What's up. This is Patrick in Eglin AFB, Fl. I have a 1998 C230. The problem I am having is that my EC button is not disengaging. Whether it is on Auto Climate Control or manual, the EC light does not want to disengage, leaving my family and I quite toasty here in Florida.

I just joined the site and was recommended emphatically by a stranger who I bumped into at the nearby autozone to check this site out and meet some actual professionals who know the deal on MB's.

Thanks for your technical assistance and input you can offer.

-Patrick

Try this thread, especially the last post:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/s...&threadid=86110

Dan

Thanx for the reply...but the link appears to be broke??

Are you sure it's not Eglin at Patrick AFB? I had a bro in law stationed there at Eglin, his last place before he retired to central FL, near Micanopy.
Anyhow, the constant EC light means the AC isn't operating, as yo probably know. There could be several reasons. Like most AC systems, the usual culprit is low freon level, so the underlying reason for that needs to be corrected of course. There was a bulletin out about this regarding a different control panel being needed, if the freon level is checked with gauges and found to be OK, then that's something that could be researched.

Gilly

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Try this.
210 chassis climate control problem

Dan

Gilly, it's definitely a sweet place here to retire...thanks. U know i've suspected low refrigerent for a while...the a/c just didn't seem up to par as my camry(brrrrr) and hopefully i can just fill her up w/ fresh refridgerent and the "EC" will start functioning like normal again.

- Dan "THE MAN"-thanx man for the link...i am goig to autozone to get a guage to check my refrigerant level and most likely refresh it. Your link was the eyeopener i was hoping for

You will have to add some freon, THEN start the car, then make sure the compressor is running, then add more. If you start the engine and AC, and the EC light is on, the compressor won't engage even if the pressure comes up.

Gilly

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Gilly-Roger that.

Well, I've been doing some research with everyone, and I've pm'd with blackmercedes and he is now telling me of the underlying problem of leaking refrigerant and my fix will only be a temporary "band-aid".

AMOF today, back at work I was chatting about my situation with an HVAC troop and basically he told me that I need to recharge the freon, because it leaked out somewhere. I imagine it is normal to lose your refrigerant eventually and as it won't last forever...right...and she is a 98 C230. Standard maintenance you could say.

I think I am convincing myself here and/or need reassurance that I should proceed as planned per link from Dan

210 chassis climate control problem

and hopefully there is not the underlying problem of a leak to be remedied.

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