2000-E320 climate control

[chiro]

Had a hot week up in Canada and went to call for my air conditioning and no go. I noticed that the red light associated with the EC botton on my climate control unit (CCU) won't go out no matter how many times I pressed it. I checked to see if the a/c compresor had kicked in but it hadn't. I unfortuneatly took it to Canadian Tire and they said they would evacuate the system and recharge it . DON'T do this!!. They evacuated it and were unable to recharge it. I finally took it to my mechanic. He diagnosed it as a failed CCU. I phoned Mercdes and they quoted $1100 CDN. for the part (almost the same in USD). My mechanic ordered a rebuilt for $500.00 which I breathed a sigh of relief and said go ahead and replace it. I had to pay him $227.00 to recharge the refridgerent R134a thanks to my poor judgement and Canadian Tire. The re and re of the CCU is very simple . You need to buy a special tool from Mercedes to releast the retaining clips of the CCU. I paid $3.00 up in Canada ..probably 50 cnts down South. You pull it straight out and remove the two connectors on the back. That simple ..minutes only. Probably a good idea to take off the neg. battery cable first.Ok ..so after authorizing my guy to go ahead with the 500 dollar rebuilt CCU I went to www. Mercedesshop.com and found the part for 229.00USD. delivered. Cool...eh!!

[sokoloff]

or you could have probably fixed it for $40. See http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=86110&highlight=economy+light