SL55 AMG (2003) Electronics

[Jules55012]

Hello all,
Right up front I would like to say what a great forum this is. Over the last few weeks I've been in despair but after finding this forum and reading some of the common problems I don't feel quite so alone.

12 months ago I treated myself to what is simply an amazing car, no wonder it was used as the F1 safety car for so long (I was gutted to see they had changed it this season for the gullwing).

A couple of months ago I changed both batteries as the consumer electrics were off line more than they were on, even after trickle charging.

Since then and now I've had no end of problems, roof leaks, boot wet through, passenger carpet sodden, rear windows not closing properly, instrument cluster looking like some kind of psychedelic disco with warning lights flashing and the needles jumping around.

I had the roof adjusted and it turned out the water in the passenger side had covered some electric boot/switched and the copper contacts had all turned green! This was duly changed but it was mentioned that the seals could do with changing.

After reading the forum I'm likely to have a go at cleaning them up and sealing them with silicone. I also checked the roof pump and PSE pump and found that I had to strip it out as instructed on the forum.....its now all drying out.

The parking sensors work, then don't depending if its a nice day or not....and the instrument cluster still thinks its been hired for an all night rave....and to top it off the consumer electrics have decided they want to go off line for the first 10 mins of every trip!

Does all this sound familiar or have I been really unlucky and bought a recycled WWII U-boat?

Well if we don't laugh we'd end up crying :???:

 

[television]

Welcome to the forum, where does one start,if the consumers are still coming on at the start of every drive the there must be a drain somewhere,, the car should go for 2 weeks without being driven. If the rear PSE pump was wet then that could have been the cause as it is on the wake up lines.

It should not be necessary to change any seals unless any parts have been over closed.

Re the boot seals I am doing a complete DIY for this within the next 2 weeks, it is possible to keep it dry.

Re the cluster, not so easy unless a SAM is playing up as well, any chance of a better description on that one

 

[Mic]

Jules

Hello and welcome.....that is one hell of a list and I think you may have been a little unlucky to have collected all those faults all at once.
You have however chosen a fantastic car and on this Forum you will get all the help you will need to get your issues sorted.
I am not a techie but I am sure that they will be with you very soon.
Good luck.

Mic

 

[turbopete]

nice car. very nice.

 

[Jules55012]

Thanks Malcom, Mic & turbopete

Malcom.... I look forward to seeing the DIY....and some sunshine to get it started and help dry it out.

Re the cluster....I will be driving along and all/most of the warning lights will flash on and off several times, while the needles for the speedo, tach and fuel will become erratic, I may or may not get the audio warning but I will get an array of on screen faults such as bulbs, roof and visit workshop warnings.

After 3-4 seconds it all goes back to normal. It doesn't affect the physical drive. I'm thinking water ingress into this black electronics connector that I had replaced under the passenger seat. I'm wondering if this one has now become wet.

What is a SAM?

Thanks for your advice and knowledge

Jules

 

[television]

The cluster does not have any contact with the rear SAM other than the rear SAM talks to the front 2 SAMs. for the dash to light up and all warning lamps come on,even if only for a second or two, it means that either the EIS (electronic ignition switch) has lost it, the alternator may have faultered, or a SAM has lost contact. A SAM is a signal acquisition module, a storage device that can store all electronic things on the car,,these are called up via the CAN data bus.

A fault code read out could give a clue

 

[Jules55012]

Thanks Malcom, I will get it hooked up to a diognostics if it doesn't stop. The guys who did the work are convinced all will be well once its had some warm sun and a chance to dry out.
Jules

 

[vauxhallmaniac]

Hi jules, had exactly the same problem with my 2004 r230 consumers offline rear windows dropping when they feel like it, dash goning crazy needles all going to zero then flick back up, battery warning not charging, SRS fault restraint system disabled, vario roof open when its not!! My heater blower air intake drain was blocked this poured water through into the passenger footwell and under the carpet/sound proofing, if you lift your carpet n/s footwell and the soundproofing there is a black plastic channel by the sill unclip the top and hinge it back this is where your cambus wires run there will be two multiplugs in there one with green wires and one with brown, lift out and unplug each connector and check for green corrosion to the terminals mine was all corroded in the brown wired plug i cleaned them with electrical contact cleaner and used a bristle from a wire brush vigorously in the female parts of the plugs you can buy the multiplug block from Mercedes its about £4.00 so i replaced it rather than waste time cleaning it i would have liked to replace the plugs but according to mercs you cannot buy them seperately....once back togeather liberally coated with WD40.... i also stripped out the steel foot plate n/s floorpan/bulkhead behind this is the main fuse board i disconnected both car batteries then stripped it down completely (keep all fuses in order) emery clothed all connections even removed all the main live eyelet terminals and emeried them, this fuseboard is directly below where the rain water floods in and also had the "green death". Then the cause, remove the n/s/f wheel strip out the wheel arch liner and look directly at the chassis you should see a triangular rubber gromet with a wet mark where the drain is weeping rather than running the water away stick your fingers up it pull it out and throw it away ( mercedes technical modification!!!! ) your rain water is now free to run away " like a main dealer with your gold card!!! " the carpet will take forever to dry out as the soundproofing is like a big sponge, probably took hour & half to do but i was meticulous the car has been perfect ever since hope this helps cheers simon..

 

[Jules55012]

Thanks Simon thats really helpful,

I've not looked since, but it was reported that there was lots of water under the carpet. I will pray for a warm sunny Easter and follow your lead. I'm heartend to know there is a solution!......had to lol at the dealer quip

Cheers Jules

 

[television]

I am OK on this front and all as new,,but one day I will have to remove all of the seats and inside trim both rear and front to solve an ongoing CAN fault.. I have my own mod for now and that works fine. there is a box in the well both sides with the CAN and wake up connector points, and the same at the rear

 

[Jules55012]

The black connector in your picture is the one that I had replaced recently. After this weeks episode I recken its wet again. Things seemed fine until I hit the brakes a little harder than usual..then bingo!

