W124 E280 4 Spd Auto (Est), Ignition, Infra-Red Remote

[television]

Btw Malcolm,

I am on the EPC, and hours of fun it is too, but don't see access to the WIS.

Am I missing something?

J

http://www.w124performance.com/service/Index/104index.html
http://www.w124performance.com/service/Main.html
http://www.w124performance.com/docs/mb/W124/

You have everything that you need for a 124, all wis documents

Why not just change the door and boot barrels and leave the ignition

 

[JensH]

Der Berliner!

If yours is I'd see a quack!!

Just turned the 250,000 kms mark (was used as a cab for only a short period before export from Germany).

Is that metallic?

I take back everything I said, though.
It was mostly drizzle and rain when I visited in Jan, so I wasn't able to appreciate the sublime tones. Lovely!

J

 

[mej]

Not metallic; flat.

For the WIS, press the maroon car on ramp icon at the top RHC of the EPC screen (3rd icon from the right).

 

[JensH]

Sad case...

http://www.w124performance.com/service/Index/104index.html
http://www.w124performance.com/service/Main.html
http://www.w124performance.com/docs/mb/W124/

You have everything that you need for a 124, all wis documents

Why not just change the door and boot barrels and leave the ignition

Because, tragically, I am a perfectionist and obsessed with 100% functionality and authenticity. It is probably an illness. My wife has gone to Wales for a couple of days to escape. She calls the car my second wife!

I have been fighting it off for a month or two, but suspect I will go the MB route, at the expense of the 12 string guitar I have been hankering after.

Off for a pizza...

Thank you both.

Jens

 

[JensH]

P.S.

Because, tragically, I am a perfectionist and obsessed with 100% functionality and authenticity. It is probably an illness. My wife has gone to Wales for a couple of days to escape. She calls the car my second wife!

I have been fighting it off for a month or two, but suspect I will go the MB route, at the expense of the 12 string guitar I have been hankering after.

Off for a pizza...

Thank you both.

Jens

p.s. one day I'll tell you about my Gibson Les Paul...

 

[JensH]

Not metallic; flat.

Yes, I know... You just experienced some Dansk humour.

Thanks re the WIS - more to obsess about...

You should see my photo survey of the car!

Jens

 

[JensH]

WIS

For the WIS, press the maroon car on ramp icon at the top RHC of the EPC screen (3rd icon from the right).

Greyed out in my EPC menus...

I think you need to be a professional service agent of some kind?

Jens

 

[mej]

No, just bung the £30 to MB -

http://******************s.com/cl2item/epc/ClubLounge/Registration/186/en/001

which I imagine you must have done?? I've never had anything to do with cars professionally. I can lose money on them quickly enough as a hobby without making a job of it:neutral:

 

[JensH]

Greyed out in my EPC menus...

I think you need to be a professional service agent of some kind?

Jens

It's also €898 ex VAT a year for WIS according to the MB site...

J

 

[mej]

See your PMs

 

[mej]

So it blanks it out on PMs as well......??

 

[mej]

Just remembered I have your direct address. Message now there.

 

[JensH]

W124 E280 4 Spd Auto (Est), Ignition, Infra-Red Remote, Etc

So here's the latest.

Having cleared down the fault codes (thanks for that Malcolm (TV)) I have retested today. I am (or was) getting the following codes only:

8 HFM Injection, still code 9, but now apparently clear (see below);

12 Infra Red Central Locking, appears to be clear - so presumably that means someone fixed the problem earlier;

14 CC/ISC, only now code 5!

I checked out the LAMBA sensor connectors under the driver's carpet. The sensor on the exhaust has its own mini harness holding signal wiring for oxygen and low pressure, which should connect to a single and a 3-way pin bush housing respectively, harness is part number A 000 540 38 17 for my VIN.

As you can see from the attached picture, the 3-way PBH has been removed and the 3 wires had been simply wound and (poorly) insulated with tape. What you see in the picture is my temporary repair using 3A connector strip. This has been insulated since the picture - and the code now appears to be clear (1 blip). Presumably, though, I should do a proper repair with the correct MB PBH and pins? Is 3A ok for the connectors?

If the cruise control turns out to be just down to the stop light switch (and thanks for suggesting that as most likely Malcolm (mej)), that would be a very nice surprise. Presumably that could be the switch unit itself (the thing the pedal connects to) or the adapter plug that connects from the CC 'Tempomat' harness (there are two adapters - one or the CC, one for the stop lamps). The latter seems the more likely because the stop lights are all working ok. I'd be surprised if it was this simple - the previous owner said the CC hadn't been working for years. We will see!

Given that I can only test at pins 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14, I don't suppose I can assume there are no problems with other functions...

Novella on air-conditioning to follow in a while...

Cheers,


Jens

 

[mej]

Jens

Not sure I suggested the stop lamp switch as the most likely, but clearly the cheapest and the one to check first. Your pic is exactly as mine. IIRC there are 2 x O2 sensor heater power wires and one ground in the connectors, and the large black connector is the signal wire. The O2 sensor is heated so that it begins sending plausible readings ASAP to get the car off the default timing/fuelling map which the ECU uses in the absence of a plausible O2 signal. I would run for a short while with the carpet up, and if nothing has burnt out after a few cold starts I wouldn't worry. Water ingress, common where the connectors live, often causes corrosion on them which can skew the signal and current.

