Recalls
| Campaign | Manufacturer | Manufacturing date | Type | # of units affected | Date Owner notified Mfg | Recall Initiated by | Manufacturers of recalled vehicles/products | Report Recieved Date | Record Creation Date | Regulation Part Number | FMVSS Number | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - WIRING | ||||||||||||||||
| 95V031000 | MERCEDES-BENZ USA, INC. | V (Vehicle) | 50000 | 03/15/1995 | MFR | MERCEDES-BENZ USA, LLC. | 02/21/1995 | 02/27/1995 | ||||||||
| Defect Summary | The front passenger metal foot rest can, over time, abrade through the wiring harness under the foot rest causing the wiring harness to short circuit. | |||||||||||||||
| Consequence Summary | A short circuit can cause the wires to overheat, stall the engine, or inadvertently deploy an airbag, any of these increases the potential for a vehicle crash. | |||||||||||||||
| Corrective Summary | Dealers will install additional wiring harness cable fastener ties and edge protective covering for sharp edges of the metal foot rest. | |||||||||||||||
| Notes | System: electrical; wiring.vehicle description: passenger vehicles.note:if your vehicle is presented to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and the remedy is not provided free of charge within a reasonable time, contact mercedes benz at 1-800-367-6372. also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-800-424-9393. | |||||||||||||||
Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | |||||
| 5410117 | 10/01/2004 | 10010822 | Consumer shutoff displayed in instrument cluster while driving. *tt | 12/14/2004 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | |||
| 09/08/2010 | 288000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owned a 1994 mercedes e-320 (n/a). while driving approximately 65 mph the contact turned on the air conditioner and began to see smoke coming from the vents. the vehicle was pulled over and towed to an independent mechanic where the contact was told the wires for the air conditioning melted. the vehicle was repaired. the failure mileage was 288,000 and the current mileage was unknown. sm. | |||
| 09/20/2008 | 153000 | ||
| I turned on the switch of my 1994 e320 mercedes noticed smoke coming from under hood on passenger side. opened hood it was on fire. air flow sensor had just been replaced. i have since replaced wiring harnes, plugs, but car is still surging not idling properly. replaced intake air sensor, planning to replace idle actuator, and ovp relay. 153,000 miles i have spent 3000.00. my son was present and put out the fire and disconnected the battery. i could have lost my life. i have all old parts replaced. | |||
| 03/17/2009 | 90000 | 1 | |
| 1. poor engine performance, unsafe drivability, hesitation and stalling. 2. frequency of problem is very often. qualified mercedes-benz repair shop diagnosed issue as engine wiring harness insulation degradation. they have seen a lot of these harnesses fail, according to their head mechanics. in conversations with mercedes-benz dealer mechanics, they, too, have witnessed an extremely high failure rate. 3. engine wiring harness replaced at a cost of $1,210.00. *tr | |||
| 07/08/2008 | 1 | ||
| In my 1994 mercedes benz e320, the engine wiring harness has completely degraded in some parts, causing the individually insulated wires to touch each other, causing system malfunctions. my car has stalled on the freeway several times, nearly killing myself and endangering others. my friend's 1995 mercedes benz e420 has caught on fire because of a failure with the engine wiring harness while we were driving down the street, causing severe burns on his upper arms and smoke inhalation injuries between me, him, and several pedestrians. this is a crucial safety defect and i cannot find any recourse via mercedes benz to repair this issue. i am scared to drive this car because i feel that i am a danger to the safety of others and to myself. *tr | |||
| 08/01/2008 | 1 | ||
| Crumbling engine wiring harness in my car. i've collected and restored cars for many years, and find this manufacturing defect to be unbelievable - especially from mercedes benz. furthermore the lack of response or recall is further evidence that mb is indifferent about existing owner satisfaction, customer safety and the quality of the brand they so proudly produce. the repair is a $900+ expense to me, and there's no assistance from mb. *tr | |||
| 06/17/2008 | 155000 | 1 | |
