Car can hardly run--without stalling-hard to start Mercedes dealer said to sell it because of wiring problems.

- Aliquippa, PA, USA

91-96 Mercedes engine wire harness disintegrates completely to shorting out all gauges and engine operations. This is very dangerous... deadly dangerous. This needs to be addressed and recalled immediately. We are putting together a mass group to file a class action lawsuit against the NHTSA for not demanding Mercedes to implement a recall on its deadly mistake. ( we have not lost a class action lawsuit today from 1989... thank you in advance.

- Chino, CA, USA

I have 1995 SL500 last 8 years having electrical issues, related to wiring harness, misfire, steering pump, air pump and more. I am the first owner.all the wires are deteriorating, I thnik we need NHTSA to inspect these car manufacturers.if manufacturer installed the faulty wiring they should stand up and offer repairs at the Mercedes dealers.free. Regards

- Encino, CA, USA

Mercedes Benz wiring harness problems 1993 ' 1995 car does not run correct

- Taunton, MA, USA

Car immediately stalled in the middle of the interstate. Driving vehicle and it began to stall. Was not able to even pull to side of the road. Was later able to jump start vehicle, however still had issues with stalling and no acceleration. Have been informed it is a "harness wiring issue".

- Summerfield , FL, USA

Wire harness shorted out due to naked wires with no insulation causing the harness to catch fire burning harness and frying the alternator. The cause was said to be wire harness deteriorated. Improper insulation on the harness.

- Adamsville, AL, USA

This vehicle has a bio-degradable engine wiring harness. These harnesses are deteriorating. My vehicle suddenly lost all power, no power steering, no nothing on a freeway and I was lucky that I was not killed. Mercedes and the dealerships both know that vehicles with this type harness are death traps. I wonder how many people have already been killed, but wiring harness was never investigated as cause of accident. Why are you not taking action against Mercedes? every vehicle still on the road should be recalled immediately if it has a bio-degradable wiring harness.

- Dunwoody, GA, USA

Was driving car and engine started to misfire, stumble and lose power as I was crossing traffic into a side road. Almost was hit from the passenger side by a large truck that was moving at me at over 50mph. I had left plenty of time/space to do this crossing properly. However, the car almost stalled out mid way across and I could not accelerate properly to get out of the way in a timely manner.. engine got slight surge just in time to avoid a collision. I managed to get the car to limp home. Started it up a few later and ran fine as I carefully drove it to the dealer for evaluation. Dealer mechanic found the wire insulation on the engine harness and the gas actuator where seriously deteriorated and exposing bare wires inside. Very expensive repairs costing over $3,300 parts and labor for these 2 repairs alone.. I think this defect would have show up much sooner on my vehicle except that I only drive the vehicle seasonally and the car has very low mileage at 44K. I collect many old cars and have never seen anything like this insulation defect on a 18 year old vehicle before. I do not think this defect is acceptable on a vehicle that originally cost nearly 100K. As this problem is well known and started showing up many years ago on other cars, Mercedes Benz should provide at least some relief to owners for the repair costs of their poor engineering.

- Rotonda West, FL, USA

Had to replace the wiring harnesses in the car at a cost of $3500. I now have to replace the wire harness again at a similar cost. There should be a recall for this nonsense.

- Jupiter, FL, USA

Mercedes Benz engineered their 1995 SL500 with faulty wiring. I have experienced times when the car would not idle at a stop light. There have been times when I have crossed an intersection and the car stalled, had not power and just would not run. This has almost been the cause of more than one accident. Several hours has been spent by mechanics working on the car doing research to diagnosis the issues. We became aware of the faulty wiring that Mercedes Benz used and in turn has caused several components to fail. There has been $1,000's of dollars spent on my vehicle for diagnosing the problem, replacing modules, wiring harnesses, mass air flow sensor, fuel pump just to name a few. I have photo's of the faulty wiring used for the engine management harness and of the wiring leading from the eta (throttle body) to the computer. Mercedes Benz has not notified registered owners of this known problem, nor released any service bulletins to qualified mechanics. I would have expected a company with a reputation for providing outstanding and dependable vehicles to provide a solution to this and accept responsibility. Instead they have been allowed to ignore the costly mistake and have passed it on to the owners. Fortunately for me, it has only been a monetary. I wonder if or how many have paid the price by injury.

