Command disassociated itself from the rest of car???

[WhiteBlack]

Hi,

Sorry for the slightly ambiguous title but I'm very new to MB ownership(4th drive today!) and I'm not quite sure how to describe the problem I encountered today.

Car is an 08 cLK63 blackseries not sure what version of command I have.

Today command kept giving me the message that it would turn off in 3mins to conserve battery(despite me driving at the time) further more the dash screen didn't seem able to talk to command so no radio station, satnav info etc available on the dash.

It just seemed like command wasn't talking to the rest of the car. Any idea what might be causing this?

All help appreciated, forgive me if this covered elsewhere but I can't seem to find anything!

 

[BlackC55]

You need it plugged in firstly.

 

[richard]

Well, firstly, congrats on your new car - nice

You have diagnosed the issue well, COMAND connects to the rest of the car via CANbus , a 2 wire network that almost all the control units in the car talk to each other over. This bus is used to tell the COMAND everything (such as ignition on, lights on, etc) and for the COMAND to feed info to the instrument cluster. So if there is an issue with this communication you get the problem you describe.

Do you have the Mercedes iPod kit (with an iPod cable in glovebox). With the iPod kit the connection between COMAND and the rest of the car routes via the iPod kit (so it can display messages on the console and detect when the COMAND has gone into AUX mode (i.e iPod mode)? Even a damaged iPod cable going to the iPod can cause this.

If so, it is likely there is an issue with that - i.e failing or a loose connection. If not, then it is wierd, and you should try resetting the COMAND unit (pull the fuse for it for 20 seconds, or disconnect battery earth, prefer fuse pulling!!), and see if problem resolves itself.

But, the best way, as Ollie says, is to use Star Diagnosis (the diagnosis computer) to look at the fault codes stored.

Where are you ? If you are near Lightwater, pop down and see Alfie at Mercedes Retrofit Specialist - Comand.co.uk - they have spare iPod kits etc in stock if needed.

Richard

 

[WhiteBlack]

Thanks Richard!

I'll pull the fuse first and see what happens, hopefully that'll do it!

 

[richard]

Do you have the iPod kit ?

R

 

[WhiteBlack]

Yup, car does have the Ipod kit, I haven't used it though.

I'll give the fuse a go tonight and failing that I'll get over to a local MB specialist to check it out. I'm a long way from lightwater unfortunately.

 

[WhiteBlack]

Pulled the fuse and reset command. Everything's working normally again!

Many thanks Richard.

 

[richard]

Perfect

Richard