Open Circuit / Electrical problems in car

[platforminc]

Hi All,

I have some electrical problems with my W203 C220 Coupe, I do know that there is a problem as the other day after not driving the car for 2 days in snap cold weather, the car would not start and the battery had drained out.

I managed to connect carsoft scanner onto the car, and loads of errors came up to my suprise, I am thinking a car which moves etc cannot have so much errors, it must be thesame thing causing it all. According to a SAM scan, its reporting everything as not working, I have the printout of the scan and will find a way to send this across later today.

I am a little lost as to what to do and also how to do this in the most cost effective way.

Any form of advice would be great.

Thanks

 

[television]

A leaking SAM will drain the battery and give all kinds of implausible messages

What version of Carsoft was it done on

 

[dragon]

First time a successful user of Carsoft. Tell us where you got it and for how much.

 

[platforminc]

Hi Mate,

Maybe because I am into I.T, but I have to admit it took me 2 days to sort it out and hours of searching on forums and not throwing in the towel.

Because of the forum rules, I cannot discuss software issues etc, but you are free to contact me directly. I need a senior member to clarify If I can put in the procedures on the forum

But anyway on scanning the vehicle, seems like I got more than a bargained for, a series of Errors after Errors, but it looks like I do have an Electrical problem, maybe this was caused by faulty electrical work that was done to the car previously or perhaps its a central unit like the SAM which is faulty, I really do not know now and I am so devastated. But I am not loosing hope

Attached is the print out from Carsoft, some things there I just do not understand, I do notice that when the car is started teh Glow lights do not go out for about 1 minute and I just had teh glow plugs changed about 3 weeks ago, mind the glow plugs I bought are not from mercedes but perhaps NGK make from partco.

Still, its coming up with Glow plug faiulre errors.

I will need the help of an experienced kind soul to guide me through this difficult time.

Thanks in advance

 

[platforminc]

To also answer Television's post, it was done using a multiplexer and version 7.4 of carsoft.

Thanks

 

[psmart]

To answer Dragon, I find CarSoft Ultimate very reliable, albeit some error codes are not known as it just lists the code without explanation.

I had battery problems in the C220 two weeks ago and it appears that the electronics in the C-Class are very susceptible to poor voltage. Basically the car had stood for 2 weeks in near zero temperatures and the battery voltage had slighlty subsided due to the cold compared with a newer battery. I looked for water ingress as Television kindly pointed out, but it appeared in my case it was condensation, the car is completely electric motor everything and the steering column was damp. (Blobcat - probably because I dont run the climate control enough )...

To cut a long story short, everything automatic ceased to work including the complete dash and even though the battery voltage was registering over 12V, the engine would fail to start without coaxing the battery!

Plugging in CarSoft, I initially found certain units, such as the Instrument cluster and SAM (front and rear) did not exist. After swapping out batteries, everything came to life but all modules reported errors, random errors, similar to your printout. I just cleared all errors down, reset the BAS/ESP and everything was fine thereafter.

First step, swap out your battery, plug in CarSoft, clear all errors out, then look again a few days later.

 

[platforminc]

Hi,

Thanks for the prompt response, now about 1 month ago when I bought the car, the old battery died after the car was aprked for days without use, then I thought let me start from scratch as I cannot bear to want to go out urgently only to find out that the car would not start, as it was geting late on the day, I made the mistake of going to halfords as they were the only people open at the time of the day, the battery I bought is quite huge and is rated at 800AMPS.

Now, last week Wednesday or so, the car would not start after parking it for 2 days in the cold without use, i knoew it was the battery as I have seen this problem before when I first bought the car, so i jump started it and got it working again.

Now, I went to halfords this saturday to make a fuss about it, I got battery replaced with a new one, and I ran the test yesterday again, what hurts is that halfords battery cost £99 and a new one from Mercedes is only £110, so I could have been more patient and got one from Mercedes.

Now with the problems that I have scanner with carsoft, I dont know if its a problem with my car or perhaps something wrong with the battery. The halfords people were there arguing with me about the car battery, they kept saying it wasnt thier battery which was faulty, but rather something wrong with the car. I am really lost now, as they dont seem to want to do a refund, but If I can get someone else to confirm its definitely a battery problem, I can start taking it from there, I am thinking of taking the car to an indie and geting him to put his battery so that I can run diagnostics again.

Problem is that Indy does not have carsoft, and he uses mid level snapon diagnostics. mean I have to take my carsoft to him to test it out.

Any advice here.

 

[television]

You can see the problems that I had with a SAM,, the left hand SAM had corrosion inside and failed to communicate with the right hand SAM, a new SAM was fitted, but the silly faults that would have printed out to about 20 pages where still there when cold but went when hot, the left hand SAM had damaged the right hand SAM.

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=41748


I may purchase one of the carsoft 7.4 tools as it will do for my car

 

[dragon]

Hi Mate,

Maybe because I am into I.T, but I have to admit it took me 2 days to sort it out and hours of searching on forums and not throwing in the towel.

Because of the forum rules, I cannot discuss software issues etc, but you are free to contact me directly. I need a senior member to clarify If I can put in the procedures on the forum

But anyway on scanning the vehicle, seems like I got more than a bargained for, a series of Errors after Errors, but it looks like I do have an Electrical problem, maybe this was caused by faulty electrical work that was done to the car previously or perhaps its a central unit like the SAM which is faulty, I really do not know now and I am so devastated. But I am not loosing hope

Attached is the print out from Carsoft, some things there I just do not understand, I do notice that when the car is started teh Glow lights do not go out for about 1 minute and I just had teh glow plugs changed about 3 weeks ago, mind the glow plugs I bought are not from mercedes but perhaps NGK make from partco.

