Is MB USA telling the truth?
 

I just got off the phone with Mercedes Benz 1-800-367-6372 and they said that the harness is only applicable to 1992-1994 300ce model years, not 1990 300ce. This vehicle according to them nevr needed a new one.

What's the story here?

This is the letter I received today:

January 15, 2001

Phillip Minion
1990 300CE
WDBEA51DXLB146902

Mr. Minion,

Per our conversation earlier today, this message confirms that the
above-referenced vehicle has no outstanding recall campaigns.
Additionally, our records show no reports of any accident damage.

Regards,

Joe Burka
Customer Relations
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC

The harness problem occured on EFI cars not on KE cars.

Can you please tell me which years were EFI and which years were KE for the 300ce?

Thank you

EFi was on the M104 engine which is 92+. The '90 M103 uses KE.

I believe in 1990 the 300ce has the m104 engine. Are you sure it has the M103?

I could be wrong, but I would be very suprised if it had the 104. Is it the 300CE_24 or just the 300CE? Over here in the UK, the 300CE had the M103 and the 300CE_24 had the 104.

It maybe different in the US.

Steve will know.

the text from MBUSA simply indicates that there are no recall campaigns outstanding...

...doesn't appear to reference a wiring harness,,,and further- were wiring harnesses an official recall campaign?

in either case, (if you're serious about this purchase) a competent tech can do a comprehensive written report pre purchase inspection for you (PPI) and you can ask for the wiring harness inspection too...the PPI will save you $$$

-fad

In North America the 300CE first seen in 1988 had the 24 valve - 6 from the 1990. The sedans and wagons didn't get it until '93.

The 104 came in 3 versions though. The first was a CIS injected version. The harnesses were OK in these. The second was in the '92 S class and had EFI, but no variable resonance intake. The third was in '93 up on all cars and had EFI and a plastic intake. All of the EFI cars had a problem.

The coupe with the CIS, I have not seen problems with those.

THERE WAS NO RECALL ON ANY OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS A GOODWILL POLICY BY THE DEALER!!!!!!! THAT MEANS IT IS NOT UNDER WARRANTY, BUT GIVEN AS SPECIAL POLICY TO THE NICE CUSTOMERS OR THE ONES THAT GO ABOVE THE DEALERS HEAD!!!!



THE WIRE HARNESSES ARE NOT UNDER WARRANTY!!!!
THE WIRE HARNESSES ARE NOT UNDER WARRANTY!!!!
THE WIRE HARNESSES ARE NOT UNDER WARRANTY!!!!
THE WIRE HARNESSES ARE NOT UNDER WARRANTY!!!!


THE REASON FOR MY RANT IS I HAVE BEEN OVER THE POLICY, BUT NO ONE GETS IT!!! THERE IS NO WARRANTY, JUST GOODWILL IF THE DEALER FEELS LIKE IT!!!!!!

M104 was used in several 1993-95 W124's , 1994-97 R129's, 1993-94 W140's and 1995-97 W210's. Am I reading this thread correctly that the wiring harness issue applies to all of the above?

No, not all M104's have the harness problem. Only the one's with what has been called EFI on this post, more technically would be referred to as SFI, or Sequential fuel injection. The earlier versions, KE or CSI-E (same thing) didn't have a wire that connected to each individual injector. The CIS-E versions used an injection set-up much like the 103 had. When they went to the SFI injection, there was much more wiring involved due to the fact that each injector had to be connected to the control module.
The early version is easily identified by looking for the metal tubes that run from the fuel distributor to the injectors, like a M103 motor. On the later version, you can see the wire going to each injector, the injector is suppied with fuel from a large common pipe that runs over the injectors, not small individual pipes for each cylinder.
Gilly
ps Another easy way IN GENERAL to tell the 2 types apart is the early version has a metal air filter housing on the drivers side of the engine, the later (troublesome harness) engine has the air filter in a square plastic box on the passenger side of the car, behind the headlight.

I'm very :mad: and would like to say I'm sorry

The reason :

I was just finishing up a 2 hour response and was signed out by the server. I lost all that text!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sorry, but I refuse to start all over

This is not the first time this has happened to me.

It just says that I am not logged in and pooofff...just like that ....all my text vanishes!! If I try to go back, it says the page has expired and when I sign again, Ihave to start all over again.

Not a good day for me

:(

Does this affect cars of all years? For example if a 94 E320 has this faulty harness, will a 97 E320 also have the faulty harness?

Thanks.

It seems to me, and other tech's may have different opinions, but it seems like MOST of the problems were 95 and earlier (124 chassis) SFI cars. The motor was essentially the same when the 104 went into the 210 chassis. I don't know if it took until then before MB made a materials change to the harness or what. Definitely possible it tokk until then, as the cracking insulation definitely took a few years to develop. However I also don't remember doing the harness yet on the SL or C Class with the same motor, for some reason I only remember doing E Class cars. Haven't had one for about 6 months now.
Another minor visual difference I thought of between the CIS-E motors and the SFI motors is the the earlier CIS-E motors also had the wording "MERCEDES-BENZ" on top of the filler panel that covers the spark plugs. I think this was done away with on the SFI motors, instead a star was put on the cover over the very front of the motor, no lettering on the long cover.
Gilly

..to answer your Q: MB is Not Lying

they provided a legally and politically correct corporate response to your inquiry (what else would one expect?)

-fad