| I own a 1994 mb e320,my asr light came on and stayed on for about 4 days,to solve this problem i added a fuel additive into tank because it actually seemed like a fuel problem. the car did run ok .a couple of weeks went by and seemed fine, but the car slowly started to act up again and caught us all by surprise when the asr light came on and so did limp home mode, we were almost involved in a car accident twice and now the car seems to be shutting off more often than before, and now the asr does not turn off and is still in limp mode. i am very afraid to drive my car but i have no choice. i've done some research and this problem seems to be happening to alot of mercedes benz owner's in this class. i took my car to a certified mb mechanic and called the dealership,this all was worthless and a waist of money as it seems neither new what was wrong with my car. this is the only vehicle i have, so i have to depend on it even though its not reliable any more. my family means the world to me but, what does it mean to mercedes benz? i cannot afford another car just now or to be taking it back and forth to be serviced and be adding new parts to it, being there is really nothing wrong with the ones being replaced, this is a manufacturer defect,and they need to own up to it. this is not a problem to ignore or sweep under the rug. my car is the way it is because of this defect and so are some of my problems, because like i said before this vehicle is the source of income as it is the transportation of 3children attending school and my newborn baby to dr.visits. mercedes benz if you read this complaint and i know you will, pray nothing happens to me or my family because you will be held responsible for this,if you wish not to be, come pick up your car and pay back what i paid for it so i can buy me a reliable car or just make it right !! *tr | |||
| 07/09/2008 | 75000 | 1 | |
| I have a 1994 mercedes benz e320 wagon and the engine wiring harness insulation is completely failing. this resulted in me having to replace it for $1100. *tr | |||
| 06/30/2007 | 110000 | 4 | 02/21/2005 |
| 1994 mercedes e320 was involved in the electrical wiring harness failure - insulation was cracking and peeling off and shorted out - this caused the throttle body and traction control to short out the main computer of the car. i have read other complaints from other mercedes owners telling me that mercedes does not have a recall. this cost me over $3,000 dollars in repairs and usage loss. now, i am still chasing more electrical problems from the wiring harness defects. *tr | |||
| 02/20/2008 | 1 | ||
| Mercedes benz e320 year 1994. mechanic says i have a defective engine harness. car sparks and caught fire once when started. this is becoming a very common problems in mercedes sold around the year 1994. a safety recall is required asap to avoid injury and consumer robbery. *tr | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - SOFTWARE | |||
| 03/17/2008 | 122565 | 4 | 04/04/2007 |
| 1994 mercedes-benz e500 engine wire harness failure. wires have disintegrated in the main harness run for the engine. same is true with wire harness that runs direct to the m/16 throttle actuator. throwing codes and engine surges and will cut out. took car to the dealer to diagnose and they verified what was a known fact. the wire sheathing has completely cracked and had exposed wires in contact with one another. *tr | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - WIRING | |||
| 03/17/2008 | 122565 | 4 | 04/04/2007 |
| 1994 mercedes-benz e500 engine wire harness failure. wires have disintegrated in the main harness run for the engine. same is true with wire harness that runs direct to the m/16 throttle actuator. throwing codes and engine surges and will cut out. took car to the dealer to diagnose and they verified what was a known fact. the wire sheathing has completely cracked and had exposed wires in contact with one another. *tr | |||
| 08/19/2001 | 50000 | 3 | |
| The wiring harness is deteriorating , the insulation is coming off , peeling ,and i guess this is due to a known defective manufacturing problem. the car has broke down on the road three times and had to be towed in to be fixed , but the whole problem is not solved until the wiring harness is replaced i have heard that the compant has in the past replaced some of the harnesses but i am unabe to get the local dealer to respond. *cn | |||
| 12/24/2007 | 1 | ||
| Wiring harness premature wear dramatically. *tr | |||
| 06/15/2007 | 104200 | 1 | 09/09/1995 |
| 1994 e320 engine wiring harness deteriorated. all insulation on wires cracked and broken off. the wire fused together. *ak | |||
| 06/12/2007 | 121000 | 2 | 11/15/2001 |
| 1993 400e mercedes benz - engine wiring harness insulation is cracking, causing false engine light codes. wiring harness on top of engine. cost to replace (part only) wiring harness is approximately $575.00. | |||
| 11/01/2006 | 144727 | 1 | 10/02/2006 |