Still, its coming up with Glow plug faiulre errors.

I will need the help of an experienced kind soul to guide me through this difficult time.

Thanks in advance

There is no limitation why you cannot post IT related issues.

You are only interested the most recent error codes. Here to look it up.

http://www.eobd2.eu/DTCL.asp

I saw on from Shanghai for US$58 + US$14 comes to about £61 @1.62 but not sure to purchase it or not, some said it inferior and some said it doesn't work.

Is this where you got it from?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merc...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14

 

[television]

Hi,

Thanks for the prompt response, now about 1 month ago when I bought the car, the old battery died after the car was aprked for days without use, then I thought let me start from scratch as I cannot bear to want to go out urgently only to find out that the car would not start, as it was geting late on the day, I made the mistake of going to halfords as they were the only people open at the time of the day, the battery I bought is quite huge and is rated at 800AMPS.

Now, last week Wednesday or so, the car would not start after parking it for 2 days in the cold without use, i knoew it was the battery as I have seen this problem before when I first bought the car, so i jump started it and got it working again.

Now, I went to halfords this saturday to make a fuss about it, I got battery replaced with a new one, and I ran the test yesterday again, what hurts is that halfords battery cost £99 and a new one from Mercedes is only £110, so I could have been more patient and got one from Mercedes.

Now with the problems that I have scanner with carsoft, I dont know if its a problem with my car or perhaps something wrong with the battery. The halfords people were there arguing with me about the car battery, they kept saying it wasnt thier battery which was faulty, but rather something wrong with the car. I am really lost now, as they dont seem to want to do a refund, but If I can get someone else to confirm its definitely a battery problem, I can start taking it from there, I am thinking of taking the car to an indie and geting him to put his battery so that I can run diagnostics again.

Problem is that Indy does not have carsoft, and he uses mid level snapon diagnostics. mean I have to take my carsoft to him to test it out.

Any advice here.

I have been in the same boat when I bought a halfords battery some years ago,, after the changed 3 after much shouting, when it came to the 4th they would not change it, so I drove araound to the Lucus agent who did a check and said battery U/S so back to Halfords where I got a refund, the Lucus has been fine for some years now.

This does not mean that all Halfords batteries are dud,or does it ??? the tester they use is meaningless.

With your car it could be a SAM or module causing a drain and the only way is a current test when the car is sleeping.

I have today ordered at £50 one of the new clamp meters that resolve at 1ma,and good that you do not have to disconnect the battery and loosing the path of the drain

 

[platforminc]

Hi

Thanks for the post, I do suspect its something wrong with the car itself, something not quite right. when you said "I have today ordered at £50 one of the new clamp meters that resolve at 1ma,and good that you do not have to disconnect the battery and loosing the path of the drain"

Do you mean that one can but a clamp meter which will resolve electrical problems, also whats the best way to sort this problem out, someone advised me that since I done the test yesterday after changing the battery, he said I should clear the SAM errors, drive the car for a bit and then see what happens.

Surely, I know something is draining the battery, and its not the radio.

 

[platforminc]

There is no limitation why you cannot post IT related issues.

You are only interested the most recent error codes. Here to look it up.

http://www.eobd2.eu/DTCL.asp

I saw on from Shanghai for US$58 + US$14 comes to about £61 @1.62 but not sure to purchase it or not, some said it inferior and some said it doesn't work.

Is this where you got it from?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merc...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14

You need one that has a multiplexer, this is what I gathered from reading the forums. the one with the multiplexer can interact with all systems in the car.

After that, look at a laptop which has a dedicated serial port
Log onto the account with a local administrator account and not a domain based account.
Install the software as directed in the CD which comes with it
Hey presto.. you laughing..

 

[platforminc]

Please see detailed Scan results

I cleared out the SAM errors, drove the car for a bit and ran another scan, please see attached results.

Also, for some reason the curtains on the panoramic roof opens, but I cant get the roof itselt to open, I do seem to get some OCP errors though, but everything was working before this all started.

 

[colechelle]

you really need star on the car to see what values you are getting, are you the person who e,mailed me???

 

[platforminc]

Hi,

Yes, I did email you. I have just sent you an update which is the attachment on my last post.

 

[colechelle]

just read it thank you, is your srs light on while driving?? looking at the open curcuits you have on the system it should be, and yes, what you asked in the e,mail, thats not a problem for me!

 

[platforminc]

Hi,

SRS lights are always on whilst driving, a mate reckons the passenger side airbags have gone off or some electrical problems with them. also, to open the panoramic roof, do you just not push teh man button backwards, once the curtain fully opens, click the button t wice or so and the panoramic roof opens. That doesnt seem to be working as well, although the curtains do open fully.

starting to get gutted now.

 

[platforminc]

Hi Colechelle,

I sent you an email, wouldnt mind a trip down the south coast.

 

[colechelle]

Hi Colechelle,

I sent you an email, wouldnt mind a trip down the south coast.

Reply sent!

 

[dragon]

I cleared out the SAM errors, drove the car for a bit and ran another scan, please see attached results.

Also, for some reason the curtains on the panoramic roof opens, but I cant get the roof itselt to open, I do seem to get some OCP errors though, but everything was working before this all started.

This is what I was looking for. I didn't know the error codes are listed when you run individual single tests. I spent half an hour for it to complete the complete digital tests and it said see the error codes. Where? There is no utility to view the error codes.

I have another go tomorrow.