SL320 R129 - Green lights on mirror and door won't turn off
Discussion
Hi all,
Hope you guys can help.
The green lights on my rear view mirror and door won't turn off.
I recently had to charge the battery after going flat.
The remote central locking does work and the key batteries have been replaced.
I have tried resetting the central locking but still the green lights are on.
Would appreciate any advise.
Harry
Hope you guys can help.
The green lights on my rear view mirror and door won't turn off.
I recently had to charge the battery after going flat.
The remote central locking does work and the key batteries have been replaced.
I have tried resetting the central locking but still the green lights are on.
Would appreciate any advise.
Harry
To save you trawling through the various Mercedes forums (but by all means do to verify below)
- Never jump start a R129 with a flat battery
- Never charge a flat battery on a R129 with it connected to the car (i.e remove the negative lead first)
The various early to mid 1980's ECU's in these cars are very fragile to both damage and lock-up. If you are lucky it's the latter, if you are unlucky sadly big bills may loom.
The best way forward is to disconnect the battery for at least 24 hours, ensure it is fully charged before reconnecting and then hopefully everything will reset. If it does by a CTEK and use it!!!
- Never jump start a R129 with a flat battery
- Never charge a flat battery on a R129 with it connected to the car (i.e remove the negative lead first)
The various early to mid 1980's ECU's in these cars are very fragile to both damage and lock-up. If you are lucky it's the latter, if you are unlucky sadly big bills may loom.
The best way forward is to disconnect the battery for at least 24 hours, ensure it is fully charged before reconnecting and then hopefully everything will reset. If it does by a CTEK and use it!!!
MercScot said:
The best way forward is to disconnect the battery for at least 24 hours, ensure it is fully charged before reconnecting and then hopefully everything will reset. If it does by a CTEK and use it!!!
R129`s need top quality powerful batteries.This solved some of my electrical faults on my 1997 R129.
Roof & roll bar dead with warning light on after battery going flat,charged it,tried all the tricks without success.Left car without a battery for a few days while I found the best,most powerful and expensive battery I could find.Fitted it and it all came back to life,all working perfectly.
On a separate occasion I had the red and green lights in the mirror flashing and playing up.After doing all the tricks with the key fob without success I visited my local Merc` Indy.All he did was fit genuine Merc` batteries in the fob,job done.
Good Evening All,
Following no responses from the MB forums I thought I would try the Pistonheads forum again.
Thank you for those that did offer their help following my first post here.
I have tried disconnecting the battery for 24hrs, fully recharging and reconnecting but still this didn't work.
I have had diagnostic tools clipped in to see if there are any faults but nothing shows.
Most of the issues surrounding these lights (when searched online) include the central locking not working, alarms not switching off or the car not starting due to the immobiliser.
In my case the central locking works and car starts fine (although feels under powered) but the green lights will not disappear.
I have uploaded photos in the hope that they may help.
Thanks Harry
Following no responses from the MB forums I thought I would try the Pistonheads forum again.
Thank you for those that did offer their help following my first post here.
I have tried disconnecting the battery for 24hrs, fully recharging and reconnecting but still this didn't work.
I have had diagnostic tools clipped in to see if there are any faults but nothing shows.
Most of the issues surrounding these lights (when searched online) include the central locking not working, alarms not switching off or the car not starting due to the immobiliser.
In my case the central locking works and car starts fine (although feels under powered) but the green lights will not disappear.
I have uploaded photos in the hope that they may help.
Thanks Harry
What year is your car? My 97 car has the "bulky" rear view mirror but no lights on the handle.
I'm unsure if this applies to your car, but the importer fitted Scorpion alarm, which MB fitted for quite a few years, has caused problems with my car (it flattened the battery, overheated the CTEK charger and upset the roof operation) as the ni-cad batteries inside gave up. Only on reading this do I now recall the red light in the mirror had started to blink, every 20 seconds or so, when being driven for the few weeks before the failure. I now wonder if that was a warning I did not heed. If your car has the same alarm it could be the same issue - general advice is to remove the alarm before it goes haywire.
