Oil in the wiring loom
 

Hi...
I have had some major problems with my car. Originally my C240 Sport 1998 had broken down. I had it towed to the main merc dealer.
What happened was that all my extrernal dashboard lights came on- such as my yellow lights for my ABS/BAS, windscreen wash, handbrake light, brake pad light, Speedometer dropped to 0, rev counter dropped to 0 and gearbox went into emergency mode-etc. Basically communication failure to all the bits and bobs in the engine.
The mercedes dealer said they could not see any fault codes- so took a stab in the dark and I spent £300 for nothing as the same thing happened again!
So I took it to a Merc specialist.
He has had the car since December and has workewd out that there is some sort of oil based substance spillage around the main Computer- which has resulted in messing up the K40 and the wiring loom from the the K40- which apparently goes to the Ignition switch. He has also said the oil has traveled down the wiring loom and gone into the Ignition switch. He has cleaned out the ignition switch and says that it should be ok- bit feels my loom has been affected- as oil has conductive material and is causing an interference in the loom.
He said that my wiring loom needs to be replaced.

He has told me that the current shape of the c-class mercs can have this problem where a cracked seal on a sensor for engine oil or gearbox oil can leak back up the wiring loom and get back to the main computer and screw the main computer up.

My question is that - can oil travel up a wiring loom- basically can this happen?

RE: Oil in the wiring loom
 

Yes and no. the yes part is, if the relatively position of the wiring harness seems to be up, but the angle at wihich the engine is at could make it look as the oil is moving up. No, if all things are engineered, properly, gravity wouldn't allow this to happen. I believe Enstein covered this in his theory of relatively. Also, I noticed you quoted a price in Austrialian pounts. do you folks have quids (sp ?) in your money system as in the UK and if so how much is a quid in US money?

Back to your car, I assume it is out of warranty? I would take a written document fromthe Mercedes shop to a dealer, making sure the shop outlines what they found. This would give them more to work on. Auto techs have become so reliant on "codes" that if there is no fault code, there is nothing wrong and they won't go any further. My theory on this is, these techs today don't know how to fix a car problem like you have.

RE: Oil in the wiring loom
 

Yes, it can. It's called capillary action, if I remember my high school physics correctly.

RE: Oil in the wiring loom
 

C280 wizard- I am in the UK. The conversion to dollar is 543 dollars.
So what you are saying that it can happen- but you haven't heard of it happening.

Lugnut- I looked up capillary action- as I can't remember back to my physics days!
It talks about water doing the travelling up. But I suppose this oil stuff could have done as well.
I am at such a loss of how it got there and then spread to the Electronic switch.
The tech actually opened up the switch infront of me and I saw the inside circuit board wet with some sort of oil.

RE: Oil in the wiring loom
 

Oil is a fluid. It acts just like water. It just travels slower because it's thicker.

I don't where the oil is coming from or why, but it will definitely travel along two wires whether the wires go up, down, or sideways. A wiring harness (or loom) is like a major highway for capillary action.

C280 wizard - I don't think Einstein spent much time studying capillary action, but it's interesting that you mention him and gravity, which he did study. One thing Einstein showed is how weak the force of gravity is, which is hard for most folks to comphrehend. Most people think gravity is a very strong force. You can demonstrate just how weak it is with capillary action. Gravity can't prevent it from happening.

Okay, recess. School's out.

RE: Oil in the wiring loom
 

Yes as lugnut said capillary action, yes it can happen, but because I haven't seen it, means nothing. So, unless lugnut disagrees, I really would document what is wrong and probably let a dealer handle it. Unless your Mercedes shop is very good, by the way in the US we don't call Mercedes Benz cars Merc as the Brits do. Too close to a Mercury. I watch fifth gear on SpeedTV, a British car show, it is wonderful and the blonde co host is Wow! They always mention spending a few Quid here and there. Is a quid less then a Pound sterling? If so, how much?

Thanks and good luck with your Mercedes. Please let us know how you make out with repairs,

:)

RE: Oil in the wiring loom
 

Looks like I have got some bad luck on the car for that to happen to me.
I will probably do something with the the main dealer at some point when I get my car back.
Yeah- alot of us call them Mercs here. We also call them mercedes aswell.
I have seen the girl on the tv Fifith Gear- is it the one with the husky voice?
A quid is a 1 pound. Quid is another name that seems to have been around for ages.
I will let you know what happens-What part of US are from?

RE: Oil in the wiring loom
 

The car just needs to be looked at... in person. The source of the leak was unforseen because it obviously isn't a "normal" area for a leak to appear. Otherwise, the harness would have been routed elsewhere.

Just have someone stick his face in there and track it down. It probably would have been no big deal had the leak been dealt with early on.

RE: Oil in the wiring loom
 

I live in the New England state of Massachusetts. Yes, the girl with the deep voice, she is hot, hot, hot.

Thnaks for clarifying what a quid is. Similar to a Buck being one US DOLLAR, two bits is 25 cents, I think?

Let us know how you make out with the car.

RE: Oil in the wiring loom
 

yes.