w203 c class electrics water damage

[jammidodger]

Hi all,

just wondered if anyone could help me or knew of anyone that could.

i have a c class 2006 saloon and used it the other day to transport water for my fish tank. One of the bags leaked about 2 litres of water into the boot and when i pulled up i had the ABS light flashing. later on i tried to move my car but it wouldnt even start up.

i took to merc direct who said it wasnt covered as the car wasnt at fault and the insurance wont pay out too.. Merc direct said that its a expensive fix as they would need to change a wiring loom.

i said i wasnt willing to pay and now have the car back that does drive but with the ABS, SRS and engine management lights on and the car wont go over 30 mph. the cars interior is still stripped.

do any of you guys know of anyone that could look at this around the Bexleyheath/ southeast London areas?

any help would be greatly appreciated.

Alex

[miro]

The water poured into the equipment tray. You will need a T40 to unscrew the bolts (may also be held in with an expansion clip).

Take out the floor panel, take off the black horizontal equiipment cover and blow out the water with a air gun. All it needs is drying out. There is a drain plug there and if you pull it out it will pour out.

Then have the errors reset.

After that, see if there is any problem. Try to work on the basis that the car is fine but the wires are shorting out. So whatever comes up not working it must be the ABS or angle sensor. IT cant be anything else. You fault sounds like ESP is down. That stops gear changes and limits the car speed.

It may also be a phone module, antenna amplifier if it is phone related (grey metal box is the amp)

The dealer sounds like a jerk.

This area can flood. Look at the shears, they sit over the drain plug. The blue plug holds the cables that go outside the car.

[merc man]

As miro says strip it down and dry it out, clean the contacts with electrical cleaner and let it dry and you should be good to go. The car is shorting on the residual water in the loom, which inturn leads to the fault/s and the lack of power due to the part/s not functioning as they should.

[miro]

Originally Posted by merc man

As miro says strip it down and dry it out, clean the contacts with electrical cleaner and let it dry and you should be good to go. The car is shorting on the residual water in the loom, which inturn leads to the fault/s and the lack of power due to the part/s not functioning as they should.

ESP related errors disable gear change and can also prevent starting, That junction box is a nice dam for water.

I think the stored errors are the bulk of the problem.