SL350 (R230) 2003 - Electrical Problems.....

[James-SL]

Hi guys,

I have an SL350 2003 year and have had some electrical gremlins; the symptoms are as follow:-

- SRS airbag continually on the dashboard.

- Intermittantly the Air Con unit does not work for sustained periods.

- In rain / snow the dashboard shows the 'bulb failiure' warning and the passenger side electrics do not work (passenger heated seat, electrical wing mirror, etc). These faults then seem to intermittantly rectify themselves and then reappear.


I have taken this car to a local Merc indy who has explained that the Control Module located behind the passenger footwell has filled with oil which has transmitted along the wiring from a minor leak in the gearbox! Apparently a new Control Module is required and needs fitting and coding by a Merc Main Stealer, however, this may not still rectify the problem (or stop it happening again).

I'd welcome any suggestions on how you think it best to proceed or whether you believe this to be a fully accurate diagnosis given the aforementioned problems induced by rainy / snowy weather?

Also anybody any ideas how much this might cost?

Ps. Looking to upgrade to a CL soon so not sure whether worth throwing 'big' money at repairs.


Many thanks and great forum btw (new member but long time reader lol)

 

[television]

Hello and welcome, I think that you need a new indie, the gear box ecu can be emptied and washed out. a new seal on the pilot bush £30 and that one is sorted. This has nothing to do with your other faults.

You need to check the passenger SAM for corrosion on the connector, another is water has over flowed from the heater box and gone into the near side sill where the CAN connectors sit.

 

[James-SL]

Thanks - very useful indeed.

Will get on to this tomorrow am!

 

[television]

We are pretty good on 230's on here.

 

[James-SL]

Haha certainly seems so!

Do you know any good Merc Indies who I can use going forward around the North? (Manchester - Leeds, M62 corridor area)?

 

[television]

MB tech in Warrington is very good.

 

[James-SL]

Nice one - I'll give them a try as not too far from me.

Cheers

 

[Gkinghorn]

We are pretty good on 230's on here.

I suspect there is a reason for that... is this the most faulty vehicle MB have ever produced?

Great drive though...

Sent from my SM-P605 using Tapatalk

 

[television]

I suspect there is a reason for that... is this the most faulty vehicle MB have ever produced?

Great drive though...

Sent from my SM-P605 using Tapatalk

There have been the odd ones Gordon, but on the other hand many have never had a thing done to them ever. Steve and Mics cars come to mind, both 2003 and they have been very very good.

 

[martinmcn]

Passenger SAM location 2004 SL350

Hello and welcome, I think that you need a new indie, the gear box ecu can be emptied and washed out. a new seal on the pilot bush £30 and that one is sorted. This has nothing to do with your other faults.

You need to check the passenger SAM for corrosion on the connector, another is water has over flowed from the heater box and gone into the near side sill where the CAN connectors sit.

Hi Malcolm
Re your reply above to another problem
I have a couple of electrical faults on my sl350 2004 and was wondering where the passenger SAM is exactly located. I did have some initial water problems with had car and although dry now possibly some corrosion is setting in.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Regards
Martin

 

[ajlsl600]

I suspect there is a reason for that... is this the most faulty vehicle MB have ever produced?

Great drive though...

Sent from my SM-P605 using Tapatalk

a little unkind methinks, tho not entirely in- accurate .. i think the 230 is like a really good looking chick ,great to have around but quite likely to give one a few headaches and cost you more than most

 

[John Laidlaw]

a little unkind methinks, tho not entirely in- accurate .. i think the 230 is like a really good looking chick ,great to have around but quite likely to give one a few headaches and cost you more than most

Yeah accurately described as a 'high maintenance ' chick...

 

[flowrider]

My view is if you can't afford to run a high end car then don't buy one. If you do buy one then accept the cost. The SL is one of the best cars on the road.

 

[ajlsl600]

My view is if you can't afford to run a high end car then don't buy one. If you do buy one then accept the cost. The SL is one of the best cars on the road.

not quite, its a very nice,one of the best looking cars of recent yrs , however a great deal of the r&d has been done at the customers expence, and once that was realised buying dropped off and benz dumped some of the more unreliable and expensive (to them ,warranty and customer complains) stuff . now ,albeit with a smaller motor the SL350 which i think is probrably the best of the bunch,if a slight compromise, at least to the V8 brigade. i have the SL600 fully loaded and i am fairly happy with it ,i would however, NOT be happy if i had to rely on the dealer or other expensive options in order to maintain it. i do it myself. i have an absolute mountain of printed information and i have bought "star" ,a car lift and a fair amount of tooling . this site and many on it is also a very important factor in the fact that i still have the car. like the hot chic its nice to go out with but now and then both are looking for a new wardrobe/ set of tyres, pump ect. i dont take mine out in crap weather, tho sometimes i get caught out in it . then it takes me 2 days to clean it

 

[Kirbs]

JAMES SL

I cured the SRS problem this week,there is a thread on here saying what happened ,put it on STAR,pressed the re-set button,it cleared but before that there is a yellow connector under the passenger seat[Oooh I sound like malcom] pull it out,spray with dry connector fluid ,put on STAR etc etc

Thanks

Paul

 

[SL63 Mark]

its a very nice,one of the best looking cars of recent yrs , it

agree

however a great deal of the r&d has been done at the customers expence,

good, so the R&D is finished now, and although I feel for those first owners, 14 years later it's not my problem. My car has proved reasonably cheap to maintain and 100% reliable so far, thanks to this site and the increasing knowledge and availability of indies and alternative sources parts.

i have the SL600 fully loaded

you, sir, are a brave man, and that is a great car.

and i am fairly happy with it ,

good

i would however, NOT be happy if i had to rely on the dealer or other expensive options in order to maintain it.

In the UK there is an excellent support network of knowledge for these cars.

i dont take mine out in crap weather, tho sometimes i get caught out in it

I do occasionally, but like you I try to dry it out and take precautions like waxoyling rear arches. I do prefer not to, and have other cars if the weather is truly awful

 

[Tobias70]

Sorry if this is not the right place to ask this question but I am desperate for help. My SL350 got stuck in park 4 weeks ago and it would appear my local indie and dealer haven't got a clue between them. I have a 2004 model with only 63k on the clock. She has been faultless until this. The gear selector has been swapped for new one from dealer but it won't reprogram. The dealer has had car for 2 weeks and still nothing. I am so £860 down with no answer, please can anyone help.