R 129 Lights/Wiper and steering wheel problems

[Flying Scot]

The wiper on our SL500 seems to be going on holiday rather frequently recently and with this lovely weather this is a real problem.

It did this a while ago and i noticed that the headlamps were out too so i had a look at Fuse 11 and well it was grotty so pulled it out and rubbed it on the tread of the tyre till it was shiny bright and put it back in and things were fine for a few months. The other week it blew when i switched on the wipers so i replaced it with a new one. Sadly since then both the wipers and the headlamps have been intermittent. IF you flash the headlamps a few times they come on eventually and things seem to be ok for a day or two or if you pull and replace F11 that 'sometimes' fixes the problem for another day sometimes not. Having read most of the wiper threads and reading replies it would seem that 99% of the time it is the switch does the fact that i am having problems with both the wipers and the headlamps point to a problem with the switch - if so what do i need to do? is there a write up somewhere?


Now the electric adjuster for the steering wheel seems to have taken a wee holiday too it will go up and down no problem with the wee joystick but not in and out - could this be related to the wiper/headlamp problem? If so what could be wrong if not what is causing the steering wheel IN/OUT adjuster to have gone AWOL.

thanks in anticipation

 

[television]

To start with cleaning the stalk with a good switch cleaner would be a good start and the same with the steering movement clean the switches with a good non drying cleaner (Maplins)

 

[Flying Scot]

where are the contacts underneath the steering column shroud?

 

[television]

where are the contacts underneath the steering column shroud?

Yes I am afraid that they are and could be a steering wheel off job as changing it is.

I have heard it said that the stalks are hollow and its possible to take the knob off and squirt some cleaner down, but I do not know if this is true

 

[television]

http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb2.as...GA=722.353&CT=F&cat=515&SID=46&SGR=090&SGN=04


http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb2.as...GA=722.353&CT=F&cat=515&SID=46&SGR=105&SGN=05

 

[Flying Scot]

thanks for that info Malcolm - going out to the car now - will report back ASAP

toooooooooooo old to have played with a steering wheel air bag so will be trying hard to avoid taking the wheel off.

regards

 

[Flying Scot]

update

Needless to say the moment i went out to play MV Engineer it rained and with hailstones too.

Getting to the switch looks like a nightmare and i cant see how to get the airbag off two wee holes on the underside of the wheel dont seem to lead anywhere.

Will see if i can get some hands on advice from the local MB technician tomorrow.


BUT i decided to do a little more investigating and discovered that the Bosch wiper blade we had purchased at Halfords a month or two ago was in fact too long and had been contacting the edges of the A pillar. Just to make sure the mechanism was not faulty i took off the cover and cleaned and lubed the mechanism and tested the wiper by hand it looks like it is/was too long by about 1/2" So we went down to Halfords checked the length against another Bosch 24MB blade and the one we had purchased was too long. The manager swapped it without any question. So wondering if this WAS THE PROBLEM and that there is some sort of overload protection circuitry involved here - with new blade it is working fine - watch this space for updates.

The wheel IN/OUT problems continues - with the car stopped i can hear the motor running when i operate the switch so any ideas what could be wrong is there a belt or a clutch/shear pin that could be duff?

thanks in anticipation

regards

 

[television]

David the Air bag comes off by removing the 2 torx screws in the rear of the wheel. they are in the 2 holes

Remove battery first and lay air bag face down out of the sun

 

[Flying Scot]

David the Air bag comes off by removing the 2 torx screws in the rear of the wheel. they are in the 2 holes

Remove battery first and lay air bag face down out of the sun

do you know what size Torx Malcolm>

 

[television]

do you know what size Torx Malcolm>

I will go and look and post back

 

[Flying Scot]

Big Update

Drove the car myself today - my partner drives it 90% of the time so was bringing it home to have a look at these problems as the wipers had stopped working again last night..

