Tail Light Switch Problems of Mercedes Benz C300 - part 2

Dash panel read an error of tail lights, brake lights, turn signal lights out on right side. Drove home from work , approximately 3 miles, smelled wires burning. Waited took car to autozone to get bulbs replaced. By the time I arrived, there was smoke coming from the compartment. The light assembly had caught fire and burned the plug and the board.

See all problems of the 2008 Mercedes Benz C300 🔎.

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. . . .

See all problems of the 2009 Mercedes Benz C300 🔎.

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.

Received warning on dash to check rear driver tail light. Took the car in to the dealer to get it checked out and was told the wires from the tail light were melted from the electrical panel and my car is running on back up lights. The only solution is to replace the entire electrical back light system since the melted wires would eventually damage the entire brake light system. The cost to repair $900. Car smells burnt inside, and in the trunk. I am afraid of a fire, and getting rear ended if my brake lights stop working.

Good afternoon. I currently own a 2008 C300. I noticed my rear tail light warning indicator came on about a month ago. Upon checking the bulb, I noticed the jacket on one of the wires going into the connector was frayed. I put some electrical tape on it hoping that would solve the issue. 1 month later, I am now having the same issue again. I went to check on the light and noticed the fraying was growing worse and the wire was so hot I was concerned it was going to start a fire. I have since removed the bulb to prevent a fire from starting. In doing some research, it seems as though this is a common issue on this vehicle. Being that this is a pretty significant safety hazard and could potentially lead to a fire and even the loss of life, I am curious how and why there is not a recall on this defect. If you have any information on this issue please let me know. Thank you.

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.

As I was stopped at a red light both my wife, kids and myself smelled a strong odor in the cabin of the car. It was worse towards the back seat where the kids were. I immediately pulled over and got the family out of the vehicle (Mercedes Benz C300 2008) and saw that grey smoke was coming out of the trunk of the car. When I opened the trunk I noticed that the smoke was coming out of the right tail light. The cable that feeds electricity to that panel shorted and caused a small fire which turned off the minute I shut the vehicle down. I then tried pulling out the cable from the light panel and it did not budge because it melted and fused together with the light panel.

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

The contact owns a 2008 Mercedes Benz C300. The contact stated that both rear tail lights malfunctioned and a burning odor was emitted. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 200,000.

All bulbs on the right side tail light are not working, that includes brake light, reverse light, and signal light. I thought the bulbs were out but when I went to change the bulbs they were all fine. What I did noticed was the brown wire was burnt and so was the plastic that holds the wires together, it seemed like that entire side was burnt and even melted. This seems to be an electrical problem and it also seems to be a safety hazard. I spoke to one of my mechanic friends who suggested I bring the car back to the dealer to try and resolve the problem and he also advised me to disconnect the wires or something like that as this could cause a potential fire. Since I'm past the warranty period (50,000 miles) I'm not sure how I'm going to fix this problem, it may be pretty costly and I'm not sure where to start. I thought I should report this to the NHTSA since this can possibly cause major safety hazards and even fires.

See all problems of the 2010 Mercedes Benz C300 🔎.

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.

Right tail light connector, brown wire has melted and has affected the brightness of the bulbs on the right side of the car.

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.

Multiple system warnings on dash saying to check right rear tail light, brake lamp, and signal light. Upon replacement of light bulbs, noticed that the ground wire cable covering was melted as well as burns and melting on the bulb housing unit. All right rear lights worked intermittently or dimly and now don't work at all. Now, there are system warnings for left rear lights as well. This is a safety issue as a fire can start in the trunk of the car as well as having rear lights working intermittently or not at all with no warning. Vehicle is no longer under warranty and authorized dealership won't repair at no charge unless there is a recall. This is a known issue with these vehicles, by both the manufacturer and authorized dealers. Recall should be issued.

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.

There was a burning smell and my instruments indicated my rear tail lights, brake lights etc went out. I checked and saw the wire harness was burnt and the wires going into the connector were melted.

The contact owns a 2008 Mercedes Benz C300. The contact stated that the passenger side tail light failed to illuminate. The contact stated that the bulbs were changed on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the brake wiring harness and the lighting board needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 54,000 and the current mileage was 70,000.

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.

Rear tail lights malfunction. Ground wire in the tail light harness gets very hot to the point of melting the insulator on the wire and rear light connector (which provides power to the tail light). This resulted in the rear tail lights to stop working. This is a safety hazard and needs to be addressed. Mercedes will replace the parts if the car is under warranty but will not cover the repair out of warranty. Furthermore, the replacement parts are the same and this issue will reoccur.

Connector (harness) is melted and shorted the circuit board for tail lights and is now inop.

The contact owns a 2008 mercedes C300. The contact stated that the passenger's side tail light and turn signal failed to illuminate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis. The contact was unaware of the necessary repair . The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 45,000.

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.

My right passenger side tail light connector board is melted. All my lights stopped working at once and dealer stated its a faulty connector board that needs to be replaced. Same issue so many others have reported. Mb needs to recall this issue bc it makes no since I have to pay 400. 00 for a well known issue that is hazardous which the dealer advised.

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.

As reported multiple times by others, tail light connector is insufficient to handle the heat emanating from the ground (brown) wire. Connector burns. Cable covering melts. All tail lights (including brakes, turning and reverse) stop functioning. - safety issue- (not to mention gas tank sitting not too far from source of fire) preliminary symptoms: random warning messages in dashboard about lights malfunctioning. One tail light dimmer than the other. Repairs required: new connector/new pins plus regrounding to avoid certain recurrence authorized dealers know well about the problem. . Read more...