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W.221 2007 : Warning Lights / Gear Selector / Parking Sensor Intermittent Fault

RichT580

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Apr 20, 2020
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Location
Dorset
Car
Mercedes S500 (W221, 2007, pre-facelift)
Hi all,

Warning Lights / Auxiliary Battery Problem
I recently had a number of spurious warning lights come on in my pre-facelift S.500 (then disappear) for no apparent reason. Rear interior lights wouldn't come on / stay on, remote boot lid not working (and worse, boot would not stay closed 😮), plus other issues.

As per the advice of BlackC55 : 'Warning lights. The first port of call', I decided to get my car seen by a specialist battery centre in Bournemouth. I've used them before and they're great for thoroughly checking / giving advice / guidance and don't just want to sell you a battery and get you out of the shop!

They were most impressed with the condition, voltage, output of what looks like an original MB start battery, but established that the voltage / output from the auxiliary battery (hidden behind a rear seat panel, accessed from the boot) was extremely low. They fitted a new one and all the above spurious / Intermittent faults no longer appear: fantastic!

However, since the above was cured with a new aux. battery, the following has appeared; not sure if there's a link or it's just a coincidence

Using Gear Gear Selector Creates a Parktronic Fault Warning
After driving the car for more than approx. 5 minutes, if the gear selector is used to put the car into Park, Neutral or Reverse, an alarm sounds, 4x red squares appear on dash with the message 'parktronic inoperative', the red warning lamp above the manual dash mounted parktronic button lights up and the front & rear warnings on the rear and front do not work.

Pressing the manual dash board button has no effect and it appears that the only way to clear the fault is to stop the engine and restart..... and everything's back to normal!

It's not the worst fault I've had but frustrating as whenever you want to park / manoeuvre, when you really need the parking sensors, you have to switch the engine off, then on to make them work.

As a foot note, the sensors work properly if I drive close to another car, fence, etc., the fault only appears if the gear selector is operated to reverse, park or neutral!

Help!
 
Firstly the only way that you will get any idea about what is happening is to get it diagnosed with a Star. There should be fault codes logged and this will guide the tester in whats going on.
 
Thanks for that.
I've seen your garage / workshop advertised and would have liked to come over, but with the current restrictions / state of play ref. Covid-19 and the distance from where I live, I wouldn't be able to book it in with you guys for some time to come.
 
Contact us when you are ready and we can get you booked in. Its not an urgent fault after but I appreciate very annoying. You can send an email to [email protected] and I can add you to the list of people to contact when we are back to work if you wish?
 
Hi i thought car battery when i read your post title. Also, your car might need full reprogramming.
 
Thanks for your response.

Don't think it's likely to be a battery problem, as I've now bought a new Auxilliary Battery and this cured all the spurious warning light issues.... but I've now got this one!

As you can see from other responses, advice is to get the car hooked up to the STAR diagnosis system, but I won't be able to do this until the end of 'lockdown'.

Can you explain what you mean by the car possibly needing 'full reprogramming'?
 
Hi i thought car battery when i read your post title. Also, your car might need full reprogramming.
Thanks for your response.

Don't think it's likely to be a battery problem, as I've now bought a new Auxilliary Battery and this cured all the spurious warning light issues.... but I've now got this one!

As you can see from other responses, advice is to get the car hooked up to the STAR diagnosis system, but I won't be able to do this until the end of 'lockdown'.

Can you explain what you mean by the car possibly needing 'full reprogramming'?

W221 2007 S.500L - Obsidian Black with Dove Grey Leather
{Prev. Owned : W220 2003 S.350L - Tanzanite Blue with Tan Leather}
{Prev. Owned : S210 1996 E.230 7-Seat Estate - Dolphin Grey with Black Leather}
 

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