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Malfunction See Owners Manual (picture of a spring?)

44K views 22 replies 9 participants last post by  m.khoshkalamm 
#1 ·
There I was minding my own business driving along and a big yellow thing appeared on my driver's lcd screen

Malfunction See Owners Manual

I know someone here will have seen this before. The car still drove ok. I did pull over and "reboot" (switched it off and on again) but it still came back. Oh I also lowered and raised the suspension - I have ABC. No luck.

I've attached a photo I took..

Any ideas? BTW I've checked the manual, but for the life of me I can't find this symbol looks like a spring to me, my initial thought were a coil.

Thanks,
Graham
 

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#2 · (Edited)
My best guess is that one of the sensors for the ABC has returned an out-of-range value the computer is not happy with. I don't think it is the actual compressor unit since that throws up the side profile of a saloon car when it goes awry. You could try pressing the "i" button up by the rear view mirror. That will connect you to the Help service who I believe have limited telematics available to them so may be able to pinpoint the fault. It is a lot more likely they will just tell you to contact your dealer who will book you in for a session on their Star diagnostics machine to read the fault codes. A software update will be the first plan of attack to see if the fault codes still persist. It is a rolling update so it will also correct other faults you probably didn't even know you had. As it is only an amber malfunction nothing bad is going to happen - until it does! :surprise: :wink2:
A deeper reset occurs after 4 hours of non-use. My COMAND screen went blank (no, I didn't accidentally hit the Standby button) then I was told speed limit recognition was no longer available and the dreaded amber Malfuction appeared on the dash without even an icon. A simple on/off reset wouldn't sort it but then it just came right overnight and hasn't done it again since.
 
#3 ·
Pretty sure you're on the right track and that's a suspension problem. I've seen a similar though not exactly the same as that was more like a shock absorber pic on a different make, might have been a bmw.
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the replies. Naturally I'm hoping it goes away never to appear again. However, I'll take the advice re pressing the "i" button if it does. Then last resort back to the dealer for them to upgrade.
Things like this always pee me off, my first thought is always; "why can't you just tell me exactly whats wrong in the message" (rather than tell me to look in the book). But I guess it could be one of a hundred things..

Thanks again..
Graham
 
#5 ·
So, last night whilst driving home I thought I'd press the "i" button, as the message came back. Got through to customers services, explained the problem (I did notice the system asked for permission to send diagnostic info to Mercedes which I agreed to).
I naively assumed the guy on the phone might have that info in front of him. What's the point in sending diagnostic info :)

Anyway, after a five minute conversation he says, "Oh that's the glow plug light". I knew it wasn't so went on to explain the picture.
I explained it wasn't a warning light on the speedo, it was a Malfunction message on the driver's information screen.
He them put me on hold to check..

..40 minutes later I arrive home, still on hold.. I terminate up in the end, whilst sitting on my drive...

Maybe it's excessive to press the "spanner button", I'll probably call my dealer.
 
#6 ·
It certainly sounds like there's a lot of theatre going on to give the impression their CS should be "the best or nothing". I'm sure the experience of others allowed you to set your expectations sufficiently low so as not to be disappointed. Why don't you give that "spanner button" a press for no other reason than to entertain us by recounting the outcome. I'd wager the diagnostic information being transferred is no more than what you've already put in your signature on here but when you see the message appearing on your screen you can't help feeling impressed by the mental image of lederhosen-clad technicians with handlebar moustaches back in Stuttgart frantically analysing your car's data to provide you with a suitable answer.
 
#7 · (Edited)
:) . I must admit for about 3 seconds I was really impressed that diagnostic info was winging its way to a technician just as you described. Thoughts like; "Wow this is great, someone is going to look at the info, send an updated software patch to the car, as I'm driving along" were spinning around my head. "I'm not going to need to go to the dealer, give up my car for a day, use a smelly old courtesy car, just so they can do a software update"

However, fast forward another 5 seconds; "Good afternoon Mercedes Customer Services, how can I help". Oh, then I remembered I had issue getting my car delivered and Mercedes didn't know where it was and it was MBCS who I dealt with, then their answer tended to be; "We don't know" and I would say, "But you ARE Mercedes Benz"

Now, I'm not Merc-bashing, I love the car, but when I had a light on my dash (the diesel plug coil light thingy) in my last car (Audi) I rang "Audi Assist" and they came to my house, replaced a part, reset the light and left all in about 60 minutes. Mind you I only rang Audi assist coz the dealer couldn't fit me in from 3 weeks! OMG, thinking about it, Audi dealers were no better.

I think the car should be able to send Mercedes the info, without me knowing, and the first I know about it is that I get a call from Mercedes Assistance telling me not to worry and they'll meet me at home to fix me car, whilst popping into Costa on the way to buy me a coffee (regular Americano, cold milk)

Dream on!

BTW Mercedes, if you're reading, you can have that idea at no charge..
 
#8 ·
I just thought I'd up date you all. I did press the "spanner button" this morning which was answered almost straight away. The person answering the phone asked me to confirm my details and asked what the issue was. They already had details of where I was etc. " I see you're quite near your home address, can you safely drive back there?" Which I could and I did.

