Hi all,

I would appreciate it very much if anybody could give me a pointer or just a little direction with a very troublesome Mercedes.

Car was a non-starter. Traced problem to corrosion at ECU connections. A good clean and the car now starts.

Prior to the non-start most of the eletrical systems on the vehicle were not working. These faults are still present.

What is happening is with ignition on, everthing seems to work electrically, seat, windows, indicators etc. Once the vehicle starts, the systems will stop working after around 3-4 seconds. If you then stop the engine the electrical systems will come back on line after again 3-4 seconds. It seems that the only thing that works when the car is running is the engine. Suspension, ABS, audio, ancillaries, exterior lighting etc etc all stop. When the fault occurs, a charge warning is displayed on the instrument cluster. The vehicle is charging ok in terms of voltage.

We have scanned the systems but I would need 2 pages to list all the faults. Every system is littered with faults.

I suspect an earthing issue but am dubious. I have checked controller connections, visible earth connections. I am also thinking is it possible that the vehicle disconnects non-essentials if it sees a charging issue. NB the instrument cluster appears to function correctly at all times.

Any help would be sincerely appreciated.

Regards,
Andrew