IBN
Active Member
Hi everyone - I hope somebody can offer me some advice because I'm going round in circles.
I own a R129 300 SL (1990 US Spec) which has been stuck in the Mercedes Dealer in Dieppe since 10 August. I won't go into the unhappy saga (I've already posted a thread on the matter) but I'll summarise for the sake of clarity.
Car went to dealer for annual service. Dealer broke key off in ignition lock. Took them ages to obtain new barrel. Eventually (12 November) I was told car was ready for collection. I said I would collect on 13 November.
On morning of 13 November, I received a call to say I couldn't collect because the car wouldn't start. Later I received another call to say I could collect because it was just a dirty contact. So off I went. I paid the bill (which was 1000 euros) and set off for home. Despite the bill, I was happy with the car (she was going better than ever before) BUT after 17 miles the car just died - No power (all warning lights came on) and she stopped .... in a very dangerous position and in heavy traffic. I was not happy!
The car would not restart, so I called out the breakdown service and got the it taken back to the dealer. I told the dealer to sort it out, they said that they were sorry and would get back to me.
As I haven't heard from the dealer, I rang them this morning and got the following response.
1. They still had not diagnosed the problem.
2. Their diagnostics machine doesn't work on old vehicles.
3. They don't have an auto-electrician who has experience of old vehicles.
4. Sometimes the car starts, then a few moments later it won't start.
5. When the car starts there is obviously current at the fuel pump but when it won't start there is no current at the pump.
6. They've tried a new fuel pump relay and say it makes no difference.
7. They don't know how long it's going to take to sort it out.
8. They don't think Mercedes France Customer Service will be able to help me.
I now just don't know what to do.
I had a similar non starting problem last christmas but it seemed to go away, and didn't mention it when the car was serviced - I suspect it may be an intermittant problem - Any Ideas?
The only other thing I can think of is .... I had recurring alarm problems (it kept going off at odd times) and read that it was likely to be caused by
the internal battery (inside the alarm) being dead. I also read that if you remove the unmarked fuse (in the boot fuse box) it would kill the alarm. I did this and it worked and everything else seemed to work ok - so I left it
out (disconnected) - Could this be causing the problem?
Any Suggestions?
Thanks
I own a R129 300 SL (1990 US Spec) which has been stuck in the Mercedes Dealer in Dieppe since 10 August. I won't go into the unhappy saga (I've already posted a thread on the matter) but I'll summarise for the sake of clarity.
Car went to dealer for annual service. Dealer broke key off in ignition lock. Took them ages to obtain new barrel. Eventually (12 November) I was told car was ready for collection. I said I would collect on 13 November.
On morning of 13 November, I received a call to say I couldn't collect because the car wouldn't start. Later I received another call to say I could collect because it was just a dirty contact. So off I went. I paid the bill (which was 1000 euros) and set off for home. Despite the bill, I was happy with the car (she was going better than ever before) BUT after 17 miles the car just died - No power (all warning lights came on) and she stopped .... in a very dangerous position and in heavy traffic. I was not happy!
The car would not restart, so I called out the breakdown service and got the it taken back to the dealer. I told the dealer to sort it out, they said that they were sorry and would get back to me.
As I haven't heard from the dealer, I rang them this morning and got the following response.
1. They still had not diagnosed the problem.
2. Their diagnostics machine doesn't work on old vehicles.
3. They don't have an auto-electrician who has experience of old vehicles.
4. Sometimes the car starts, then a few moments later it won't start.
5. When the car starts there is obviously current at the fuel pump but when it won't start there is no current at the pump.
6. They've tried a new fuel pump relay and say it makes no difference.
7. They don't know how long it's going to take to sort it out.
8. They don't think Mercedes France Customer Service will be able to help me.
I now just don't know what to do.
I had a similar non starting problem last christmas but it seemed to go away, and didn't mention it when the car was serviced - I suspect it may be an intermittant problem - Any Ideas?
The only other thing I can think of is .... I had recurring alarm problems (it kept going off at odd times) and read that it was likely to be caused by
the internal battery (inside the alarm) being dead. I also read that if you remove the unmarked fuse (in the boot fuse box) it would kill the alarm. I did this and it worked and everything else seemed to work ok - so I left it
out (disconnected) - Could this be causing the problem?
Any Suggestions?
Thanks