- Dodge City, KS, USA

The engine control/fuel injection wiring harness of my 1995 Mercedes-Benz S420 (61,000 miles), has cracked insulation throughout and is beginning to short-circuit with the risk of causing dangerous engine malfunction--and even fire--inside my engine compartment. I have read hundreds of reports of other Mercedes-Benz cars of the same age range having the exact same defect. This is a known defect to Mercedes as far back as 1997 that they continue to refuse to recall. The NHTSA appears to be looking at this defect as a separate issue by year and model...it is definitely not! it was a supplier issue for all Mercedes models of the years 1991-1997 and should be investigated as such. You have over 700 reports of this problem. Do something...now!!!

- Salida, CA, USA

Diesel engine preglow wire harness ABS braking system traction control.

- Smithtown, NY, USA

The contact owns a 1995 Mercedes S-class. The contact stated that the vehicle would independently engage in limp mode causing the vehicle to become resistant to acceleration over 25 mph. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was told that the failure was coming from the wiring harness that was connected from the computer to the engine. The dealer stated the wiring was deteriorating. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was unknown and the current mileage was 81,000.

- Berkley, CA, USA

1995 Mercedes SL500 with 105,000 miles. I had to replace three wiring harnesses: Fuel injection/engine management, alternator/lower electrical harnesses, and had to have the electronic throttle body wiring rebuilt. All of the wiring insulation was brittle and exposed causing driveability issues and the inability to run or accelerate. The repairs cost $2,000 plus and Mercedes says there is no defect. Baloney!

- Medina, OH, USA

Engine wire harness causing my car to stall out while driving.

- Bridgeton, NJ, USA

My asr light is on in my car which is a Mercedes Benz S600 do to a bad wiring harness on the car, and it puts out a big big cloud of smoke while driving, I took the asr fuse out and it stops but I have to put it back in because the ABS/and the SRS light come on also.

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

1995 SL500 had the sar light go on and the car went into "limp mode" and barely ran enough to get it to the service garage. The mechanic diagnosed a faulty engine wiring harness and showed me how the insulation on the wires was literally breaking away from the electrical wiring. This he said was shorting out the control module. He told me his was very common on the Mercedes of this vintage and that it was a hazard. The car only has 83,000 miles on it and my wife baby it's like her own child. It is garaged each night and I do not believe the wiring harness should have desintegrated with so few miles. It is my belief that the product is defective.

- Visalia, CA, USA

1995 Mercedes S420 asr come on while driving causing gas pedal to stiffen and driving difficult it can happen at any moment while driving. While asr light is on while driving easing up off gas pedal causes car to jerk forward while braking.

- La Mesa, CA, USA

Mercedes Benz 1995 S420 wiring harness cracking of insulation let to stuck starter would not turn off drained all battery power became very hot. 'arcing present in engine compartment from bare wires due to flaking insulation on wiring.

- Half Moon Bay, CA, USA

My 1996 Mercedes SL500 with less than 55,000 miles has crumbling wire insulation on the engine controls which has resulted in shorted wiring in the engine controls. The poor quality of the insulation on the wires is the problem, yet the car maker or the dealer has not done a recall to replace this wiring harness for this safety problem. I am told the cost to replace all the defective parts will be thousands of dollars. This is a known safety issue within the Mercedes community for this car through 1990-1995. There must be thousands of cars involved with this potential safety hazard. This car was sold to me without any mention of this hazard. Became aware of it when presented to repair shops.

- Orlando, FL, USA