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Please help A140 issues

1K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  Audiophile_AU 
#1 ·
Hi there

I will start by stating that I am very poor with cars, and actually don't have a clue about them from a technical aspect, but I’m a quick learner and quite obsessive so will hopefully get there eventally :p

My partner has had about as bad a year as you could imagine, the one upside being that she has inherited a Mercedes A140. It hasn't been driven in a while, and has a few "issues" and I was hoping someone on here would be good enough to guide me in the right direction so I can perhaps get it sorted for her (hopefully without spending a bomb!). It didn’t come with a user manual.

First issue seems to be quite common according to the wisdom that is Google. When driving at night, the full beam clicks on when indicating blinding other drivers. I understand that a new indicator stalk is needed, just wondering how simple it is to replace and how much they are roughly?

Second issue: when turning on the car (not the ignition, just the electrics) a strange sound comes from the front. Sounds a bit like wind screen wipers going back and forth (please note, the windscreen wipers aren’t moving, I am not THAT bad with cars :) ) It stops after a few moments and isnt heard again until you shut off the car then restart. Any ideas on what that might be?

Thirdly: On the dash board a spanner sign comes up saying “-700”. I would assume that means a service was due 700 miles ago but not certain.

Fourth and hopefully final issue: There is an orange circle next to the ABS light, this flashes on and off whilst driving. Any way to rectify this?

I've been looking for a download for a user manual but can't find one.

Any help or guidance you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks
 
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#2 ·
#3 ·
I've been looking for a download for a user manual but can't find one.

Any help or guidance you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated.
Welcome to BW!

1st tip: post in the right forum. This one is for 'general' questions, ie, those that might affect all MB models.

If you scroll down the forum list you will find one titled W168 A-Class, which covers questions about your 140.

2nd tip: With the UserCP at top of screen ^^^, fill in your profile, as the year, model , location is often important to readers of your problem.

3rd tip: Lofty is one of the helpful regulars here, and he has a website dedicated to the A-Class.

4th tip: Use the Search facility at top of screen (advanced) to find posts from the archives on your problems. Use suitable key words to assist your search, eg., 'ABS light flashing' should produce a list of threads on this topic. You can restrict the answers to your model. :thumbsup:
 
#5 ·
Hi Rookie owner UK
I am afraid it might cost money to fix it all.
The indicator stalk is a common fault caused by a weak design of the pivots of the lever. It happened in our A160, and we decided to live with it as a (new) replacement unit was about AUD300. Lofty's site has quite an interesting posting about repairing the lever, which is the old time-versus-money trade off, ie your time and patience versus spending the money to get the proper part. The DIY is not simple as you have to remove the airbag from the steering wheel (small risk of explosive operation if you don't do it correctly), remove the steering wheel etc.

The electric motor noise on startup 'might' be the electric power steering pump. If you open the bonnet and face the engine compartment, I believe it is on your right hand side buried at the bottom of the engine compartment. The steering wheel shaft would be on your left hand side (UK, same as Aus).

Spanner sign is standard Mercedes for needing a service. Car has a sensor which monitors oil quality (non technical word) and indicates when it thinks it is due for a change.

I'm sorry I can't remember what the orange circle symbol means, but it might be a brake wear warning??

best regards
David


In our A160, it was coming on ALL the time, making so much drain on the battery that the alternator/charging system couldn't cope, and slowly flattening the battery. According to Lofty, the electronic controls for the power steering are in a little semi sealed box down at hte bottom of the engine somewhere. My wife drove through some axle deep water (small flash flood in Adelaide - nothing like the recent events in Queensland!)and the power steering pump started playing up after that. I couldn't even guess (and didn't want to!) how much to replace that, so in the end we traded the car in, and I suspect the dealer disposed of it 'through the trade', which probably means some poor soul bought it at auction.
 
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