2008 C220 direction Indicator Switch

nippa

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I have been advised by Mercedes Benz that what I'd seen as a fault with my Direction Indicator is a design feature common to all C Class cars.

When going down the motorway a slight pressure on the stalk should make the indicators flash 3 times according to the manual.
Sometimes it does but often it doesn't - just one brief flash.

I demonstrated the fault on a car in the showroom and had my controls replaced but still the problem remains.
Now MB have said that there is nothing to be done.

Have others had this problem?
It fails approximately from 1 in 10 uses to 1 in 20. You can't really tell when it won't work.

Has this fault been carried over to the new E Class?
Thanks
 

television

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Hello and welcome,, I thought that the was a recall on these see what others say
 

LSD

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I think this feature should be selectable personally, I'd prefer to decide the number of flashes myself.
 

keith100

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C signals

It is selectable. Press the lever lightly and it will flash as long as you hold it. press it a little more, to the main detent, let go and it flashes 3 times. Push the lever past the detent and it stays on until you or the car cancel it.

I have driven cars with more positive versions however, I must admit. The 1 flash-3 flash can be a bit hit or miss at times, but it never occurred to me as a "safety "issue. (but then not much does really)

Don't really see the point of the single flash though. Any clean ideas?

Cheers

Keith
 

LSD

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It is selectable. Press the lever lightly and it will flash as long as you hold it. press it a little more, to the main detent, let go and it flashes 3 times. Push the lever past the detent and it stays on until you or the car cancel it.

Thanks Keith... but I must say I could never easily "find" that point on any that I've driven. I thought the one flash or three flashes thing was a random result of imprecision in the switch. Not seen that in any of the handbooks I've read either.

Maybe my next car (when I find it!) will work that way if I'm lucky :cool:
 
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nippa

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It is selectable. Press the lever lightly and it will flash as long as you hold it. press it a little more, to the main detent, let go and it flashes 3 times. Push the lever past the detent and it stays on until you or the car cancel it.


Cheers

Keith
Oh NO it doesn't:p

I'm afraid it doesn't work like that in my vehicle.
There is no set pattern either to the method of operation of the lever or to the other electrical circuits in use at the time.

If Mercedes use a capacitor to drive the circuit then I would say that they've bought in a duff batch ( Quite common ).
Interestingly no technician can tell me how the circuit works - I'm not impressed.

If this problem can't be fixed I'll sell the car. It has ruined the MB experience for me - back to Volvo!!!!
 

S80

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None at the monent, but there's an OM642 in the Jeep Grand Cherokee!
Personally, I find such driver 'aids' a complete waste of time. On my elderly Citroën CX, the indicators don't even have 'self-cancelling' - you switch the indicator on when you want it on, then switch it off when you don't. Makes you think about what you're doing, not reliant on someone else's opinion of what you might need. No irritating self-cancelling halfway round going right at a roundabout, either :)

Sadly, the days of battery-wire-switch-wire-bulb are long-gone. Most switches now just communicate with contol units via CANbus, and the bulbs etc. are then commanded appropriately (or not) by those same controllers.

As to Volvo, well, the indicators on my S80 will very occasionally 'lock up' and flash continuously - even after a re-start :confused: I now carry the necessary spanners required to detach a battery lead - the only way it can be re-set.....
 
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nippa

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Personally, I find such driver 'aids' a complete waste of time. On my elderly Citroën CX, the indicators don't even have 'self-cancelling' - you switch the indicator on when you want it on, then switch it off when you don't. Makes you think about what you're doing, not reliant on someone else's opinion of what you might need. No irritating self-cancelling halfway round going right at a roundabout, either :)

I have to agree.
I've had 2 vehicles where you did the cancelling yourself ; one was a Bond Bug and I can't for the life of me remember the other one - Triumph Spitfire maybe!

It's probably just me but MB don't do controls very well!
The foot park brake , the stubby one sided column controls , the combo cruise/speed limiter and even the light switch isn't up to Scandinavian standards of clarity; but I do like the knob in the middle!
 

television

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All you have to do is to replace the stalk,,,steering wheel off and fit a new one. its nothing to do with caps, as there are none, they are all computer controlled, and a very common fault, some manage to wash them out with switch cleaner by taking ogg the end cap and squirting it down the tube. Switch cleaner is not WD40
 
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nippa

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My Dealer ( Stoke 0n Trent ) said he had replaced the switch last September but I saw no difference.
Should I believe him?
I'm grateful for the experiences given in this thread because I've been made to feel that I'm the only one with this problem and that I'm wasting their time.
 

television

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My Dealer ( Stoke 0n Trent ) said he had replaced the switch last September but I saw no difference.
Should I believe him?
I'm grateful for the experiences given in this thread because I've been made to feel that I'm the only one with this problem and that I'm wasting their time.

If he replaced the switch,,then the only other thing is the multifunction relay,,its plug and play,,so simple.

Did they really change the switch,,why not ask another dealer for their view
 

Alex M Grieve

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Personally, I find such driver 'aids' a complete waste of time. On my elderly Citroën CX, the indicators don't even have 'self-cancelling' - you switch the indicator on when you want it on, then switch it off when you don't. Makes you think about what you're doing, not reliant on someone else's opinion of what you might need. No irritating self-cancelingcanceling halfway round going right at a roundabout, either

Spot on S80 - and it makes you a safer driver too. Firstly, because you are not reliant on the system working.

More importantly, you cancel much earlier, so having made a left turn on to a main road, for example, others (especially those waiting to emerge from side roads on your nearside over which you now have right of way) are not duped into thinking that you are about to turn into their road - and tempted to emerge into your path.

Like all driving habits of this sort, they become automatic readily and quickly, and cost nothing.
 

television

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Sadly, Alex, we have a non self-cancelling taxman :(

It pays you to write to them early in life telling them that you do not wish to join their club
 

Rory

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I have to agree.
I've had 2 vehicles where you did the cancelling yourself ; one was a Bond Bug and I can't for the life of me remember the other one - Triumph Spitfire maybe!

Well if you agree, why don't you just use the Merc in the same way - you don't have to use the touch indicator function. I never conciously use it.

I think selling the car because of this is a bit OTT - all cars have their foibles.
 

Alex M Grieve

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I think selling the car because of this is a bit OTT - all cars have their foibles.

Quite agree Rory. The only fault that would make me want to sell a car is rust. Other than that, it should be soluble (I suppose a rusty car is soluble too?), but selling a car in order to get rid of a fault is a very expensive solution to what might be a very simple problem.

There is a lot of merit in the saying "Just because I can't do it does not mean it can't be done". There is usually somebody, somewhere who has solved the problem before. Which is why the Forum is so helpful to so many of us.
 

television

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I think selling the car because of this is a bit OTT - all cars have their foibles.


Yes and just plain silly,,unless you are very rich
 


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