After Simon's post I checked under the carpet again to see if it was still dry.....no joy soaking wet again! So I'm goint to have a look at this gromet when the rain stops!!!

 

[television]

Yes it must be your heater box that is full, and fits in with braking

 

[Jules55012]

Thanks Malcom....its good to get to the cause of the problem with your help and Simon's.
Now to do the practical stuff

Jules

 

[television]

Thank you for asking that I have just seen where mine has been got at ( the red wires with heat shrink)

These are the can and wake up connection test points

Take a peep at this,, do bare in mind that they are reversed for RHD cars.

http://www.mercedestechstore.com/pdfs/507 Systems I/507 HO CAN B (ICC) 10-28-02.pdf

Do give it time to load and the 230 is at the bottom

 

[Jules55012]

Some nice diagrams and pictures in there, but I think I'll wait to have a Merc guy look at that

However I have just stripped out the wheel arch as Simon suggested....found the triangular drain but no gromet in it? I poured water down from where the wipers are and it ran through cleanly.

There was another drain hole 12" to the left of the triangular drain that was silted up, I prodded around to try clear it but couldn't see where to flush it from.

Where is the heater blower located? Is it possible to access this to check the drain from the unit?

Cheers
Jules

 

[television]

This is the heater box and 430 is the drain for this box

The fan motor is 160 but not much to be gained from there as far as i can see

The air intake parts in front of the screen are all here

010 A 2308300013 A 2308300013 COVER COVER
AIR/WATER DUCT AIR / WATER DUCT
010 010 A 2308300513 A 2308300513 COVER COVER
AIR/WATER DUCT AIR / WATER DUCT
020 020 A 2308320190 A 2308320190 DRAINAGE PIPE DRAINAGE PIPE
WATER DRAIN,LEFT WATER DRAIN, LEFT
030 030 A 2308320290 A 2308320290 DRAINAGE PIPE DRAINAGE PIPE
TROUGH ON THE RIGHT TROUGH ON THE RIGHT
040 040 A 2308320099 A 2308320099 SEALING RING SEALING RING
BETWEEN COVER AND DRAINAGE PIPE BETWEEN COVER AND DRAINAGE PIPE
320 320 A 2308300053 A 2308300053 AIR INTAKE CASE AIR INTAKE CASE
ENGINE COMPARTMENT,FRONT ENGINE COMPARTMENT, FRONT
320 320 A 2308300453 A 2308300453 AIR INTAKE CASE AIR INTAKE CASE
ENGINE COMPARTMENT,FRONT ENGINE COMPARTMENT, FRONT
330 330 A 2308350351 A 2308350351 CONNECTOR CONNECTOR

330 330 A 2308350451 A 2308350451 CONNECTOR CONNECTOR

340 340 A 2308350118 A 2308350118 GRILLE GRILLE
MOUNTING TO INTAKE BOX MOUNTING TO INTAKE BOX
340 340 A 2308350218 A 2308350218 GRILLE GRILLE
MOUNTING TO INTAKE BOX MOUNTING TO INTAKE BOX
350 350 A 2308350139 A 2308350139 COVER COVER
MOUNTING TO INTAKE BOX MOUNTING TO INTAKE BOX
360 360 A 2308350014 A 2308350014 HOLDER HOLDER
CONNECTOR CONNECTOR
365 365 A 1408320084 A 1408320084 DRAIN VALVE DRAIN VALVE

 

[Jules55012]

Thanks Malcom is there anything you DON'T know about these things!

I'll print off a copy to take with me when takling the job next week. I'll let you know the outcome
Jules

 

[vauxhallmaniac]

Hi jules, looks like merc's have already been at your drain if it is backing up with water you can tell by pouring water all over the n/s of the windscreen & bonnet vent then looking in the heater air intake under the n/s bonnet vent, lift the bonnet then remove the plastic grid ( clips on ) look down the intake it should be wet but empty mine had about 2 pints of rain water in it. If thats empty another place i have had trouble is the top seal where the roof meets the windscreen at the very outer edge of the screen pillar the seal has a 3mm hole in the rubber to allow the rain water to run through the inside of the seal this blocks up and water drips down the inside of the car onto the carpet above the sill channel where all the electrical problems are its only a two minute job to check open your roof and use a small rod (old coat hanger etc) to poke it through i even blew some compressed air down it with the compressor pressure turned right down, this leak isn't a major one like the heater blower one but given all the bad weather we've had if the car has been outside its worth a look....It may be worth checking with Mercedes when they did the work last time if they removed the triangular gromet as this is a known fault!! you may just be suffering with the shear amount of water soaked in the carpet causing condensation on the cold steel of the floor i had towells under the carpet for weeks trying to draw out the water trapped in the carpet as this time of the year its never gonna dry on its own.... hope this helps cheers Simon..

 

[Jules55012]

Thanks Simon...I'll go and experiment...if its just wet and not backed up I'll check the roof seal. There was some incress from there but this has stpped since I had the roof tightend/adjusted.

The gromet must have been taken before I purchased the car as Merc hasn't done this since I've had the car.

Cheers
Jules

 

[Jules55012]

Just an update on this....

I've stripped out the seat and carpet as per pictures, and dried out the car over 3 days using a fan heater.

I'm about to start cleaning the electrical contacts...even the new CAN fitted a few weeks ago has now signs of green gunge!

The plan is to refit over the weekend then wait for Malcom do post the DIY on the seals. Once thats done I'm hoping that will solve it...fingers crossed
Jules