Common w204 fault??

[JoeyM88]

Had my 2010 c350 serviced at an indy today. They rang an hour after i dropped it offand said they had done a health check on the car before the service and spotted a common fault in the c class. The rear wiring loom starts to melt on either side apparently. They quoted 102 per side to fix it

Is this common?

 

[Ted]

Yes, I've heard of this.
The earth (brown) wire and connection isn't really up to the job of carrying the current and melts/oxidises at the connector - you should be able to check this yourself.
Personally on a six year old car, I would probably have a go at sorting this myself - see if you can run another wire directly (soldered) from the cluster common to a good earth.
A decent auto electrician would probably do it for under half the cost.
On the other hand if you want to keep it original...

 

[chrisdean]

Sounds like something that should be done FOC, surely a recall issue?

 

[JoeyM88]

Yer I would rather do it myself and if i got stuck there is an auto electric by me who is cery good.

I just thought I'd check as ive been on here pretty much every other day since just before i bought the car in Jan 2015 and had never come across it.

Thanks for your help I'll put it on the to do list

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

This is common, there's a lot of cases on the US forum

 

[kam05]

Common issue on the w204. Mine had the wiring replaced by the local MB dealer when my car went in for a recent summer health check. MB dealer put a warranty claim to MBUK so didn't cost me a penny in repairs.

Mines a 57 plate c220cdi Sport.

 

[190]

It's common enough in the US that it's been the subject of a safety recall. No recall anywhere else that I've heard of.

As the brake lights are the biggest current draw I suspect the problem will occur to cars that are routinely run with the side lights on and also held for extended periods at a stop with the brake lights on. That's something I'm avoiding for now until I add a supplementary earth wire.

 

[grober]

I think the brake lights come on when you use the brake "hold" function so you could be sitting at the lights for quite some time with the brake lights on without your foot on the pedal??

 

[Yugguy]

There's a few vids on youtube on how to replace with a sturdier wire.

I checked mine when I got the car back in March but couldn't see any signs of browning or burning.

 

[cliveyboy8]

As others have said it is a common problem but one which Mercedes don't care about and will charge you for sorting it out.

This is a very easy fix and is described in the vid below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBeKlptAnHM

 

[JoeyM88]

Thanks for the replies and info. You would imagine if a recall has been issued in America then it should be worldwide.

 

[190]

MB did a recall in the US only after they were forced to by owners lobbying the NHTSA saying the rear light failure was a safety issue.

Everywhere else they seem to think they can make a very basic ohms law design error and not own up to it or stand by it.

 

[pcctech]

Had my 2010 c350 serviced at an indy today. They rang an hour after i dropped it offand said they had done a health check on the car before the service and spotted a common fault in the c class. The rear wiring loom starts to melt on either side apparently. They quoted 102 per side to fix it

Is this common?

try this youtube video, explains the fault and how to easily convert the earth connection, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBeKlptAnHM, hope this helps.

 

[cliveyboy8]

try this youtube video, explains the fault and how to easily convert the earth connection, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBeKlptAnHM, hope this helps.

Yes, the same video I posted in post 10!