around 700 leva. They are going to be checking wiring from front SAM to pump tomorrow but am assuming he means the windscreen washer pump here not the gearbox hydraulic one hopefully tomorrow (Wednesday) will clarify this and inform me of a timescale for repairs and of course costs.

 

[mioba]

My experience is that dealerships prefer more profitable work such as servicing and simple repairs as these are often to a fixed, exaggerated time, anything on a variable time basis makes them less money as they can only book the time that it takes.
For this reason they tend to favour easier work.

meat and drink

 

[Plezier]

Well it seems that he is consistent at least it's Thursday 11:50 and not heard from Mercedes so the agent is batting 4 for 4!!!!! Four time promising to call and four times failing to do so. I'll give it until about 3pm then if he has not called will have to phone them AGAIN.

 

[VitoVanMan]

If it takes this long for the diagnosis and cost....how long to actually do the job.

 

[Plezier]

If it takes this long for the diagnosis and cost....how long to actually do the job.

No idea .............. however the service agent called at 13:04 and told me what I already knew that the front SAM is faulty. It's only passing 2 volts to the windscreen washer pump and that is why I bought a refurbished one from Germany several weeks ago that is in the load area and informed him about it again so Monday not Friday (Tomorrow) as he is off tomorrow they will check out the SAM I bought meanwhile he is ordering the Marili (aftermarket) pump for the gearbox today so we are looking at middle of next week at the earliest I guess. Now why one of the mechanics or techs cannot get on and do things without the service agent being there is something I fail to understand.

Oh and the only coding the SAM would need is for the rain sensing wipers and the auto dimming features.

 

[Plezier]

Well it's now three weeks on and I am now told that the gearbox is working and that the refurbished SAM is no good so have to send that back for a refund but what I fail to understand is why no one would listen!!!! Told them that the SAM was no good and that there was one in the box in the load area but it took them all this time to even look at the SAM then and now another week for them to source a replacement which is not looking hopeful as again was promised a phone call yesterday after they fitted the SAM unit which never happened so again had to call today to find out what is going only to be told once more that they would be fitting it today and call me after it was fitted and yep you guessed it no call so once again it's up to me to chase to find out what the state of play is.

In fact there is a better chance of me getting my MGF sorted, new rad hoses, cam belt, water pump and new tensioner fitted and filling the cooling system and bleeding it then putting the front bumper etc back together and the inlet manifold back on and getting her running and registered before the Mercedes C200 is sorted by the professionals!

 

[Plezier]

Well much to my surprise we were able to collect the car last Friday afternoon however the front left tyre needed some air which is odd as all the tyres are new and only this one was down???? When the car was moved from it's parking spot to the workshop for some air there was this horrendous screeching noise from the rear wheel(s) going forwards less noise when backing up. After doing tyre pressures she was moved about their yard a bit and the screeched eased up a bit and to be honest they did not seem to be that bothered so I drove her home. Saturday morning I drove her to town to settle a couple of bills and when I got home the screeching was bad and not only that but as I was backing into our yard once again that dreaded "engage neutral" message popped up again so phone the Mercedes guy to let him know that there is STILL a problem relating to the gears he said he would phone on Monday (yeah right).

So Sunday I washed her as she was very muddy as when last driven before the gearbox packed in we had snow and the roads were very muddy and it seems here Mercedes service do not bother with such things and I even had to clean the inside drivers door handle to get the dirt off left from dirty mechanics hands!

So after washing her I jacked her up and removed the RHS rear wheel to have a look and using a rubber hammer taped around the rake hub and low and behold a few bits of spring fell out from the parking brake hub and managed to shake enough loose that the disc and hub spun freely so this afternoon drove the her carefully to town and left her with Mitko (mechanic) to replace the parking brake shoes and fittings also told him that if the drums look bad replace the discs and pads as well. No call from Mercedes, surprise, surprise, so I again had to call them and I told him what I had found, we were on our way back home from dropping the car off at Mitko's, and told him that a local mechanic was replacing the parking brake and as engaging the parking brake had interfered with the gear selection before we would see if replacing that effected the gear selection this time and according to him the earliest time they had to look at mine would be next Monday April 1st so now we wait for tomorrow to hear from Mitko!

 

[mioba]

If that was me i would have drove to the dealers, parked right outside. Demanded a courtesy car and left my car there. ...... of course demanded the dealer principle.

 

[Plezier]

If that was me i would have drove to the dealers, parked right outside. Demanded a courtesy car and left my car there. ...... of course demanded the dealer principle.

Sadly things work differently here in Bulgaria it seems

 

[Plezier]

Got a phone call from Mechanic to come and see the problems so got cleaned up as was putting the water pump in the MGF when it came and we drove over there to find it worse that I expected. Not surprised to see linings off the shoes but back plate has rusted through and retaining springs broken off leaving the hook welded to the back plate with rust and drums for the parking brake are shot! So new discs, pads and back plates now added to the list making the price jump by about 6 times. It will now be Thursday afternoon at the earliest before it's done.

Really regret buying this Mercedes.

 

[rf065]

Got a phone call from Mechanic to come and see the problems so got cleaned up as was putting the water pump in the MGF when it came and we drove over there to find it worse that I expected. Not surprised to see linings off the shoes but back plate has rusted through and retaining springs broken off leaving the hook welded to the back plate with rust and drums for the parking brake are shot! So new discs, pads and back plates now added to the list making the price jump by about 6 times. It will now be Thursday afternoon at the earliest before it's done.

Really regret buying this Mercedes.

Same happened to my CLK, apparently very common and mine needed new hubs to change the back plate.

 

[Plezier]

Well we have the car back although I did have to get some new rear pads as for some reason the mechanic too a grinder the old pads and re-fitted them. All new parking brake stuff though had to adjust that myself too to get it to hold properly so ordered set of pads and fitted them Sunday and had to tweak the passenger side new back plate as it easily touched the disc making a noise now just got to bed the new brakes in and maybe get a new correct battery so the TVR can have it's one back. Oh yes and had the A/C recharged as it was barely cool and no good for the weather here but it works now just got to get used to the system as it's nothing like in the Discovery or Rover 75.

 

[Plezier]

Some might be interested how things are going with this troublesome car so here is a little update.

As the gearbox appears to be behaving itself and working properly now after getting a new hydraulic pump and the used front SAM that the Merc tech at Eurostar Mercedes Ruse found and eventually fitted we have wipers and washers for the windscreen. so we bought a new battery for it so I could put the slightly new underpowered (64ah) one back into the car it was meant for in the first place. Still have no interior lights in back and no stereo working and have yet to get a new aux coolant pumps to replace the one that burnt out and get a replacement LCD screen for the instrument pod.. Along the way had to have the parking brake replaced along with new discs/pads to go along with the new rear calipers and new bonnet gas struts as the RH one suddenly lost all it's gas when I pressed against it while swapping the battery and would of course then no longer support the bonnet. So we are getting there slowly however it will take a long while before I feel confident with this C200 and lose the bad feelings about it.

 

[brandwooddixon]

Thank you for the update. It does sound as if you have a particularly bad example.
I can't believe that the mechanic took an angle grinder to the rear shoes to refurbish them - was it just a case of no shoes available and so it was a temporary measure?