C280 srs light
 

About a month ago I shampooed the engine bay of my 95 C280. Ever since, the SRS light comes on. At first it was on all the time. Now it comes on for a couple of minuts then goes off. I looked into it in our Alldata at work, and it explaines that ther is a problem that isn't compromising safety. It also says that the codes can only be erased with a hht (hand held tester) . I suspect that some water got in the front sensor and set a code. Is ther any other way to erase the codes or retrieve them so I can confirm the problem? How much would they charge me at the dealer? Thanks in advance.

Most places are charging .5 to 1.0 hours labor for reading, evaluating, and erasing SRS codes. Usually when the light is on for two minutes and goes off it is for a non deployment issue. This usually means a bad seatbelt latch.

There are a number of Scanners that will read and reset that light aside from HHT/SDS.

just a bump

SRS light on for a minute after start-up usually indicates that one of the seat belt buckles is faulty. ETR is disactivated, and the airbags will deploy in minor accidents (whereas, ETR would have activated... but the SRS system doesn't know if the belt is buckled or not).

SRS constant on could be a number of things. My dealer charged me $90 (!!!) to read and clear the SRS code (I replaced the buckle myself).

Good luck,

One more thing.

The SRS CRASH SENSOR is located behind the ashtray.
However, you might have gotten water in the SRS control unit.

The SRS unit is one of the 3 computers (1, 2, + 3) (ECU/ECM) that is in the engine bay behind the firewall on the passenger side... "protected" by the flip-up plastic panel. Not as secure as the 96+ C-classes.

http://www.a-p-group.com/cklasse/Ecu.jpg

A dealer service is basically the only way to go.
Good luck!

C280 SRS ME: ALL Righty Then!
 

I now feel like a real MB C280 owner! Just a few days ago I too had the mysterious SRS light that stays on for about 1 min then goes out. I have read the posts concerning this situation and would like to know, how can I DX which belt buckle is bad?? Any ideas??

Is there a source for these buckles besides MD direct? Also will I need to have a code reset to stop the one minute long SRS period or will a battery disconnect do the job??

Thanks all!!
1995 C280 (with bad wiring harness onboard, have CE light NO problems yet!! :cool: )

1990 190E 2.6 (slight delay shifting, "coolharness" fixed the overheating :sun_smile )