Help Needed SL320 1996
 

Greetings all, I am a new member of this wonderful forum. This is my first Merc 3 weeks since i purchased it only 19k on the clock as the car was very rarely used-and everything is going wrong!

PLEASE HELP

1) The ASR light comes on at randon times (the console not the speedo) this happens after a brief flash of the yellow engine oil light!

2) The coolant top up light flashes now and then whilst normal driving

3) as soon as the ASR light comes on there is a slight drop in power.


4) both windows occasionaly drop down half way when i open the door from inside or outside!

i took the car to a Mercedes garage and asked the technician to run a diagnostic check on the car and erase any codes that might have been stored due to the removal of my battery for charging. i was charged £50 inclusive VAT and told that there were loads of CAN faults on the diagnostic check- handed me a printout. He said the CAN's generally come up due to battery disconnection and advised me to drive the car and see if anything changed.

i walked out all happy and as soon as i opend the door the annoying window again went down half way so that was not resolved, i started the car and drove it when the auto transmission got stuck in the first gear, after switching off the car on emergency hazards and switching on the car again it worked fine. The ASR light again came up (although it does not always do it) with the same 3 times flash of the engine oil light and drop of power!

i took the car back and the garage said this could be anything and they would need a day to check the problem at an hourly rate of £100!!! i left the garage and went to an independant Merc specialist who again ran the diagnostics and came up with loads of CAN faults and other faults. they said the same thing and told me it would be better if i sold the car as this could be anything and could not give me an estimate as it would all depend on how soon they could find the fault and not need to strip the car down.

i am sorry but i don't know what to do now apart from the window issue i now have a car with loads of other issues and a suggestion to sell the car. The car is in lovely condition with very low mileage sat for most its life.

following are the diagnostic codes- i cannot make head or tail of it

1) ME2 MB number 0205451132 diagnosis ident. 2/01
P1747 ACAN fault from ETC transmission protection malfaunction
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2) ASR MB number: 0185459232 diagnosis ident: 3/04
C1022-000 Fault in CAN communication with: ME N3/10
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3) EGS MB number 0205458832 Diagnosis ident: 1/03

132 Sporadically CAN communic. engine electronics or engine temperat. implausible

133 Sporadically Fault in entire CAN communication

134 Sporadically faultin CAN communication with Traction System

135 Sporadically fault in CAN communication with Motor electronics

136 Sporadically fault in CAN communication with instrument cluster
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4) IFZ MB number 210 820 3226 diagnosis ident: 0/00
B1103 Red feedback s.lamp
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5) RV MB number 129 820 31 26 diagnosis ident: 2/02

128 control unit N52

099 power window motor FL M10/3 Hall sensor not normalized
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6) AB MB number: 001 820 0026 diagnosis ident: 3/00
No fault stored
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7) KI MB number: 129 440 09 11 diagnosis ident: 1/16
B1040 CAN communication fault to engine control module
B1041 CAN communication fault to traction systems control module
B1755 Serial interface K2 from Auto AC/ Tempatic control module to instrument cluster.
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8) KLA MB number: 202 830 1285 diagnosis ident: 4/02 No fault stored
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the above is an exact copy of the print out. Can you or anyone here please help me sort out this mess without having to get a second mortgage

I have checked the fuses as advised in benzworld forum and they all look pretty new.

Thanks

You may be best off selling the car. When a car sits it makes a great place for mice to infest, and they WILL chew up wiring like nobodys business. With multiple cross system failures mouse damage is possible, and its not pretty or easy to fix. We had a customer who was given a low mileage SL 600. It had wiring damage from mice and the main wiring harness was replaced b/c of it. It took 5 months for Mercedes to ship the replacement harness and cost him over 20K$ when it was all said and done. If you find traces of mouse droppings or the smell of urine, cut your losses.

I would erase the codes and see what comes back first. But if you're not a reasonably accomplished DIYer it might be a good idea to unload it. This car hasn't had enough exercise.

Sorry, but it could be a million things. Electrical/electronic issues are some of the hardest to identify and resolve. Best wishes on your endeavor.

Check the battery voltage....

Thanks for the advice- there is no mice issue here i assure you. No mice droppings. i was hoping from the codes someone would be able to identify the possible cause or problem.

Thankyou, i have erased all the codes and taken a second reading at a Merc garage and similar codes pop up again.

thanks, i have checked it whilst the engine is running as well as with engine switched off shows steady voltage of 12.5 and 13.1 with engine off. is it possible the the battery could still be causing this when it holds charge?

12.5 is too low while the engine is running. Should be near or around 14. Maybe this is indeed a battery or low voltage issue?

I agree with the previous post, 12.5 is too low while the engine is running. It should be around 14. A low voltage issue on such complicated electronics like the ones fitted to an SL may cause all the problems you describe.

Also, just for fun, I would check the engine wiring harness issue on your M104 engine. I KNOW, I KNOW that this particular problem was solved by 1996, but U.S. production models tend to sit idle in Germany for a while before being shipped. So your car might be one of the very last models fitted with faulty wiring harness (which may also cause all the symptoms you describe).

Do a search on my name and find some of my old posts. When my W210 sufferred from mysterious electrical gremlins, it was caused by low voltage similar to yours; I think I was getting 12 to 12.5 at the battery. However, I was also frequently unable to crank the car, not something you say you are suffering from. And my ETS/ABS lights would flash randomly as well. I found the root cause to be poor ground. I never took the car anywhere to get scanned, so I don't know if it would have returned the same error codes as yours.

Why don't you throw a trickle charger on the battery for a few hours. When the battery is fully charged, see if the same issues are exhibited. If you say the car sat for a while, the battery may just be incapable of holding a charge.