I was excited to pick up an S430 at a really good price in early November. Since then I am beginning to wonder if I made a big mistake. This vehicle has 120,000 miles on it and seems to run fine when driving but I have noticed several electrical issues since my purchase. In the first 2 weeks, my cooling fan went bad ($830 part from Mercedes - I got a used one from a junk yard for $250 and put it in myself, no big deal but hard to get the part). All controls on the center of the dash are non-functional so I have door locks only via my key, the rear headrests are stuck in the up position, no control for the ride control etc. and I do not have a fuse chart to see what circuits are involved. Checked every fuse in the vehicle an all are good. Fusable Link, bad wiring harness???? The starter solenoid appears to be bad as I frequently had to turn the key multiple times to get the starter to engage. I get trouble lights on the dash telling me I have tail lights that are out (they are fine) bad sensor??? Head lights flicker intermittently. I could go on... I have always done all of my own repair work including engine rebuilds and trannys. Too cold in MN to screw around with this thing now, so there it sits, buried in snow since late nov. To make a long story, I have a buddy that wants to buy it from me at a $1,000 loss to me. Should I dump it or wait til spring and see if I can navigate my way through this electrical morass. Nice car if I felt I wouldn't end up stuck somewhere. For now I'll keep driving my '99 Suburban 275,000 miles and never in a shop!!

 

I have to hand it to Gm, one they they used to know how to do at least is make some durable trucks. Cant say the same for their cars. Alright, on to the task at hand.

The taillight indicator is not simply an indicator of telling you if a light bulb is working or in there or not. It's works like a pre-set voltage meter. Each tail light and the associated bulbs have different voltages that must match up to what is pre set into the computer of the car. To make it a long story short, probably someone replaced the bulbs at one time and used the wrong voltage which usually does no more harm than trip the indicator light.

Over all sounds like you car have a case of electrical gremlins. Sounds like with the light flicker can be a charging problem worse case. Which could be an alternator going out, low charged battery, wrong battery, loose ground or bad ground wire. And fxing those might take care of the startign problem unless it is the actual solenoid.
The cooling fan going bad at those mileage is not unheard of.
The head rest, could be the button (cheapest to replace) or if the motor is not running then could be faulty wiring, or faulty motor. If the motor runs but head rest doesnt move, then it is just stuck. Gotta take the back section of the seat off and tinker with the gears and stuff. Not sure if these cars still use the "worm" wire for the headrest, which sometimes goes out in the W126 after awhile.

Overall sounds like a bunch of electrial problems the owner let build up or a flood damage vehicle. Sounds like the previous owner wanted to rid of the car himself and now you are in that boat. Thing about Mercedes in these situations is that it might cost a pretty penny to get it right but once it's right it's right. And try to stay away from the dealership as much as possible if ya trying to save money while still getting good service. I'm not sure what you paid for it, but usually a 2001 S-Class with about that type of mileage should cost around 10,000 or so. Any signifanct lower than that, that should be a red flag unless it's truely one of those rare deals but with those problems, $10 grand or not, the amount of money you might have to put into that will usually equal the value anyways as if you bought it in good condition, but difference is your will have a new cooling fan, electrical problems fixed, and maybe other stuff you find on the way. I would say wait till spring take a peek at it, find out exactly what you have to do to it, then go from there. If you feel the cash is worth putting into it, do it if not sell it. But at least let the friend be aware of the issues.

 

hi Muskmelon,

yeah sounds like more electrical problems coming up, sell it off asap..sorry


rockefella174

brunei darussalam

 

I am always leery when I hear that someone purchased a vehicle and got a really good deal, particularly when they lay out the problems that they're experiencing. It just makes you want to go back and kick the seller in the teeth for not disclosing the problems, and the real reason behind the sell at such a "good price." Best to you with your issue. Let us know how you disposition the situation. I'd be interested to know. But, if you do sell it, will you be honest and disclose your experience or knowledge to the potential buyer?

 

I checked the voltage supplied by my alternator and it was low. Pulled it and brought it to a rebuild shop, replaced the alternator and now all of the previously non functioning items in the dash function. Next, I need to pull the starter and replace the solenoid. My new issuue is an alert that I have an issue with the ESP system. Is this because the car has now been sitting since November or did I wake up a sensor by supplying enough juice. If I don't care if the ESP works, can I defeat the message?