If there is still "some" pressure left in it, and you knew it has been leaking steadily by slowly since the car was built, I'd estimate that it's be pretty hard to detect the leak source. Yes, i assume it's low on freon too, only a set of gauges will tell you that, UNLESS someone can tell you how to use the control panel as a pressure indicator, which i believe it will do (has a diagnostic mode, try doing some research on that before buying anything or before proceeding much furhter with diagnosing the problem).
There is of course the possiblity that you've suffered something worse, like a rapid leak you weren't aware of, like maybe a small puncture to the condensor (out in front of the radiator).
THANK YOU for serving our Country.
My bro in law in FL served for 21 yrs, incl far east Asia. Was stationed for a couple years in MI at the now-closed KI Sawyer SAC base, I spent most of one summer up there, '72 i guess it was, saw some shot-up buffs back from se Asia.
Gilly

PS ask Bill (blackmercedes) if he knows how to access AC diagnostic mode to get a pressure reading and what reading he'd consider normal. It will read in BAR, that I do know

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On the W202, simply press "rest" for five seconds. Scroll to "07" and check the value. It should be up to about 17.0 under hard cooling.

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif

It is completely normal under certain climatic conditions to lose freon over time. Being originally from upstate NY where the summers are quite toasty and the winters damn cold this happens a lot! Not uncommon to add freon every other year on some vehicles! It happens when using Defrost in the winter since it activates the AC Compressor when engaged to suck the moisture out of the air! The compresssor cycling in that cold air before the engine warms causes the Freon to leak out the seals. Now you are in florida so you probably don't get that cold but the principle still applies so it may just have leaked down over the last 6 years time to a level that of course is too low for the Compressor to activate anymore. Also could be something as simple as a pressure switch or other sensor. Not sure how many are on the newer MB's but my 190E has something like 4 or 5 odd sensors that all must be working properly for the AC to function. I am still working on getting AC to work in normal mode, it only works in Max mode now and keeps the compressor constantly on. It will not engage when the normal button is pushed. So I someday need to replace the Hi/Lo pressure switch and see if that works, I have it just not in the car yet!! Good luck and hopefully she just needs a recharge!

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~Jamie
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2003 Pewter C230K SC C1, C4, C5, C7, heated seats, CD Changer, and 6 Speed. ContiExtremes on the C7's.

1986 190E 2.3 Black, Auto, Mods to come soon.....

Thanx to all...there is a wealth of knowledge here apparantly that I am very fortunate to have recieved. I'm sorting out through the suggestions, and I'm looking for my angle of attack to start off with=Plan A- the simplest solution is probably the most likely and hopefully it's the freon recharge...and man, if that's not the case, I do have some Plan B-Z's courtesy of the members here

Gilly- Thanx. I get that alot, but I would say that we're all just doing our job and taking care of business.

-Patrick

I just checked and "07" reads 4.0. Now I am interpreting that as low refrigerant levels. BTW what do the other values mean??

John's number of 17 is applies to an operating, correctly charged system. This number is the high side pressure of the system, expressed in atmospheres (bars) if memory serves. The value 17 equals about 255PSI, which is a pretty normal high side.

Your value of 4.0 is about 60PSI. Whether that's a problem or not depends upon the temperature under the hood at the time you took the reading. What was the ambient temp? Had the car been driven before you took the reading? Sixty PSI is low if the car was cool and the outdoor temperature in the 80s or 90s, as I expect it is in Fl. If the car had been driven, making everything under the hood nice and toasty warm, then it's really low.

I kinda doubt a 4.0 reading is low enough to cut off the compressor. Typically it would need to be something in the range of 2.0-2.5 to shut down the compressor. Not sure if low refrigerant is your main problem or not.

- JimY

I don't think that we'll be able to get a good diagnosis without reading the codes that have triggered the EC to engage.

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif

The "codes", are they attainable from the on board diagnostics or do I need to plug her up at the dealer?

The HHT readings were taken on the cars first start up since yesterday. It's about 90 degrees out when I took the reading, around noon time when I started her up. It took me approximately 3 mins to figure out how to scroll to value "07" where I took the reading of 4.0. Engine off, posted the reading.

I can post the other values if it can shed more light on the matter.

Sokoloff, whom I have chatted with, with his identical experience

in thread 210 chassis climate control problem

in a nutshell, had to replace the sensor 210 830 05 72 under the dash and after reprogramming the climate control unit it did the trick. I am not sure though, I need to clarify if refrigerant was ever the issue.

Thanks all for your input and hopefully things will work out

I had basically the same problem as Patrick suggests. Freon level was never low and once the sensor was replaced, everything was right with the world again. Mercedes put out a technical bulletin about this issue, so it's a known problem with these climate control systems. The bulletin basically says to replace the sensor before you do anything else, reprogram the system and see what you've got. In my case, everything returned to normal and the system has worked well for six months now.

I sure wouldn't spend a penny doing anything until that sensor is right.

Len
'99 E300TD 68,000 miles