W211 Estate Load Cover

[rpe2]

Morning All,

The load cover in my W211 is starting to get on my nerves a little. It only rises/ falls intermittentely. When it does, it id fine, but seems to have trouble sensing that the cover has been pulled across. I assume that a microswitch must detect the cover is in place, and it needs a little switch cleaner applying.

Does anyone know where the said microswitch(es) are?

Thanks

 

[gregcope]

Same problem - any help appreciated

Hi,

I have a similar issue.

Anyone have a workshop pictures on how to remove the trim as the switches must be near the black clips that the load cover clips into.

 

[xocbc]

Bump - same problem for me

 

[television]

There are known faults for faulty magnets in the side pins, I am not used to this part and how it works, but i can print out some info

 

[gregcope]

Television,

That would be much appreciated!

Do you know if it us delt with a rplacement part or a fix on th existing bits.

Thanks.

 

[television]

I have never gone into this before,,the motor is in the headling and the roof,,I will come back on this

 

[PaulJS]

Hi Guys,

I also have the intermitten load cover issue on my 2004 E-Class. It used to annoy me until a technician at my local Merc Garage explained why it did it. It was to do with battery voltage and the load cover is considered a convienience. So when the battery output is low the cover doesn't operate.

I've owned my E-Class for the last 5 years and i have the same pattern every year. All through the summer the cover works all the time everytime. Come the winter with my lights on all the time, heated seats, courtesy lighting on the dark mornings and nights, the battery is working overtime, then my load cover becomes intermitten.

This theory might explain your load cover problems

Cheers
PaulJS

 

[gregcope]

PaulJS,

I get the occasional "Connivence functions disabled" but even after a long run, with the engine going (ie voltage should be fine) - with no other toys working mine does not work.

Does yours work when the engine is running in winter?

 

[stresseddad]

W211 estate load cover mechanism

Bump
I also have had this problem on my '06 320CDi for ages and have (sort of) got used to it.
But last week it developed a new variant. The carriers lift and lower OK (for the moment) - but now the actuating mechanism doesn't stop when the tailgate closes! For about 10 seconds after it sounds like someone firing a machine gun in the back.
The little black 'rocker' switches seem to be positioned correctly and the load cover tracks correctly from top to bottom.

This mechanism is faulty in so many W211 estates that it's easy to believe that the design is so bad that there is no ready fix...

S.D.

 

[gregcope]

I have got used to it..... :-(

 

[stresseddad]

W211 Estate Load Cover issue sorted!!

The unbearable racket from the load cover transport mechanism (when it was working) finally drove me bonkers and made me seriously look for a solution. I fixed it a week ago and it has so far worked faultlessly.

This is what I found without any manual or wiring diagram.
The mechanism works via fuse no.11 in the nearside loadspace trim which powers the tailgate soft-close mechanism; this in turn activates the load cover in the appropriate direction depending on whether a sensor in the nearside rearmost pillar trim detects the magnet in the nearside lug of the load cover bar when it is in the down position. (Check it out - nearside lug has magnet, offside lug is hollow).

To get to the sensor you need to remove the nearside access cover to the warning triangle/fuse box, pull off the rubber door seal slightly to aid removal of the black plastic trim forming the lower part of the side of the tailgate opening (retained with three black torx self-tapping screws and a press-fitting clip). Then unscrew the two silver torx screws at the bottom of the grey pillar trim and pull the lower bit of the grey trim away from the pillar to disengage the transport mechanism from the driving sprocket which remains fixed to the pillar. Give the grey plastic a smart tug downwards to disengage the driving rail from the rest of the pillar trim (velour'y bit with the light) and separate the entire mechanism, which will also have a long white plastic tube attached leading downwards into one of the holes in the bodywork which stows the rail when the luggage cover is down. You will then notice two thin black wires still connecting the transport mechanism to the pillar. If you follow these behind the black sound insulation you will find the connector block allowing you to disconnect and remove the transport mechanism from the car. There is no need to remove the insulation, just fold out of the way.

Now look at the underside of the transport mechanism and you will see the two black wires leading to a small grey rod about 2cms long x 4mm diameter. That is the little s*d which causes the problem.

Here I came upon a snag. I rang several main stealers and scrappies and those that understood what I wanted told me that it is not possible to buy a replacement sensor. However, the stealers would sell me the entire transport component, trim and all. And that's what I did (I told you it was driving me insane). For £41 including postage I had the "RAIL" viz. part no.A21181003277D43 in 48 hours. Assembly is reverse of the dismantling.

The whole dismantle/reassemble process took 20 minutes in total. It's that easy! Astonishingly having put up with the insane noise and erratic functioning for well over two years, I'm finding it weird getting used to it working properly!

