Tail Light Switch problems of the 2009 Mercedes Benz C300 - part 1

Headlight wires are corroded and melted. This seems similar to the tail light recall a few years ago that caused a fire.

Sockets for the parking lights above the headlights melted. Knowing that something similar was addressed with the tail lights, seems to be related. The tail lights melted the carrier and the cables now the same is happening on the front of the car. I am not the only owner of mb C300 experiencing a issue. We are concerned that our cars can catch up on fire.

Takata recall right tail light has a brown burnt wire, and the right rear tail light is dim. So I believe it may have been a recall on this problem. I was wondering if this is something that I need to pay for or would this be something that I could get a recall on? this problem happened while driving on a city street while braking.

Background: in 2014, there was a recall of c-class Mercedes Benz vehicles due to corrosion on the connectors of the rear tail light causing the light to fail. Mercedes benz fix front light connectors - new issue: left front parking light is inoperable and the dashboard warning message came on. Went to the dealer to have the parking light bulb replaced. The mechanic verified the concern, replacing the bulb did not work. The mechanic checked and found that the parking lamp harness holder is peeling and corroded causing the wire to short. Mercedes benz wanted me to pay $1440. 35 for the replacement of the entire light assembly and recommended changing the right side too even though it was operable. The light assembly encases the front parking light bulbs (eyebrow lights - 2 each) and the headlight bulb. The service advisor, jeff decorte indicated that he sees this all the time which is why he recommended replacing both sides of the entire light assemblies. Bulb holders and connectors should be replaced at no cost to the owner due to the peeling and corrosion. Please investigate, this may be potentially another recall except now it's the front parking lights. Please note that my car has always been serviced at the required intervals by the dealer.

Front parking lamps poor connection wires insulation come off very easy from the frame plug, plus wires are to short to make correction(splice) inside the head light housing. All this happened after the car was repair from recall on tail lights. I saw on the internet and a lot of people has this problem for this problem, I was driving on the dark street and all ligths went off like for 5 seconds, that why I got scare, I was with my wife and my 5 months old daughter, Mercedes Benz should report this as recall, in order to correct the problem I need to change the whole housing, I took the car to downt town la service department, for another problem with the ignition lock switch, I looked on the internet and also a lot of people had this problem. I hope some one will do something about these C300 models. Thank you.

Tl-the contact owns a 2009 mercedes-benz C300. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 25 mph, the check signal warning indicator illuminated. The contact observed that the rear driver's side tail light was not illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 14v177000 (exterior lighting). The failure mileage was approximately 68,000. The VIN was unvailable. Sg.

Tl- the contact owns a 2009 Mercedes Benz C300. The contact stated that the rear tail lights shorted repeatedly. The dealer stated that they repaired the vehicle for NHTSA campaign id number: 14v177000 (exterior lighting) but the contact received no confirmation of the repair and was experiencing the failure randomly progressing. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for further inspection and diagnosis. The contact also stated that the interior lighting and the exterior lighting also continued to illuminate with no warning which was draining the power and battery source to the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided no remedy. The approximate failure mileage was not available. Dyd.

I received a warning on my dashboard that my right rear tail light, right turn signal and back light needed to be checked and malfunctioning. The message came and went for several days. When I opened the compartment where the tail bulb carriers and assembly were, I saw that some of the lights were very dim. The carrier itself was piping hot. So my first reaction was to replace the bulbs. I did. Same problems, nothing was fixed. The next day, everything cleared up. . . So I thought it might be fine. A week later, it came back. When I opened up the compartment again, it was super hot, and I noticed that the wiring was browning and it burnt my finger. I immediately stopped driving the car. I went to the dealership and they said it will cost hundreds to replace and not covered.

Components of the tail light assembly on the driver and passenger sides have overheated and rendered the units inoperative. As a result, the tail lights no longer work. This seems to be a known issue and common occurrence in aging assemblies of this type.