My favourite culprit for the CC issues would be the throttle body or its wiring. I rewired mine succesfully, but it was fiddly because of the thin pins in the plug. I still had to source a replacement as the problem proved to be the potentiometer tracks inside the unit and which communicate the throttle position with the ECU and cannot be repaired. Hellish dear ex MB, but I paid around £95 IIRC. Used mercedes independent, Stoke. Dave Collins at Sowerby Bridge is also v. good.

 

[JensH]

O2 Sensor / CC

I would run for a short while with the carpet up, and if nothing has burnt out after a few cold starts I wouldn't worry. Water ingress, common where the connectors live, often causes corrosion on them which can skew the signal and current.

My favourite culprit for the CC issues would be the throttle body or its wiring. I still had to source a replacement as the problem proved to be the potentiometer tracks inside the unit and which communicate the throttle position with the ECU and cannot be repaired. Hellish dear ex MB, but I paid around £95 IIRC.

Thanks for this Malcolm.

Re the connections, I will see how I get on for a few days, as advised, but the car is due to go in for some attention in a week or two, so I may get the wiring repaired properly, with the correct connector (A 011 545 96 28).

I actually have a ongoing problem with water/damp in that area. I think this goes back to the A/C, because I believe the drain at the bottom of the heat exchanger is blocked - I never get the tell-tale water puddle under the car, so IMO the water is collecting somewhere else, and, apparently, the driver's well is commonly the place.

And re the CC, yes it was Triv that suggested the stop lamp initially... I'll look at the issues there first, switch (A 001 545 01 09) + adapter to Tempomat harness (A 011 545 71 28 + 4mm pins). I suspect that your suggestions are the more likely (and more expensive) problems. I've attached a picture of the engine (MSG) and CC control units, and I also supposedly have an electronic accelerator CU, although that is not obvious to see. Not sure what the thing with the question mark is - has some odd binary-type code at its base (all '0's and '1's). Are the same as yours were?

Anyway, hours of fun!

Jens

 

[mej]

Morning Jens

As you have identified, the 2 plugs at the rear of the pic are connected to the main ECU/MSG. The larger plug in front of them is into the ABS ECU. The black cover in the shadow to the right of the pic appears to be the slip on cover to your OVP. The CC/Idle ECU is cunningly hidden in the passenger (UK) footwell. Pic herewith. I found no issues with the CC/Idle ECU. The wiring to this is not exposed to heat in the same way as the engine loom(s).

Regarding damp; the air con drain is possible, as is the drainage from the outside channels in the engine side of the scuttle. I prodded both from above and below (both sides of the transmission IIRC). I also had problems, now solved, with my Berlin taxi due to the wide wiper rubber seal not seating properly and the strips which run forward along the front roof and down beside the windscreen not being correctly seated or butted up.

Amuse-toi bien
Bon courage

Malcolm

 

[JensH]

CC CU

The CC/Idle ECU is cunningly hidden in the passenger (UK) footwell. Pic herewith.

Blimey! That is, indeed, a cunning disguise...

& thanks for correcting my understanding about the battery area CUs. Do you happen to know where the electronic accelerator CU is?

Jens

p.s. my windscreen base seals are loose both sides - easy simply to pull off. Should there be a firm "lock" in the fit? Have you used silicone sealant, ever, or should it be a natural push to seal?

 

[mej]

Well, that's the sheer ingenuity of it all. They call it an electronic accelerator, but only the idle speed and CC is electronic. The actual throttle opening in non CC mode and above idle speed is still on the pedal/cable, like a real car. Pre FBW you see, so the bit you're asking about is the bit I illustrated.

I avoided any sealant (except on my W126, but that's another story). If you unclip the full outer lengths of the deep wiper seal you may find debris - seeds etc - preventing the tracks of the seal clipping into the tracks of the base underneath it. A good clean out and a firm push down with a broad platen which will not damage the seal, and all may be well.

I will direct email a doc which goes into this a bit, but is too big to attach.

You will soon have access to all this yourself when your MB EPC/WIS card arrives.

M

 

[JensH]

W124 E280 4 Spd Auto (Est), Cruise, Ignition, I-R Remote, Etc

Well, feeling pretty pleased with myself.

With the brake switch finally having packed up completely, so that I had few days of brake light on being off and vice versa, I popped down to MB Stratford, to get stuck into some parts, including investigating prices for major CC components.

New actuator, £1,629 plus VAT - ouch! Put that on hold...

Bought a new stop switch at £12.60 and fitted it in the car park, not only were the lights fixed, but a quick spin on what used to be called the A102 (M), revealed the CC to be working as well! Woop!

So years of non-functioning CC basically down to around a tenner not spent. Well I never.

Error codes all gone on my little blinker thingy. $30 well spent, there!

Just got to sort out my A/C and a little bit of bodywork now. Famous last words, probs.

Jens

 

[mej]

Bravissimo