Sometime back i posted a thread regarding my 2001 E-320. Returning from a trip my clock/shift indicator in the instrument pod went out.... few minutes later the AC was blowing hot air... this didnt happen together but within minutes of each other... I asked about this and the posts indicated the instrument pod needed replacement. A few days later the car went into economy mode on it's own, bypassing the AC system and it could not be shut off.

Today, i took the car into an independent mercedes benz shop. He ran diagnostics, reset the computer and deleted stored codes. Put a can of freon in the system and all is well. On the way out to the car, i was explaining to the mechanic about the clock.. he basically said what you all said... the whole pod would have to be replaced. The mechanic pulled the car out for me, got out, and pointed to my dash... the clock was working!

The mechanic was confused as maybe some of you who are mechanically into this stuff. All i know is that the computer was reset, AC fixed, and the clock/shift indicator works.... Now that beats $1000 dollars for an instrument pod... and the best part of all this was that i only paid $75 for the computer reset and repairs to the clock that i didnt ask for...

 

Interesting!

How did your "cost friendly" mechanic account for this "miracle"?

Stuart.

 

aahhh... what you got are gremlins.... are make/all brands has these....

I got some probs... I drove the car to the mechanic... he test drove the car and came back and said there's no problem at all...

well yest the problem(s) are gone... I drove the car and it happened again the next day....

:-) :-(

 

He couldnt... he saw no connection between the two... I'm just relating what happened...

It cant be coincidence that both mess up and go bad at the same time, AND both problems get corrected at the same time... Leon is right... it's da gremlins... [&:]

 

Well damnit... the clock went away again... [&:]

Guess it didnt get fixed afterall... Guess im gonna have to go to wallmart and buy a $3 clock for the car...

 

Afraid it looks as though this is another example of the E Class Instrument Pack failure. VERY common.

Basically one of the connector strips INSIDE the pack doesn't give a good connection.

Dependent upon how HANDY / TECHNICAL you are this problem can OFTEN be repaired for 0 USD. A new pack (MB solution) is expensive + needs to be coded. 700 USD guess.

Several people have posted the ins and outs of the procedure to correct this BUT you need to CONFIDENT that you can tackle it. Most people just pay the money or as you say go down Walmart. Not sure whether E Class is a Bosch or Siemens and designed part.

 

Would anyone recommend against going to a Non-Mercedes Benz service department to have a catalytic converter replaced? If it is a reputable foreign car service provider that can do it for a lot less than MB service, is this okay, or should you only trust MB? The other service dept. would order the actual part from MB.

 

I'm curious, how do stored codes relate to the AC? I recently had freon put in my E320, but a few days later, cold air blows out of the passenger's side vents and not the driver's side. Do you think something might be clogged?
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