1996 C220 Wiring Harness advise

[TCCBass]

Greetings all! I have been out of the Benz world for a while now dealing with my E32 BMW 735i. I'm over it now (after the transmission died) and looking for another Mercedes. I have found a 1996 C220 with a new engine installed but it needs a wiring harness. Apparently the young lady killed the engine, they installed a new/rebuilt one but the wiring harness fell apart when they were installing. I have found someone to rebuild the wiring harness for a great price (comes with high recommendations) but don't know what else I should looking for on the car. The car has 130K and she is asking $2K.

Thank you ahead of time for any guidance!

[junqueyardjim]

I'd say it would be pretty hard to compare that rewire with a factory job. I guess price would be a big factor. How many harnesses has he built up?

[tobybul]

Originally Posted by TCCBass

..... I have found someone to rebuild the wiring harness for a great price (comes with high recommendations) but don't know what else I should looking for on the car. The car has 130K and she is asking $2K.

Thank you ahead of time for any guidance!

old thread..... but just want to know where you got your wiring harnesss or did you DIY it? I'm thinking about doing mine.... having the head done so this would be a good time.

[deanyel]

Originally Posted by tobybul

old thread..... but just want to know where you got your wiring harnesss or did you DIY it? I'm thinking about doing mine.... having the head done so this would be a good time.

On a 1996 C220? What's the evidence that it's a failing biodegradeable harness?

[tobybul]

Originally Posted by deanyel

On a 1996 C220? What's the evidence that it's a failing biodegradeable harness?

uhhh.... when you look at it, it is very obvious. The harness is generally wrapped with tape. At the ends of the taping where you see the insulated wires you will see the the insulation of the wires is breaking apart. If you peel off the tape the insulation further breaks apart. Once this happens the bare wires tend to short....

[infoage1]

Originally Posted by deanyel

On a 1996 C220? What's the evidence that it's a failing biodegradeable harness?

Here:

http://sites.google.com/site/infoage1/mercedes-benz-1991-1996-engine-wiring-harness-defect

I stopped counting after reading three-dozen 1996 Mercedes wiring harness complaints, most of them C220. FYI, I am now starting to see 1997 MB wiring harness complaints being filed with the NHTSA, as well...

[deanyel]

Interesting. It was your original data base that supported the notion that the fix was in 1996. Of course Mercedes has never admitted the problem and now can't proclaim the date of the fix. You have to expect there's going to be a few false positive aberations - 1) real abuse of a "good" harness, battery acid for example, and 2) bad diagnoses, i.e. frustrated mechanics with nothing else to guess at so they try to pin it on the "known" bad Mercedes harness. This once happened to me at an otherwise good shop. In any case thanks for sticking with this - it's interesting information.

[tobybul]

All owners of MBs with this problem should be contacting the NHSTA and file a complaint. ANother very good route is your State's Attorney General (SAG). Practically every state has an online complaint process available to the public. Typically, when a consumer files a complaint with their SAG, the SAG forwards the complaint to the business and requires them to resolve the matter with the consumer. I have done this with businesses that I feel are not responding as they should. So far no one wants to take on the State Attorneys so the businesses stop playing hard ball and resolve the matter. What is right is right and what is wrong is wrong.

From the issues we have all experienced with this wiring harness problem, there does not seem to be any question that MB has a product defect here. If we all file complaints to at least our SAGs, MB will be forced to respond. The NHSTA is great but it takes too long for them to act.