| Hi, i have a 1994 mercedes benz e320 coupe. i was in the search of repair on my radio problem,then i found out from the other owners that they have this engine wiring harness problem with their mercedes. i checked the wiring harness with their recommendation on my car, i found that the same problem just like the other owner say, a lot of crack on the wires. i am now afraid to drive my car, because other owners describe that it may cause the engine to caught on fire, suddenly lost power, short out the computer unit on the vehicle. mercedes have not do a recall on this engine wiring harness problem, even though hundreds of owners have filed the complaint. please let me know if there's anything that your people can help. i just not driving my car now, the shop want about $1000.00 to replace the wiring harness, that's some thing you don't expect when you purchase a use car. thanks... *nm | |||
| 10/27/2006 | 102000 | 2 | 10/20/2005 |
| Dt*: the contact stated upon starting the vehicle in the morning, the engine made a loud noise and the engine warning light illuminated. also, while driving 65 mph on normal road conditions, the engine warning light illuminated again and stalled. the vehicle was taken to the dealership where the diagnosis scanner indicated a wiring problem. there was a nhtsa recall # 95v031000 regarding electrical system:wiring. the manufacturer was contacted but the representative indicated the vehicle was out of warranty and was not included in the recall due to the vin. the contact was suggested to make a complaint with the nhtsa. | |||
| 05/15/2006 | 125000 | 1 | 01/17/2003 |
| Mb usa refuses to replace faulty wiring harness, this is a know issue. disintegrates with age do to use of sub-standard harness covers. *nm | |||
| 04/07/2004 | 112000 | 1 | |
| 1994 mercedes benz e420- wiring harness is decaying. the wires are brittle and melting together. the insulation around the wire is gone; as a result, the wire is bare and unsafe. the vehicle suffer from all types of problems; such as, stall on the highway, surging in traffic jams, and gauges intermittently go haywire.*ak | |||
| 06/15/2002 | 1 | ||
| The wiring harness failed while consumer was making a high speed merge onto the freeway causing the vehicle's automatic stability control to engage. this reduced the engine's power to approximately 20%, slowing the car down, almost causing a collision. 1994, mercedes benz, 320.*ak | |||
| 07/01/2000 | 1 | 03/01/1994 | |
| Vehicle completely died at freeway speeds which could have caused a serious accident. after several unsuccessful visits to the dealer, i finally found the answer to my problem on the internet mercedes newsgroup. although the dealer denies the over voltage regulator was a problem with the 1994 e320, it apparently still exists. taking the information from the newsgroup, the dealer replaced the over voltage regulator and my stalling problem at highway speeds was fixed permanently. i feel mercedes should refund some of the $1200 in repairs i incurred while the dealer guessed at the problem. the problem was difficult to diagnose since the car would start after a few retries after the total system failure and run just fine until the next total failure a few days later. personally, i believe the over voltage regulator problem is an extremely dangerous situation since people could've been killed by the failure of this $89.00 part.*ak | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - WIRING - FRONT UNDERHOOD | |||
| 05/14/2007 | 110000 | 1 | |
| Failure of engine wiring harness, causing engine to stall on freeway.*ak | |||
| 01/12/2007 | 122000 | 1 | 01/12/2007 |
| Check engine light came on and we were almost hit by other cars when trying to quickly exit busy freeway. took car to mercedes mechanic and he said the car needed a new $600.00 engine harness. we asked if this is a rare problem and he said all 1993 and 1994 e420 mercedes need the harness at about 100 thousand miles and they used a biodegradeable cover on the harness and it fails from engine heat. he also said if we don't replace it, the engine will stop when driving, and could cause an accident. this is a well known problem with all mercedes mechanics. these cars need to be recalled!!!! *nm | |||
| 07/20/2006 | 135000 | 6 | 06/20/1997 |
| My 1994 mercedes e420 was not starting properly (asr light coming on, on several occasions). took it to mechanic who noticed electric tape on some connections, then later found out why. the wiring harness had deteriorated in multiple places. i was left stranded at a meeting in the pouring rain and could not get back to the hospital one evening. *jb | |||
| 04/02/2006 | 100000 | 1 | 07/11/2005 |
| Engine wiring loom has disintegrated causing electrical short circuits in the fuel system and engine management system. this seems to be a common concern on the mercedes benz 300 from 1993 through 1995. *jb | |||
| 08/04/2004 | 64500 | 1 | 11/02/2002 |