I'm unsure if this applies to your car, but the importer fitted Scorpion alarm, which MB fitted for quite a few years, has caused problems with my car (it flattened the battery, overheated the CTEK charger and upset the roof operation) as the ni-cad batteries inside gave up. Only on reading this do I now recall the red light in the mirror had started to blink, every 20 seconds or so, when being driven for the few weeks before the failure. I now wonder if that was a warning I did not heed. If your car has the same alarm it could be the same issue - general advice is to remove the alarm before it goes haywire.
Old Merc said:
R129`s need top quality powerful batteries.
This solved some of my electrical faults on my 1997 R129.
Roof & roll bar dead with warning light on after battery going flat,charged it,tried all the tricks without success.Left car without a battery for a few days while I found the best,most powerful and expensive battery I could find.Fitted it and it all came back to life,all working perfectly.
On a separate occasion I had the red and green lights in the mirror flashing and playing up.After doing all the tricks with the key fob without success I visited my local Merc` Indy.All he did was fit genuine Merc` batteries in the fob,job done.
Thanks, which battery did you put in?This solved some of my electrical faults on my 1997 R129.
Roof & roll bar dead with warning light on after battery going flat,charged it,tried all the tricks without success.Left car without a battery for a few days while I found the best,most powerful and expensive battery I could find.Fitted it and it all came back to life,all working perfectly.
On a separate occasion I had the red and green lights in the mirror flashing and playing up.After doing all the tricks with the key fob without success I visited my local Merc` Indy.All he did was fit genuine Merc` batteries in the fob,job done.
Harry
Stegel said:
What year is your car? My 97 car has the "bulky" rear view mirror but no lights on the handle.
I'm unsure if this applies to your car, but the importer fitted Scorpion alarm, which MB fitted for quite a few years, has caused problems with my car (it flattened the battery, overheated the CTEK charger and upset the roof operation) as the ni-cad batteries inside gave up. Only on reading this do I now recall the red light in the mirror had started to blink, every 20 seconds or so, when being driven for the few weeks before the failure. I now wonder if that was a warning I did not heed. If your car has the same alarm it could be the same issue - general advice is to remove the alarm before it goes haywire.
Thanks Stegel, I'm unsure if this applies to your car, but the importer fitted Scorpion alarm, which MB fitted for quite a few years, has caused problems with my car (it flattened the battery, overheated the CTEK charger and upset the roof operation) as the ni-cad batteries inside gave up. Only on reading this do I now recall the red light in the mirror had started to blink, every 20 seconds or so, when being driven for the few weeks before the failure. I now wonder if that was a warning I did not heed. If your car has the same alarm it could be the same issue - general advice is to remove the alarm before it goes haywire.
My car is a '95 on an N reg.
Harry
HarryD said:
Thanks Stegel,
My car is a '95 on an N reg.
Harry
It may well have the Scorpion alarm - the main unit is a grapefruit sized black unit attached towards the front of the offside chassis leg towards the front of the engine compartment. I would try disconnecting it and see if that alters things. Rather embarrassingly after 6 weeks or so, due to various issues, I have yet to trace and remove all alarm wiring. Something for this weekend hopefully when I can get the roof off!My car is a '95 on an N reg.
Harry
HarryD said:
Old Merc said:
R129`s need top quality powerful batteries.
This solved some of my electrical faults on my 1997 R129.
Roof & roll bar dead with warning light on after battery going flat,charged it,tried all the tricks without success.Left car without a battery for a few days while I found the best,most powerful and expensive battery I could find.Fitted it and it all came back to life,all working perfectly.
On a separate occasion I had the red and green lights in the mirror flashing and playing up.After doing all the tricks with the key fob without success I visited my local Merc` Indy.All he did was fit genuine Merc` batteries in the fob,job done.
Thanks, which battery did you put in?This solved some of my electrical faults on my 1997 R129.
