1992 400E 124 034, 119 975, 200,064 miles:
On my way out of town a couple of weeks ago, check engine light comes on. Since heading in the direction of Mercedes dealership/service, get in for a diagnostic (no other evidence of an issue).

My first question: is this automatically triggered by the rollover to 200k mi? No. In we go, and a couple hours later, the diagnosis: my DM is bad - A $1380 part that's vehicle specific and needs to be factory programmed for my car at MB Deutschland. "Then we can check for error messages" I'm told.

The check engine light having been shut off when in the shop, came back on again yesterday. Can anyone assure me (give me hope) that there's another alternative to shelling out $$s to figure out if I'm going to have to shell out $$s (sounding like a microsoft windows issue isn't it).

Thanks,

Scotz on the coast

I will say you should build the $10 code reader that was all the rage here a few years back (search arthur dalton's posts) and see if you get some meaningful info (codes) to verify the dealer claim. Obviously it is cheaper to just replace most of the components that could trigger the check engine light than to replace that thing (unless you're in a state where you need it for emissions). At 200K miles, if it's running well you can just tape over the light.

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Prost!

Did they tell you why the check engine light came on (e.g., what trouble code(s) it was sending)? Have you checked out Jim Forgione's excellent web site and read about the dreaded dtc 19? As the 119's get older, they fall out of the narrow tolerance that was initially set by the factory. The dealers' solution is much more expensive than his. My 400E had a dtc 19 and the dealer wanted to sell me a new computer for $3,000 about ten years ago.

Check out http://www.k6jrf.com/MB_S500.html under Diagnostic Trouble Code 19 (scroll about 1/3 down the page).

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1993 400E, 256,000 miles (totaled)
1994 E420, 200,000+ miles
1995 E420, 201,000 miles