AND

NO Wipers
NO Indicators
NO Lecy seats adjustment or heat
NO Heated Rear Window
NO Electric Mirror adjustment
NO steering wheel adjustment this time NO UP/DOWN or IN/OUT
NO headlamp flash

Horn works as does the windows and everything else including side and headlights and hazard flashers

Drove the car home - about a 40 mile trip about 10/12 miles into the trip everything starts working again (rather fortuitously as it started snowing again) apart from the wheel IN/OUT which seems to be a drive problem as i can hear the motor cycling when i operate the joystick switch.

Does ANY of that help to locate a common circuit or supply or return circuit breaker/wire OR ANY IDEAS?

 

[television]

I am having problems they do not give the size in the workshop manual I tried in mine , a T10 is to small but my T15 is too long to try,, it cant be more than T15

 

[television]

Drove the car myself today - my partner drives it 90% of the time so was bringing it home to have a look at these problems as the wipers had stopped working again last night..

AND

NO Wipers
NO Indicators
NO Lecy seats adjustment or heat
NO Heated Rear Window
NO Electric Mirror adjustment
NO steering wheel adjustment this time NO UP/DOWN or IN/OUT
NO headlamp flash

Horn works as does the windows and everything else including side and headlights and hazard flashers

Drove the car home - about a 40 mile trip about 10/12 miles into the trip everything starts working again (rather fortuitously as it started snowing again) apart from the wheel IN/OUT which seems to be a drive problem as i can hear the motor cycling when i operate the joystick switch.

Does ANY of that help to locate a common circuit or supply or return circuit breaker/wire OR ANY IDEAS?

The ignition switch is famous for this , my ignition switch on my 129 went the same way.

There is an article somewhere on benzworld where the guy fixes it

 

[Flying Scot]

The ignition switch is famous for this , my ignition switch on my 129 went the same way.

There is an article somewhere on benzworld where the guy fixes it

so should i give the ignition switch a squirt of the switch cleaner the switch part not the lock part?

thanks

 

[television]

so should i give the ignition switch a squirt of the switch cleaner the switch part not the lock part?

thanks

I dont think that it will work on the switch,, the rear section, the loading on these switches is up to the max on the 129.


The switch does unplug from the front section, the guy in the USA took it down and opened up all of the contacts

 

[Flying Scot]

I dont think that it will work on the switch,, the rear section, the loading on these switches is up to the max on the 129.


The switch does unplug from the front section, the guy in the USA took it down and opened up all of the contacts

WUNDERFOOL forgotten my username or password on Benzworld so waiting for that to be sent to me so i can have a look see at this fix.

I suppose the only good thing is that these cars are complex in a simplistic way and things can be dismantled and fixed. I have got my two nephews one a RR/B MV Engineer and the other Jaguar asking for help on this problem with their MB trade contacts no sensible replies as yet.

Is there a MB breaker in the UK where i could get another used switch?

IF not luckily my partners sons bil is in a not too far away MB stealer so if push comes to shove i suppose we can get a new switch at the best possible price.

Any thoughts on the lack of IN/OUT motion on the steering wheel seeing that i can hear the motor running when i actuate the switch?

 

[television]

David send me an Email and I will send details

 

[television]

Not worth a secondhand one they are around £50 with a volt meter in the fault condition its easy to confirm it all

 

[television]

David I do need an Email address from you I have copied all of the MB steering adjustments If I do not hear from you today they will all have to go

 

[Flying Scot]

Since i could not get the wheel off today and as i am finding it difficult to believe that it is this multifunction switch that is causing this problem i removed the trim from underneath the wheel and found four connectors one going to this 'bad' switch as well as locating the ignition switch too - sadly trapped with a strut brace. The one to the indicators/wipe/wash/Headlamp flash is held in with a cam device - this was not fully latched. Everything is working again though they were not until i removed this trim panel - so i will leave it off and have a look at things again tomorrow. I pulled the connector off the 'bad' switch and had a look see but it looked fine. Tomorrow i will remove the strut that braces the steering column and see if i can slip out the ignition switch module and have a look at that switch too. Any help as to how to remove that and the other three connectors appreciated.