Hope this is of some use toyou guys still having this problem...

S.D.

 

[Developer]

There are known faults for faulty magnets in the side pins, I am not used to this part and how it works, but i can print out some info

Count me in for any info please Malc.

 

[pfc]

Hi Guys,

I also have the intermitten load cover issue on my 2004 E-Class. It used to annoy me until a technician at my local Merc Garage explained why it did it. It was to do with battery voltage and the load cover is considered a convienience. So when the battery output is low the cover doesn't operate.

PaulJS

I agree with the Merc garage it's all to do with the battery voltage and the fact that it is a "convenience function". Mine started to become intermittent and even after a run it was still the same.

Last year I changed the battery as I kept getting the "convenience" message after starting up. Since then I've not had it misfunction once.

QED.

 

[oldie07]

Thanks for the info, mine started overrunning just after Christmas with a 'big money spend' growling noise. Now I can relax!

 

[colin_thames]

Luggage cover

I know my reply is a long time after this thread started but I was so pleased to find it - thanks guys. Your tips have given me new inspiration to try to fix this.

My cover was intermittent on my 2004 E200 estate too. My dealer replaced the 'runners' at a vast cost but under a maintenance agreement luckily and then about a year later it started becoming intermittent again. Another year on it's stopped completely.

Has anyone else found that it was the battery or software at fault. I've had an occasional 'convenience function protection' message for about 3 years which makes me wonder if my battery doesn't achieve a high enough voltage to run the luggage cover even though everything else works fine.

So where to start - sensor or battery? Any thoughts?

Cheers guys

Colin

 

[Bowruss]

I think PaulJS has it about right. My 2004 E211 Avantgarde Estate has exactly the same problem - it just decides not to operate the cover lift mech. It's being doing it ever since I got the car in 2006.

I have noticed that it does this far, far more in the colder weather and up to seeing this thread exumed, I thought it was a temperature related thing. I now think it is to do with voltage load - the system simply decides it can use the power elsewhere. The convenience display does not always show when it fails so it must be minor drop that causes it - not enough to trigger the display and stop all the convenience functions. I do need to monitor this a bit more 'though.

More scientific observations are clearly needed on this phenomenom - maybe after the birds fly south and we've all swapped to winter tyres?

Happy tailgating - Russ

 

[davidh]

Thankyou stresseddad

I have to say thank you to stresseddad for pointing me in the right direction to fixing my load cover. I never would have known there is a magnet in the nearside clip of the load cover and realised that the reason my cover wasn't operating was the fact that the load cover wasn't seating properly, and therefore the magnet wasn't being detected.

Basically the nearside sliding clip on my 2003 car was very slightly to low for the load cover to be in the correct position for the magnet to be detected and thus the cover to activate.

To correct this I very carefully cut the sliding clip enough to make space for the load cover to engage and hey presto it works.

Thank you stresseddad and this forum.

 

[colin_thames]

Luggage cover and voltage drop

Thanks to Paul for pointing out the voltage drop issue. I'd started dismantling my load cover mechanism but not got very far or had any success. Then I took the car to Belgium on a family trip. The five hours of driving must have charged up the battery enough because by the time I arrived the luggage cover had starting working again, after six months of not working!

Then after five days of not using it, the cover didn't go up every time I opened the tailgate. So I put the battery on charge overnight and, hey presto, 100% reliable again.

In my case it's definitely the battery dropping below 12v. Oddly enough I've had occasional battery protection messages ever since I first got the car when it was 15 months old. Rather than shell out £170 for a new battery I've bought a solar charger from Maplin for eight quid and have installed it in the rear side window. I hope it'll keep the battery topped up enough to keep the convenience functions, and my luggage cover going.

Thanks guys for highlighting this issue.

It does make me wonder why Mercedes Brooklands replaced the runners at a charge of about 200 quid, even if it was under warranty. I bet it was voltage even then!

 

[Telebass]

Right, have had intermittent issues with the cover. Recently, it stopped altogether despite long runs.

Next stop, on here to access the accumulated wisdom: battery condition seems to be favourite. So while prepping for another long drive tomorrow, I messed with it somewhat, checking that no connectors were off, although I didn't delve too deep. then, having checked everything except tyre pressures, I started her up, Opened the tailgate to fetch compressor. I'd left the cover engaged after fiddling. Bingo! Worked every time. Turn her off, no deal. New battery on the way!

 

[neilto]

My cover also intermittent. Checked battery voltage at the terminals 12.33V which seems OK. Have put a charger on to see if that makes a difference. Never had any warnings about low volts. Battery is original from 2007 so I guess is nearing the end of its useful life.