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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INTERIOR LIGHTING | ||||||||||||||||
| 06V028000 | MERCEDES-BENZ USA, LLC. | from 06/01/2000 to 11/30/2000 | V (Vehicle) | 36911 | 09/29/2006 | ODI | MERCEDES-BENZ USA, LLC. | 02/02/2006 | 02/02/2006 | |||||||
| Defect Summary | On certain vehicles, the instrument cluster is experiencing electrical malfunctions. the instrument cluster contains gauges and indicators that must be illuminated whenever the vehicle is in operation. | |||||||||||||||
| Consequence Summary | Due to inadequate illumination, the driver will be unable to read the gauges and indicators, such as the speedometer, which could increase the risk of a crash. | |||||||||||||||
| Corrective Summary | Dealers will replace the instrument cluster modules. the recall will be conducted in phases. phase i was mailed out to approximately 7,500 owners on september 29, 2006. phase ii and phase iii is scheduled for december 2006. owners may contact mercedes-benz at 1-800-367-6372. | |||||||||||||||
| Notes | Customers may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration | |||||||||||||||
Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INTERIOR LIGHTING | ||||||
| PE05062 | MERCEDES-BENZ USA, LLC. | 11/10/2005 | 02/08/2006 | INSTRUMENT CLUSTER FAILURE | 06V028000 | |
| The office of defects investigation (odi) opened this investigation based on seven reports indicating that the instrument clusters in model year (my) 2000-2001 mercedes-benz s class vehicles failed in that consumers were unable to read any of the gauges while operating their vehicles at any speed during the day or night.in its 573 report to nhtsa dated february 1, 2006, mercedes-benz usa, llc (mercedes-benz)states that there are three instrument cluster failure modes that would result in undesirable operation.these three failure modes are specific to certain dates of production (see below) for the subject vehicle, and mercedes-benz is recalling those vehicles within those dates.specific information regarding the failure modes is described in mercedes-benz's report (see nhtsa recall 06v028).three of the odi complaints submitted to mercedes-benz involve vehicles that were produced before the dates of production of vehicles affected by the three failure modes.based on review of those three complaints, mercedes-benz was unable to identify a relation of those three to the defects identified in the recalled vehicles.all of the mercedes-benz complaints with vins identified were within the recall population (only 2 vehicle vins were not available to positively identify vehicle build date).the recall population will include 36,911 s class and cl class mercedes-benz vehicles built in the production dates ranging from june 2000 through november 2000, january 2002 through april 2002, and may 2004 through september 2004.these dates of production cover vehicles from the 2000-2002 my and the 2004-2005 my.to correct the condition, mercedes-benz will replace all affected instrument clusters with improved ones that are not subject to the failure modes.mercedes-benz will begin owner notification during the 1st quarter of 2006. | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| INTERIOR LIGHTING | |||
| 09/01/2006 | 60100 | 12 | 01/22/2005 |
| Lighting (instrument cluster) on the dashboard of my 2001 mercedes benz s500 vin# wdbng75j31a194593 flickered for a couple of days then went out completely. it affected my automatic door locks and side mirror signal indicators. i cannot view the gauges/speedometer and use the preset buttons on the steering wheel while operating this vehicle. *nm | |||
| 09/22/2006 | 96000 | 1 | 08/26/2005 |
| Dt*: the contact stated the interior lights stopped working suddenly without warning. there was a nhtsa recall, # 06v028000, regarding the interior lighting. the vehicle was not included in the recall due to the vin. updated 10/17/2006 - intermittently the instrument panel lights dimmed then surged to full strength. *nm | |||
| 09/15/2006 | 35 | 1 | 04/04/2006 |
| I own a 2001 mercedes benz s500. i was driving home from work on friday and all of a sudden, the lights in the dashboard went out. it frightened me because i couldn't tell how fast i was going and it hampered me from being as alert as i needed to be by trying to find out what the problem was. these lights need to be functional whenever you are operating the vehicle. because of the time, the dealerships had closed and i couldn't drive it to them when it happened. this could have resulted in my having an accident and hurting and/or possibly killing myself and/or someone else. this is a serious problem that seems to be happening to others. please investigate. *nm | |||
| 06/25/2006 | 33000 | 1 | 01/01/2001 |
| Dt*: the contact stated due to inadequate dashboard illumination, one is unable to read the gauges and indicators. there is a nhtsa recall, # 06v028000 regarding the interior lighting. the vin was not included in the recall.*ak updated 7/25/2006 - *nm | |||
| 08/01/2005 | 49700 | 3 | 03/01/2001 |
| Vehicle is a 2001 s-500. almost word for word the same issue(s) as odi id number : 10100807. same car, same problems, same sentiment. replacing fuses only results in flickering instrument cluster lighting, and even then the backlight is still non-functional. gauge needles flicker as well, until they too go out completely. fuses last only for a couple of days, whereupon the entire instrument cluster remains entirely black. problem could be remedied simply by replacing faulty transistors, or redesigning an improperly laid-out instrument cluster, ie cooling the transistors much more adequately. this creates a tremendous safety risk by essentially creating an information black hole: the operator does not know his/her own speed, fuel level, if the parking brake is still on, if the directional signals are operational, if the check engine light is on, and other important information that mercedes is so keen on relaying only to the instrument cluster. the faulty instrument cluster has not yet created an accident, but it is only a matter of time until one of the other thousands of s-class owners runs out of gas on the highway, and gets into a collision all because he/she didn't know how much fuel they had. | |||