1998 E300D W210, 230k odd miles.

Recently the doors stopped locking via the remote, had to manually push down the buttons to get the car secure.

Just a few days later the windows start rolling themselves down after being parked for a few hours. Sometimes all the way, sometimes part way.

Now it seems when you try to roll up the windows the right rear one will roll up, and then come back down part way on its own.


Searched the forum but did not find anything probative. Anyone have any ideas? I'm hoping this is a problem with specific symptoms that should be easy to diagnose.

Is there moisture under the rear seat?

There's a "convenience module" somewhere in the car that allows you to keep the remote button pressed and so roll up all of the windows and close the sunroof as well as locking the car. If that module were to malfunction, symptoms like yours might appear. Someone here with your model year should be able to provide the location of the thing, which is just an expensive electronic relay.

__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

Nope, though there might be if these windows keep rolling themselves down.

Anyone? Cmon I'm dying here!

Until the right person shows up, you might consider pulling the window fuse(s) so the windows stay up. PITA but better than wet inside!

__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

also considering one of those big harbor freight battery disconnects to make it easy to switch back and forth.

This is one of the features in automobiles of this era I could do without.

There is a system calibration procedure to use to set the window and sunroof positions (fully closed, fully open) in the owner's manual. Have you tried that? It is necessary after any battery disconnect as the little memory storage items for this stuff is cleared when the power is lost.

You might also want to look at the condition of your battery and charging system. Low voltage due to dying battery or voltage regulator, or a bad ground on the system will play havoc with things that read voltages and turn it into information about the status of various things.

Can you unlock the doors with the remote?

Well, good luck, as I don't have much more to offer. You would need the detailed design information on the system to be able to further diagnose the problem. Changing the module won't be of much help if the problem is a bad ground or some other voltage issue.

Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

I don't think this is a problem with the window "calibration"

The alternator is new, and the battery is about 1.5 years old.

The doors will unlock and the alarm will disarm. And if you hit lock the alarm will arm but the doors will not lock.

Have you made ANY modifications to the electrical system (RADIO)?

__________________
Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

Someone had a car phone in there at one time, and the radio is a factory one that has been switched out. But its not like its a rats nest of hacked up wiring.

OK, there is a TSB about troubles stemming from aftermarket accessories causing troubles with the remote locking but it sounds like the troubles you are having are something which has developed recently and the electrical work which was done was done some time ago so I think we can rule that out.

My suspicion is the system thinks it is receiving an unlock signal which is what causes the windows to go down (read the owner's manual, I think the feature will cause the windows to go down if you hold down the unlock button). The problem with one window not going up is unrelated I think but is probably just not sync'd right. To sync it just hold the button to "up" until the window goes all the way up and continue to hold it for 10 seconds or so. That ought to fix it but you can also find this mentioned in the owner's manual and confirm the procedure.

Many electrical glitches seem to be "fixed", at least temporarily, by disconnecting the battery and letting the various computers "reset". I would try that, but keep in mind you will need to have the radio code and will have to resync the windows and steering position sensor afterwards but in my opinion it is worth a shot to see if this helps at all. Also, maybe it is the transmitter at fault...do you have a spare key and if so have you tried it?

__________________
Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

No spare key to try, though the windows roll themselves down even when the key is out of range.....plus the alarm arms and the lights flash when you hit lock, just the door lock pins dont go down.

I should still have the radio code(had to call MB to get it, as it turns out when it was in the shop they switched out the good factory radio with a bad factory radio that I got stuck with).

I am familiar with the window resynch procedure, but I am not familiar with the steering position sensor resync. Mind telling me what that is?

(and while I appreciate being told that its in the owners manual the Car didn't come with one, nor have a found an electronic copy yet)

thanks!

update:

it now almost every time you turn the car off tries to roll down the windows and open the sunroof as if you held the unlock button on the remote.

update x2: Last night when turning off the ignition the dash readout for miles went dark untill the door was reshut, then for the first time ever the dash showed an outside time (of 0F and then -1F when it was maybe 60 degrees out)