I love this car ('99E300TD) and don’t know if mechanic has messed it up. I’ve had it for 14 months & got a horrid 15 MPG. Took it to dealer, they said they couldn’t find anything wrong. Took it to another shop for brakes & new battery and after that hefty repair it starts rough & smokes until it warms up AND the BAS light comes on. Took it back & they replaced all the fuel lines, hoses, actuator, filter, etc., saying it was leaking diesel. $1800. later it runs worse than it did before and NOW the BAS AND the ACR light come on. They say they can’t find anything wrong with it! HELP!
I can think of a couple of things, but I don’t really know your car, so I would only be guessing. The one thing I am sure of is you need to find a mechanic that knows this car. If you were in Columbus Ohio I could help suggest someone, but other than that, I can’t offer any advice.
Sorry to hear of your problem. Does the independent garage who did the work specialize in MBz cars? It almost sounds like they were using your checkbook to try everything they could think of. I believe that the 210 chassis Mercedes like yours may still have had an overvoltage relay to protect the electronics from voltage spikes like those that can occur when jump starting, or even removing and replacing the battery. If the fuse in the OVR blows, it causes symptoms like the ones you’re describing. (Even if your model year no longer had the OVR, it would have been carried over to a “base module” with fuses that perform the same function.) Why don’t you consider posting your question on a Mercedes only forum. You’ll get lots of competent suggestions. Try this one:
The garage specializes in German cars. I’m in the medical field and I keep telling him that you can’t always rely on what a diagnostic machine tells you. Sometimes you have to ferret out info the old fashioned way. That said,I don’t believe that he is unscrupulous. He is willing to go all out to fix it.
Cal I can’t thank you enough for the site and the info on the OVR. I pulled up the site and the first thing I saw was a picture of my car! And the fuse sounds very likely because when he did the brakes the battery went out and I hadn’t had any problem with it prior. Thank YOU!