Wiring harness on rear tail light melted causing the tail light circuit board to stop working ,causing the brake lights ,reverse lights and blinker to stop working. Spoke with Mercedes Benz dealer ship and they told me this was a common problem and that they were not gonna fix it for free and that I would have to pay for the repairs. This is a hazard cause I was driving at night with my kids in the car,when my lights went out. After looking at the melted harness wire this is also a potential fire hazard. Please look into this matter before some one is seriously injured. Mercedes benz is aware of the problem and refuses to correct it. . . .

The dash warned me that my rear tail lights were malfunctioning. The message came and went for several days until it was on continuously. I accessed the electrical compartment and the ground side of plug, the socket and the wire was melted and has been on fire. . Read more...

All rear tail lights stop workingi replaced the lights. Mercedes dealership said the wires had fried and that they had seen many cases similiar to the rear lights. $600 to correct the issue.

The tail light completely melted the circut board and stopped working.

The driver side tail light housing has burnt out and knocked out all lights in the cluster. This seems to be a known issue, but there has yet to be a recall for this.

Warning message that the back tail lights & signal lights were out. After check it appeared that the wire had melted.

Entire tail light on drive side went out. I looked at the lighting housing and noted burnt wires emitting from the housing.

I received a warning that my left tail light was out. The light was not out and when the car was restarted the message no longer appeared. I went to the dealership and asked service to check the taillight. The service manager showed me the light panel which had melted plastic and burn marks on it near the grounding wire. He told me I needed to have it replaced as well as the circuit board. I told him I thought it was ridiculous to have electrical problems with a car with 85k miles. I just replaced an electrical panel in the front 2 months ago for $700. I asked if they had problems with the c and he said no but he had seen a few issues with the grounding wire. I just looked into it to discover it is under NHTSA investigation. Please advise.

Right rear taillight assembly completely went out as a result of a bad ground wire. On that side there was no brake light, no turn signal, no running lights, etc. After inspection the ground (brown outer most wire) where it connects to the plug/rear tail light assembly has burn marks and corrosion. I used electrical tape to tape up the exposed wire (due to heat/sparks the insulation on the wire was gone). Currently, all functions of the tail light are dim ( 75% dimmer than the other side) and at times it just completely doesn't work. I have stopped driving the car as a result of this as I do not feel safe driving as I fear it might lead to a small fire.

All rear tail lights stop working, some in the front not working, electrical wires were burnt I replaced the lights, the dashboard alert went away then came back on 10 minutes later. Also tire pressure monitor inoperative on dashboard alert as well. My friend with a 2008 C300 has the same issues with hers too.

Tail light passenger side - ground wire issues - plate melted - tail light errors - not working - no turn signal or brake signal due to faulty tail light assembly (heating issues) 1 204-820-09-77 lamp carrier 1 211-545-03-28 plug 1 014-545-82-26 pin bushing.

On 6/10/2013 I had error code and passenger side pins & carrier assembly failed and had to be replaced dealer charged me $393. 90 for the job. On 6/10/2013. On 12/28/2013 I get an error message that the left side tail light is out.

Right tail light cluster had a electrical short in the lamp connector, which ultimately had to pay $250 to replace in mid December 2013. Now it seems that I am having the same issue on the left side. This is a safety issue and needs to be addressed.

The contact owns a 2009 Mercedes Benz C300. The contact stated that while driving approximately 45 mph, the check tail light warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or mechanic for diagnosis or repair. The manufacturer was not been made aware of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 32,000.

Tail light problems. I started receiving warning messages regarding the tail light malfunction. We checked the lights but they were fine. In January the light went out. I took my car in for an oil change and was told that the bulbs were not only out but the cause was due to a circuit issue. After picking up my car, there was an additional warning for my sidemark light.

The ground wire for both rear taillight bulb plates gets so hot, that it melts the connector which then causes a failure of all tail lights and brake lights and indicator lights.

