Wiring Problems of Mercedes Benz C220

Wiring throughout vehicle is insulated with a bio-degradable plastic. Shorting out of ignition and emission looms kill many who stall on freeways and 'inconvenient spots'. The insulation flakes off like corn flakes and electrical loss in many looms disable and imperal occupants.

See all problems of the 1996 Mercedes Benz C220 🔎.

My vehicle shuts off at start up and also during driving in motion. This happens at various times during the day while stationary, on a city street, or turning while the car is in motion. My mechanic says the engine wiring harness needs to be completely replaced. I've owned this mercedes for years and have had this problem. I didn't realize how serious this problem was until I spoke with my mechanic recently.

I started my car and began driving home from work. I was going about 55 mph when the car suddenly began to shut down; like the power was suddenly turned off. Then, like a child flipping the lights on and off, the car began to jerk forward and back as the power and engine went on and off again. When I came to a stop the car died. I was able to start it and get home but the car continued to shut down while I drove home and die when I stopped. The next day I got it over to the shop. My mechanic told me it was the wiring harness. He said this is common problem with mercedes. I looked it up and sure enough, many people have had the same problem due to defective materials. I asked the mechanic to see the wiring harness he removed. . Read more...

I was changing my oil and checking my level and suddenly there was a spark and then fire but I took it out fast with sand. It was the wiring harness they were all cracked and some of it are disintegrating.

Was driving all gages went crazy started to back fire and died on the highway so I had a friend pull off the highway back to the shop the shop said the wiring haress was degraded and it cost 2,700 dollar to fix the sad thing is this car only has 30,000 mile's.

My 1996 mercedes C220 has a defective engine wiring harness. The check engine light came on and I took it to my mechanic. He told me that this was due to the type of insulation that mercedes used for the wiring and the engine harness needs to be replaced ASAP. Mercedes used a bio-degradable wire cover that with high temps cracks and falls off. This has caused the engine to run rough, stall and loose power and is not safe to drive in traffic. This should have been taken care of with a recall by mercedes. Mercedes has been of no help except for me to pay to have it repaired.

My vehicle has the faulty wiring harness prevalent in all these cars during the mid to late nineties. It has exhibited many of the signs mentioned by numerous other owners over the years such engine light on constantly, surging of the throttle, dash instruments that won't work, stumbling and stalling in traffic, etc. The only thing I haven't had yet is a fire. I was completely unaware of this problem when I purchased the car back in Feb. This is my first mercedes and will be my last. . . . . Next car will be a Honda. Why mercedes is allowed to ignore this is beyond me. I thought the reason we have government regulation is to force car makers to clean up messes like this. There are still a number of these cars on the road and this problem will eventually get someone killed if it hasn't already. Mercedes should be made to recall and replace this wiring with good remanufactured parts for free if you still own one of these cars.

Mercedes benz knows about these faulty wiring harnesses and refuses to own up to their faults. These faults place the owner and others at risk as they can cause shorts, a poor running car with shorting issues, or even cause a fire. I would be happy if mercedes would just give us a new wiring harness, I would install it myself and they would not have lost anything.

I took my car to a mechanic with an unrelated engine problem which was resolved. Afterwards the mechanic pointed out the engine main wiring harness to me and informed me if I don't replace it, it could have serious consequences like the car catching of fire, stopping at any moment and main computer damage. They shoed me the wire insulations in the wiring harness and I was appalled by what I saw. They were all cracked, at places missing, and very close to actually touching and shorting out. One does not have to be an expert in automotive technology or electrical repair to understand the implications. The wiring harness cost is about $1000 and the labor is several hours. I believe that this is a design or manufacturing defect which should be rectified by mercedes-benz by issuing a recall and replacing the harness at no cost to the owner. I was also informed that this was a systemic defect, and many mercedes-bend cars of the same era around 1995-1998 had to be refit with new wiring harnesses. It is not caused by normal wear although my car has high mileage, but poor materials used.

Recently there was an issue with the car. The temperature gage was showing the vehicle as heating up. The temp would reach close to 120 f. After further investigation by our mechanic, the vehicle needed the entire electrical wiring to be replaced. Our mechanic said that if not replaced, the car would eventually catch on fire. The electrical wiring is faulty not due to wear and tear on the car but should have been recalled by mercedes for faulty wiring. The wiring has completely deteriorated and the wires are completely exposed and if the wires happen to touch each other, that is what will cause the fire. In order to get these wires replaced, it will cost well over $1500. 00 to replace all the wiring.

Wiring harness damaged causing decreased performance, check engine light, and lower fuel economy.

Engine wiring harness wire insulation is beginning to biodegrade and crumble apart. Car will not be able to pass emissions without a replacement part, which costs no less than $1350 (for a wire bundle and hookups that are doomed to fail again in the same way), plus 4-7 hours of labor costs. Car has less than 60k miles on it and is in otherwise great condition. After speaking with the mechanic, he said anyone who owns this make of car will have a mandatory $2000 wire harness replacement fee somewhere along the way (at least once, if not every few years). Even with a replacement, it will only postpone the issue until the new one inevitably begins to break down. Extremely poor automotive design! mercedes should be held accountable for what appears to be a massive design flaw affecting all cars of several similar models within a half-decade or more time frame. The makers of the faulty part are making bank off of mandatory repairs and part replacements due to their own negligence. That is absolutely wrong and unethical, and the makers should be held accountable and be forced to recall the part.

While accelerating the mercedes C220 will surge, stall and cut engine power or "cut out". Idle is unstable. Wiring harness insulation is crumbling.

I have a 1996 Mercedes Benz. The car literally shuts off on the road. I have replaced maf and O2 sensors repeatedly to no avail. I'm told by my mechanic that the problem is a corroded engine wiring harness.

Car surges, stalls, idles rough, and also revs at about 4000 rpm. Took to repair shop, was told electrical harness was deteriorating causing these problems and also other problems. Mechanic stated this was a common problem for early 90s mercedes. Wiring harness cost $1,198. 75. Have not repaired at this time.

Engine keeps shutting off while accelerating. This happened several times while driving sometimes in the left lane and then have to coast to the side. Very scary and unsafe!. ! I took vehicle to the mechanic and he said the engine wire harness needed to be replaced.

My Mercedes Benz 220c went dead at stop light causing danger to who ever was driving. I took auto to mercedes dealer who informed me that wire harness was deteriorating after only 80,000 miles on car. Also air flow was bad.

The engine light came on and the engine surges up and down. Vehicle is difficult to drive.

Severe degradation of the engine wiring harness which shorted out the air mass meter and throttle actuator. The vehicle stalled in heavy rush hour traffic. This wiring deterioration could have easily resulted in a vehicle fire, as has occurred in other mercedes-benz vehicles with this defect. Mercedes has denied any responsibility.

Wiring harness on a 1996 mercedes C220 with 74,000 miles intermittently failing, and causing car to stall on freeway and surface streets. This is putting me and my family in danger, as well as other drivers. Mercedes does not recognize this as a problem, there are numerous websites dedicated to this issue, hundreds of cases, and no response. This part which should outlast the car, is failing on cars with less than 100,000. I am afraid to drive my car! I don't know if it is going to completely stop in the middle of the freeway. . . And get me into an accident.