Roof & roll bar dead with warning light on after battery going flat,charged it,tried all the tricks without success.Left car without a battery for a few days while I found the best,most powerful and expensive battery I could find.Fitted it and it all came back to life,all working perfectly.
On a separate occasion I had the red and green lights in the mirror flashing and playing up.After doing all the tricks with the key fob without success I visited my local Merc` Indy.All he did was fit genuine Merc` batteries in the fob,job done.
Harry
Problem sorted and here's how.
After trying all of the forum recommendations and further internet searches, my options - and hopes - were dwindling.
I decided therefore that the car had to go to a specialist for diagnosis; bear in mind that I'd already had two mechanic friends-of-a-friend plug in their diagnostic tools to no avail.
On a wet Saturday morning the car was left at the garage with green lights very much on!
After a week or so the garage came back to me and suggested that the DAS module may be the cause of the problem and a replacement part had to be sourced. My understanding of the DAS or 'Driver Authorisation System' is that it is part of the car's security, linked to the immobiliser and 'reads' the key before starting the engine.
On the basis that the central locking still works and the car starts with the key after being unlocked, my gut feeling was that this was not the issue and requested the car be returned.
A day or so later I received a call from the garage to say that the car was ready - following reassembly of the dash - but the air bag light was showing and were waiting on a computer to be delivered to clear this error. This slight delay meant that I was unable to collect the car and they kindly agreed to drive the car back to the house once cleared.
Arriving home later that evening, I could see that car but not a bright green light in sight. Now, in tinkering with various fuses and resetting techniques in the early stages of the problem, the lights had turned off only to reappear after a short time. I therefore remained pessimistic and proceeded to put the SL back in my garage, anticipating the worst:
- unlocked the car, green lights blink but remain off;
- turn on ignition, green lights remain off;
- start the car, green lights remain off;
- park the car, turn engine off, lock car, have dinner, check before bed and still the green lights remain off!
The SL was fixed.
Although a little unfortunate that my first port of call - being the diagnostics tools route - was the correct one but didn't work out and 'lucky' that the air bag light prompted additional investigation, I am over the moon that the car is sorted.
The simple fix possibly explains why this issue is not widely discussed on the internet but thought I'd share my experience regardless.
Thanks, Harry
After trying all of the forum recommendations and further internet searches, my options - and hopes - were dwindling.
I decided therefore that the car had to go to a specialist for diagnosis; bear in mind that I'd already had two mechanic friends-of-a-friend plug in their diagnostic tools to no avail.
On a wet Saturday morning the car was left at the garage with green lights very much on!
After a week or so the garage came back to me and suggested that the DAS module may be the cause of the problem and a replacement part had to be sourced. My understanding of the DAS or 'Driver Authorisation System' is that it is part of the car's security, linked to the immobiliser and 'reads' the key before starting the engine.
On the basis that the central locking still works and the car starts with the key after being unlocked, my gut feeling was that this was not the issue and requested the car be returned.
A day or so later I received a call from the garage to say that the car was ready - following reassembly of the dash - but the air bag light was showing and were waiting on a computer to be delivered to clear this error. This slight delay meant that I was unable to collect the car and they kindly agreed to drive the car back to the house once cleared.
Arriving home later that evening, I could see that car but not a bright green light in sight. Now, in tinkering with various fuses and resetting techniques in the early stages of the problem, the lights had turned off only to reappear after a short time. I therefore remained pessimistic and proceeded to put the SL back in my garage, anticipating the worst:
- unlocked the car, green lights blink but remain off;
- turn on ignition, green lights remain off;
- start the car, green lights remain off;
- park the car, turn engine off, lock car, have dinner, check before bed and still the green lights remain off!
The SL was fixed.
Although a little unfortunate that my first port of call - being the diagnostics tools route - was the correct one but didn't work out and 'lucky' that the air bag light prompted additional investigation, I am over the moon that the car is sorted.
The simple fix possibly explains why this issue is not widely discussed on the internet but thought I'd share my experience regardless.
Thanks, Harry
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