| My mechanic noticed that the upper wiring harness was deteriorating badly and the insulation had disintegrated completely , exposing bare wire at numerous spots. i had this wiring harness replaced because it could have led to expensive damage to electronic parts and / or a dangerous situation on the freeway. *nm | |||
| 04/18/2006 | 108000 | 1 | 03/08/2004 |
| I need a new head gasket to repair an oil leak. my mechanic told me that in the process of getting to the oil leak he had to take off the wiring harness upon which the harness disintegrated in his hand. i am very concerned the mb would you biodegradable material to manufacturer an important part of the vehicle. the replacement part is $1,000 and needs to be done now since the repairing the existing harness could cause a fire. *jb | |||
| 09/20/2004 | 170000 | 1 | |
| The material around the engine wiring harness degraded to the point where it was no longer protecting the wiring itself causing it to melt and damage the wires inside. this led to the car only running on 5 out of 6 cylinders intermittently as well as other electrical issues. i have heard many other cases of this happening among other owners of these vehicles and many have filed complaints. the p[arts were replaced out of my pocket. this is an issue that mb usa needs to address instead of telling owners they have never heard this complaint before. i do not know the exact date of the failure as it happened multiple times before being properly diagnosed and it was approximately a little more than a year ago, i also do not remember the date because i just recently found this website and the problem occurred a while ago. *jb | |||
| 02/10/2002 | 1 | ||
| Mercedes benz engine wiring harness failure. as many enthusiasts and owners know, the main engine wiring harness is most 1992 to 1995 mercedes benz vehicles suffers deterioration and premature failure. the result is poor running condition and the possibility of fire. my own harness showed signs of deterioration at the 7 year mark and mercedes benz would not replace it under goodwill, however, because i was having other work done, they replaced it for the part cost only waiving labor charges. *jb | |||
| 08/22/2000 | 125000 | 30 | 08/27/1999 |
| 1994 e320 had intermintent running problems. car would stall without warning, especially during a rain or after washing the car. replaced many parts(mass air meter, tune up, ovp relay, fuel pump relay, etc) to chase the problem, none of which solved it. began to look on mercedes forums and found this to be a common problem. before i replaced the engine wiring harness it began to smoke heavily from under the hood. i had an extingusiher with me and stopped it from catching fire. mercedes covered part of the cost under their goodwill program however i had to install it which took about 8 hours. the first occurance happend around 125k miles however it was many months and miles later that the problem was fixed. | |||
| 04/07/2004 | 112000 | 1 | |
| 1994 mercedes benz e420- wiring harness is decaying. the wires are brittle and melting together. the insulation around the wire is gone; as a result, the wire is bare and unsafe. the vehicle suffer from all types of problems; such as, stall on the highway, surging in traffic jams, and gauges intermittently go haywire.*ak | |||
| 07/07/2003 | 96000 | 5 | 03/05/2003 |
| On 5 separate occasions over the past 4 months my car has suddenly cut out while driving on the highway and city streets, all without any prior warning. these incidents resulted in a sudden loss of mechanical and electrical power, resulting is poor braking and steering. on a previous dealer visit, the car was inspected and serviced without any problems. this car is now at the dealer having the wiring harness replaced as a cost of $1500 without any good will from mercedes benz. this is clearly a manufacturing defect affecting a large number of vehicles, however the manufacturer still appears to be ignorant to the fact. there is enough evidence on the internet suggesting that this is an ongoing problem.*ak | |||
| 07/01/2003 | 40000 | 1 | |
| The engine wiring harness on my 1994 mercedes-benz e320 is cracked because of the use of poor wiring insulation causing my car to die in the middle of driving. to restart it, i have to come to a complete stop, put the shifter gate to p, turn the key all the way back, and finally restart it. it is very dangerous because i never know when it will occur, i have almost been in many accidents becuase of this problem. the benz techs told me that this is a very common problem and that mercedes-benz refuses to make it a recall. *ak | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - WIRING - INTERIOR/UNDER DASH | |||
| 07/17/2007 | 170000 | 1 | 05/29/2007 |
| Auto fire , total loss. *tr | |||