Only Bought It Yesterday - Problems Already....

[E55BOF]

Not really much, though. It's a 2008 E-class (S211) estate, with 88K miles on it.

The rear wiper motor doesn't work; the load area lights do not come on; the luggage cover does not lift automatically when the tailgate is opened. I knew about the first two snags when I bought the car.

The rear light clusters are fine, as are the number plate lights, and the rear washer also functions perfectly.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Does anyone know where I should start looking? Please help...

 

[Deleted member 6183]

If it was a saloon I'd suspect broken wiring in the hinges, could be a similar issue.

 

[Alex]

I'd do a continuity test to see if all the wires are intact.

 

[merc85]

Motor could be seized lack of use? You obviously have checked bulbs, Fuse box etc etc.

Contact switch for the tailgate, Do the lights in the boot come on when you unlock the car? or is it just when you lift the tailgate?

 

[Kingsford G]

Wires from the body to the tailgate where ithey bend on the hinges.

 

[E55BOF]

Yes, the lights in the boot do come on when the car is unlocked. They come on when I use the switch behind the interior mirror, as well.

 

[E55BOF]

I haven't checked anything yet, not even the handbook to see if there's a fuse decode list for me to check which fuse(s) it might be and where the fuse box in question is. Christmas is a busy time - especially if you are an ace procrastinator...

It's not bulbs, though.

 

[jaymanek]

It's not a fuse it's wiring to boot lid. Does the tailgate soft close work?

 

[merc85]

As above seeing as they work when you unlock the car

 

[E55BOF]

Yes, the soft close works. I reckon it's the wiring, too. B****R!

Is the connector for the main loom inside the car(I assume it is)? If so, it might be less faff just to fit a new door loom on the affected side. Is this fault common on W211 estates? I've seen mention of it on saloons, but not on estates.

 

[BlackC55]

Hold your horses.

Get it plugged in first. This will help with pin pointing the cause, save you time and ££.

 

[E55BOF]

It will have to wait until after New Year, anyway. First thing will be to get the trim off the tailgate and see what the multimeter reveals when the rear wiper is switched on, and (assuming there's a microswitch/mercury switch in the tailgate that triggers the boot light) what's happening there too.

I'm assuming Sod's Law, though; it will be the wiring...

 

[Deleted member 6183]

If it is the wiring it shouldn't be a big job, mine only cost £40 at my garage.

 

[E55BOF]

I'm hoping to do the work myself, though; I don't seem to get my hands dirty nearly often enough these days. The problem is, I'm moderately s**t at soldering.

 

[toolman1954]

People are generally only s--t at soldering because they do not clean the wires, nor use extra / any flux or use too small an iron for the job in hand.
They read that the solder contains flux and expect that to be enough. Well thats not so. Before you start, clean the end of your iron, dip it into the flux and apply some solder, just enough until the end is tinned and looking shiny.
Cut and trim your wire end, dip it in some flux or apply a scrape of flux to the wire end.
I always use good old FRYS paste in a green tin. Then apply the end of your iron to the wire, heat it up and feed some solder onto it. Not too much, you are just tinning the end of the wire not welding it. After you have done the other piece of wire in a similar manner so that you have 2 tinned ends, lay them together and heat them up and feed a tiny bit more solder onto the joint and everything should look nice and shiny.
Sometime I might add a scrape more flux to the joint to get some good penetration... we like that word Finish off the joint with some heat shrink or some electrical tape. If it looks like you have made a mess of it then just put a blob of flux onto the joint and reheat and watch it all flow together. Shiny is good, dull and lifeless is not good.
Always use clean ends of wire and nothing that is contaminated with verdigris. Soldering is just cleanliness, patience and some flux. Just practice a bit before you take the plunge. After conquering soldering you will want to learn Brazing !!
Tools you need, are a soldering iron minimum 25 watt, solder 60/40 , (avoid the lead free ), Flux!, sidecutters and perhaps a wee snap off bladed knife.

Steve

 

[Peter103]

Excellent lesson Tool man, took me right back to my apprenticeship days.

 

[E55BOF]

Brazing I occasionally do already, but the knack of fine soldering has always eluded me. I always seem to need at least one more hand, too...

 

[Deleted member 65149]

Just to add to toolman's excellent lesson:

1) wipe the freshly tinned soldering iron tip on a clean cloth or damp sponge to remove excess solder that will quickly oxidise

2) when tinning and soldering wires don't apply the solder directly to the iron, let the iron heat the wires and apply the solder to the opposite side of the wire(s). Applying directly to the iron may result in an unreliable "cold joint" because the wires aren't hot enough to let the solder flow fully.


Takes me way back to when I had just completed my electronic engineering apprenticeship. My new boss had an MSc in electronics but I had to show him how to solder correctly. He was making the all too common mistake of not first heating the joint sufficiently with the soldering iron, then just dabbing it with the solder. I soon went on to take extra care when soldering components onto Printed Circuit Boards, and then progressed to making my own integrated circuits (microchips) where I did all the miniature soldering under a microscope. I miss those old laboratory days, but when I eventually went on to do my MSc I could at least use a soldering iron (and blow lamp when installing central heating at home).

 

[Deleted member 6183]

For the boot wiring block connectors will be fine, no advantage with solder.

 

[JFisher]

These are typical problems of all estate/hatchbacks, and it's absolutely not a big deal on an 08' car.