Driving on the highway going 55 mph my panel alerted me to check my right rear tail lamp ,turn signal , fog lamp and parking light. I check the right tail lamp and all of the right rear tail light were not working. I went to replace all of the right rear light bulbs and found that the plastic connector at the end of the wiring was completely melted to the lamp carrier. This is a safety hazard I am very concerned this could happen to both rear tail lamps at same time while on the highway it can create a accident because the tail lamps are not working. It also can be a fire hazard. This issue needs to be fixed by mercedes-benz before there is death.

Tail light problems. We started receiving warning messages regarding a driver's tail light malfunction. We checked the lights but they were fine. Finally in November the light went out. We purchased new bulbs for the tail light but discovered it wasn't the bulbs. The tail light unit was damaged, burned, melted etc. We are now receiving the same warnings regarding the right tail light.

Right rear tail light wiring harness plug burned and melted. Brown wire end of plug.

Right rear tail light was dim; strong smell of burning wiring in the trunk, wiring harness was hot to the touch, at least one wire on the harness was charred / burned. Dash warning light eventually came on. Brought to m-b dealer; not covered by any factory warranty, recall or the 3rd party extended warranty.

The contact owns a 2009 mercedes C300. The contact stated that the exterior lighting warning light illuminated. The contact inspected the circuit board and noticed that the wire that controlled the tail light was melted. The contact stated that the turn signals and the tail lights stop illuminating intermittently. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 58,000.

On 8/8/2013 my information display indicated my right taillight, blinker and brake lights were out. When I opened the compartment to see what type of bulbs to replace I found the problem to be much bigger than expected. The plastic housing that hold the wiring pin, the wiring pin and the brown ground wire were all burnt up causing the lights to fail. I than opened the left tail light compartment and the same thing is happening, there is already signs of the housing burning. I remember smelling something burning in the car a few weeks ago. I now know what it was. I am surprised it did not catch fire. I contacted mercedes service only to find I am responsible paying to have this issue corrected. I only hope the left side does not cause a fire before I am able to get it fixed. This is clearly an unsafe electrical issue.

Approximately 1 year ago, the back (driver-side) tail lights were malfunctioning and I had to replace the bulb. I did mention this to the mercedes dealership when I went to service another issue, but they stated there was no issues, just a bad bulb. Unfortunately this happened a few times before a service tech noticed that the back board was "fried" and suggested I go to a mercedes dealership to get it repaired. Not only am I past the 5yr, 50,000 mile warranty, so mercedes will not cover the costs, but the dealership has had my car for 3 days and cannot determine how to repair the issue. They replaced the board, but they are now stating that they may need to replace all of the wires. I called mercedes to complain, but without a recall in place, they will not cover the costs to repair.

My passenger side tail light was dim, so I went to change out the bulb. Upon removing the cover inside the trunk, noticed the brown ground wire to the tail light was extremely hot, and had melted the plastic harness to the tail light assembly. I have seen numerous posts on forums online about this, yet my local mercedes dealership claimed I was the first they had seen. I had to pay in full to have the harness and board replaced. Please encourage mercedes to recall this major safety issue and fix this problem. I'm lucky mine didn't get to the point that it caught on fire and started smoking like many others I have read about. I'm guessing my drivers side is next?.

The contact owns a 2009 Mercedes Benz C300. The contact stated that NHTSA campaign number: 14v177000 (exterior lighting) exceeded a reasonable amount of time for repair. The dealer stated that the parts were not available. The contact experienced the failure prior to receiving the recall notice. The contact stated that the tail lights failed to properly illuminate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the wiring connectors to the bulb holders burned and needed to be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.

The left rear tail light had a bulb that needed to be replaced at a cost under $10. It needed more than a bulb as the wiring had melted and it required a new left rear light assembly kit with a new harness to correct the problem at a cost of $300. The auto shop technician showed how the wiring had completely melted and needed to replace the complete rear light module. This had to be a defective part and mercedes had not issued a recall to cover the cost. The melted wires pose a fire hazard.