Complete Electrical Failure On A 2013 C180

[PWMS]

I have a long-standing problem with my C180 estate. It's a 2013 model that I purchased in 2014, and has only done 34k miles. Quite regularly I start off from cold and 100 metres down the road I get a complete electrical failure. All the warning lights come on, the power steering fails (and quite frequently the turbo fails as well).

Usually the car recovers itself straightaway, and all electrical power resumes. However sometimes it requires me to stop the car, turn the engine off and then restart it before the turbo starts working again.

I use an independent Merc garage who have only had this occur once before on an S class and replacing the voltage regulator in the alternator apparently cured it. So I got them to replace the regulator in mine but to no avail. They then said the only alternative was to replace the battery so I went for that. This didn't cure it either.

When I bought the car back in 2014 it had been a demonstrator, and in preparing it for me, the Merc dealer steam cleaned the engine which I was none too happy about, and I am wondering whether water got into the electrics and is causing the problem?

Any advice would be very welcome.

Many thanks

 

[peterws1957]

I wouldn't have much faith in your MB indie. Do they have STAR and were there not any stored codes? Intermittent faults can be tricky but throwing parts at the problem is never the way to go. Has your guy inspected the sams for corrosion/ loose connections etc?

 

[alexanderfoti]

As above, not much to go on, but particularly severe symptoms so should sortable given the right diag, rather than throwing random parts at it

 

[PWMS]

I wouldn't have much faith in your MB indie. Do they have STAR and were there not any stored codes? Intermittent faults can be tricky but throwing parts at the problem is never the way to go. Has your guy inspected the sams for corrosion/ loose connections etc?

Thanks for your helpful response. Is there an electrical connection to the turbo because as I said in my post the turbo is affected by the problem from time to time and requires me to stop the engine and restart when it works again!

 

[PWMS]

As above, not much to go on, but particularly severe symptoms so should sortable given the right diag, rather than throwing random parts at it

Thank you. I live in the East Midlands and it's a pity that you don't live closer because I would otherwise have brought the car down to you to have a look at the problem

 

[mattkh]

Thank you.

Petrol or Diesel vehicle..?

 

[PWMS]

Petrol or Diesel vehicle..?

Petrol

 

[mattkh]

Petrol

Thanks.
When it happens and you lose the power steering, is the engine still running..?

 

[PWMS]

Thanks.
When it happens and you lose the power steering, is the engine still running..?

Yes

 

[mattkh]

Yes

Thanks.
If possible, please put up a picture of the power steering pump in your car, especially the cables going to it.

 

[PWMS]

Thanks.
If possible, please put up a picture of the power steering pump in your car, especially the cables going to it.

I am a bit of an innocent abroad with this, but am attaching photos which I assume are of the pump. Any use? Perhaps you could let me know your thinking on this so that I can then have a word with the independent Mercedes mechanic who works on the car. Many thanks

 

[mattkh]

I am a bit of an innocent abroad with this, but am attaching photos which I assume are of the pump. Any use?

Thanks very much. I always find photos very useful. As you might have guessed, I do not have access to a C180.
Now my thinking. Based on the age of your Mercedes, I assumed that in the engine will be a electric power steering pump. It appears that my assumption was wrong. My apologies.

 

[PWMS]

Thanks very much. I always find photos very useful. As you might have guessed, I do not have access to a C180.
Now my thinking. Based on the age of your Mercedes, I assumed that in the engine will be a electric power steering pump. It appears that my assumption was wrong. My apologies.

Your assumption that my car has electric power steering is correct. I say this because the steering goes leaden momentarily when I get the electrical power failure, but returns to normal more or less straightaway along with the other electrical failures. (When the failure occurs, the whole dashboard lights up with warnings which then go out more or less straightaway).

What I don't understand is why sometimes (and more recently) the turbo charger also fails to operate as a result of the electrical failure. I had assumed that the turbo didn't have any electrical connections. Whilst not every time, in order to get the turbo working again I sometimes have to stop the car, turn the engine off and then restart. The turbo then works again fine.

The electrical problem doesn't usually arise when the engine is hot, and it doesn't occur every time when the engine starts from cold but it is very disconcerting when it happens. During the hot weather last Summer it hardly happened at all.

My independent Mercedes garage who service the car tell me that they operate a STAR diagnosis device which they rent from Mercedes, but in the past that has not shown any faults only car. However I gather that the testing has not been done whilst the car is moving.

It's all a bit of a mystery but I'm definitely leaning towards corrosion of connections in one of the System Acquisition Modules (SAM) and intend to get that checked out.

Thanks for responding. If you or anyone else has any other theories I would be really pleased to hear them.

 

[mattkh]

Thanks for responding. If you or anyone else has any other theories I would be really pleased to hear them.

A wild guess,.....moisture affecting some electrics.
Suggestion...........Go to a garden centre and get the dehumidifier packets and leave them inside the car in the front footwells.

 

[PWMS]

A wild guess,.....moisture affecting some electrics.
Suggestion...........Go to a garden centre and get the dehumidifier packets and leave them inside the car in the front footwells.

Thank you.

 

[mattkh]

Please cast your mind back to the time you noticed the systems for the very first time.
Was anything done to the car before that. Any other specific thing

 

[PWMS]

Please cast your mind back to the time you noticed the systems for the very first time.
Was anything done to the car before that. Any other specific thing

No, nothing at all

 

[starrzo]

Complete stab in the dark here, but this was my experience over a year and a half ago. I know your model is different but if you have a similar connector its an easy test to see if it's the same thing:

W204 error messages....

Morning, Not been on here for over 2 years due to personal stuff going on and nonsense I didn't need, or want. I been ok for past 5-6 months now since circumstances changes. I've had error messages appear in past week or so that had cleared once turn off ignition and on again They are Power...

forums.mercedesclub.org.uk

 

[axelcls]

Thank you. I live in the East Midlands and it's a pity that you don't live closer because I would otherwise have brought the car down to you to have a look at the problem

Thank you. I live in the East Midlands and it's a pity that you don't live closer because I would otherwise have brought the car down to you to have a look at the problem

I live in East Midlands too and I can assure you that every minute on the road and every penny spent on petrol is well worth paying a visit to @alexanderfoti , because all the “if’s “and “but’s “ will disappear when he will have your car.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PWMS]

I live in East Midlands too and I can assure you that every minute on the road and every penny spent on petrol is well worth paying a visit to @alexanderfoti , because all the “if’s “and “but’s “ will disappear when he will have your car.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you, that's very helpful.