I spent a week trying to find a decent harness for my 95 C280 but ended up buying a new one from a MB dealership several months ago. I am in Houston Texas and it cost about a grand for the harness. I was told by the MB dealership where I bought the harness that these cars came off the line with defective wireing harness' and many MB dealerships did replace them at no charge for several years. I just waited too long. I also had a ton of other work done at the same time. Fuel filter, plugs and wires, tune-up, belts, etc. All in all it came to $2300. I hope it was worth it. The car is cherry as far as looks go. I just bought a fan clutch off eBay for $99 because I know that will go out next according to my mechanic and I noticed just as he said, the temp now runs at 100f instead of the 80f I am used to seeing. Strangly, I was getting 31MPG on the highway (air off) before the tune-up but now get only 29MPG. Go figure.
Hi, I would like to point out that waether you can afford it or not one must replace the whole harness once it gets to that stage. If the insulation is coming apart at the coils then it will be bad all over the entire harness including inside the rubber mouldings under the coild/plug lead cover. You don't wont to have to replace the computer if money is the object. I tried following your advice to repair it as per your photo's but it goes much deeper than just their, my advice is borrow the money save your car and replace the harness.
Hi, I would like to point out that waether you can afford it or not one must replace the whole harness once it gets to that stage. If the insulation is coming apart at the coils then it will be bad all over the entire harness including inside the rubber mouldings under the coild/plug lead cover. You don't wont to have to replace the computer if money is the object. I tried following your advice to repair it as per your photo's but it goes much deeper than just their, my advice is borrow the money save your car and replace the harness.
That's true, the chances for success on this repair depend a lot on your skill level with wiring.
Cut and paste this website in your browser you would be amazed at the problems being caused by these faulty wiring harnesses!
Gas leaks, wires shorting, engine fires!
I need to replace mine, over a four day period one tank of gas which usually yields 370 miles, ran out of gas at 155 miles. Realized I had a leak, had the car towed to the house. SRS is malfunctioning, engine surging, fuel guage not working. Car has only 73,000 miles and it has been kept up immaculately, no engine dust. I am a little hesitant to just repair it at this point but I do not have an extra $1,500 laying around to replace it.
Bottom line here is that Mercedes never did a recall, and the number of cars affected is unbelievable - years 91-97 all models. Cars stalling on the freeway, fires...what happened to safety???
I think the fact that it affects so many cars is precisely the reason why they never recalled it on their own. And since nobody ever persued it with the NHTSA, MB wasn't forced to recall it either.
Since we're talking about cars that were built 10-15 years ago, I highly doubt that the NHTSA would do anything now, much less MB voluntarily recalling it themselves.
It's a bummer, really. I still like Mercedes, but the next one that I buy will be a 1998 or newer.
Made a new harness for my C-280, used the original connectors, spliced the wires (automotive heat ressistent) next to the plugs (connections) with solder and heat shrink tubing, took about 4 days to complete the project, car started on the first try, no trouble codes present, car is performing GREAT, car now has a steady idle of 550 rpm. Moral of this story ? You can DIY !
Ed
Removing the old one:
It's Off:
Repairing : Top of picture, Injectors and Coil plugs (red wire) repaired.
P.S It's important to take many pics, it helps solve repair and installation doubts !
Wiring Harness Problems 
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