I had a follow up text, a phone call from Mercedes telling me when they'd be with me, and the engineer also rang to tell me exactly when he'd be with me. Absolutely perfect MB, well done!

Roadside assistance came to my house, he spent about an hour and eventually told me there was an "Off Side Right suspension valve fault". I do need to visit the dealer, but they've emailed me the fault, so I've got a nice little report, which I can take with me..

The roadside assistance guy said as it had been reported through them, and there is an issue I should get seen quickly. Sound like I'm being referred by my GP to see a specialist :)

I've been told not to drive over 50mph, TBH there's no obvious signs of a fault. I do feel as though I've been treated very well.. Hurrah!

So, credit where credit it due..

Graham
 
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#9 ·
Oh dear. Car went in yesterday to have the valve replaced. I have a loaner a GLA.

Anyway Mercedes rang me up telling me they don't have the part and neither does any other dealer in the UK. Hmmm. Needs to come from Germany. Won't arrive until Tuesday at the earliest. So I'm left with a GLA until then, which isn't too bad, I obviously prefer my GLC.

Just to make matters worse I'm picking up a caravan from Bristol on Wednesday. So, towing mine from London to Bristol and towing the new one back.. GLA doesn't have a towbar and wouldn't pull it anyway.
"Nothing we can do about it Sir, we don't hold that part"

On Sunday night I ordered 3 bottles of flavoured syrup (irrelevant I know) but it arrived the next morning. Why do Mercedes take 3 days for a vale to arrive :-(

Naturally Mercedes don't have anything suitable with a towbar. 1st world problem I know, but flipping inconvenient, and a tad stressful...I might have to resort to a glass of Prosseco and cheer myself up with a fake tan and some teeth whitening. (I'm from Essex you see - obsv..)..
 
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#10 ·
Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs.....

Mercedes have my car due to a valve on the ABC being naughty. Had to wait some days for part to arrive from Germany. They've replaced that and noticed it needs a new bellow as well?. (I need to car tomorrow to tow my caravan)

I was calm. Now I'm fuming :) Why didn't they notice before? I know why because they didn't even look at the car they just read the Mercedes assistance diagnostic report and did nothing for the best part of a week, other than order one bit from Germany. Then today when they've gone to fit it, they've seen the other issue...

I'm meant to be leaving for Bristol at 07:00am tomorrow, now I'll have to delay for several hours #inconvenient

BTW one interesting thing about Mercedes Me is that every time they unlock the car my app tells me. So when the car moved, the boot was open as well as the windows at 10:00 this morning I thought, hurrah, they're going to fix it and my plans for tomorrow will be fine. What a fool I've been haha

Lets hope tomorrow happens, I'm picking up my new caravan and part ex ing my existing one..

Graham
 
#11 ·
Just a quick update..

Unfortunately I picked the car up and about 5 miles later I've got the same message again...

Does anyone know if I can get warranty work done and any Mercedes dealer, not just the one I bought it from? I have another dealer nearer to where I work, rather than where I live and it'll be easier for me..

Thanks,
Graham
 
#14 ·
Unfortunately I picked the car up and about 5 miles later I've got the same message again...
Aaaargh! Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory :crying: I wonder if they even bothered to do a road test after changing the valve and bellows. I hope you still managed to get your old caravan delivered and collect the new one. As Phil says, any Stealer in the UK (and probably Europe) will be happy to carry out warranty work for you. As they all act as agents for Mercedes-Benz, it is simply a matter of them claiming the money back.
 
#12 ·
Graham

You can use any Mercedes dealer for warranty work.
 
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#13 ·
You are welcome Graham!!!
 
#15 ·
Thanks...

It did flash through my mind that maybe they did nothing at all. So, when I got home I decided to review my dash cam footage. The s0ds had disconnected it and not even bothered to reconnect.

I know someone will shout at me, and no doubt ban me from the forum, but I also paid £10 to get it waxed by them. Honestly I was in such a rush at the time, but when I had a look it was almost dirtier than when I arrived. I could see thay they'd cleaned it, but maybe before they started work on it..

Well, I won't be doing that again and I should pay more attention to those "forumers" that know better.

Anyway, I'll start again with another dealer and see what they come up with.
 
#17 ·
+1
If you saw the spotty kids with dirty rags dealers sometimes use to clean the cars you wouldn't have done that. I always clean my cars before the go in for work because the throw "protective" sheet over the wings to work on the engine and those scratch if the car is dirty. I also make sure it's written in big letters across the work sheet " MUST NOT BE WASHED ". That always raises an eyebrow. :smile2:
 
#18 ·
Just to finish this post with a final update (a bit late I know)
I ended up going back to the same dealer in the end as it worked out better for me. They had my GLC for a week - did have a nice E class to drive. They had to "strip it down" as there was a wiring issue. Anyway I got it back and it's behaved nicely since then.
They cleaned it again, as I forgot to tell them not to. Again it was probably dirtier than when it went in.

To be fair the them, although it did take a while they did fix it..
Graham
 
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