On occasion my "Lamp Defective" message comes on in my '97 E420 with 76,000 miles. All the interior & exterior lights seem to be working just fine; I told the service writer about it last week when I was in for an oil change, but they couldn't find anything - and, of course, it wasn't doing it then. Anyone have a similar problem or any ideas?
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"Someday you will die somehow and something's gonna steal your carbon."
I had a similar problem for two days right after my 2000 e320 got detailed. I got the message maybe 3 times over the 2 days and then it went away and hasn't happened for about 2 months.
I assume that when they were cleaning the car they got water into one of the bulb enclosures, and after it dried the problem went away.
Thanks for the idea. I just double checked everything again: for a while I thought maybe it was the fog lamps, 'til I realized that they don't work with the high-beams on. We've had so much rain this month in "God's Country" that we haven't had a dry spell for them to dry out if that is the problem. Also, it's been unseasonably cool here. I guess I'll have to wait awhile to see if you're right. Did you have any idea where the water got in - what it got wet? Pete
If the lamp defective light goes on at the first brake application, it's a brake bulb. If it goes on with the parking lights, guess what.. parking light.(dont forget about the license plate bulbs). Be sure to check the light fixture at the brake bulbs right and left. They tend to MELT! causing an intermittent light failure....
I've had this happen repeatedly,and finally,the guy told me he needed to solder the wire to the driver's side lamp socket,and it never happened again. For some reason,it kept coming loose. BenzDoc,is there a place I can get replacement sockets(besides the dealer
of,course) that can remedy this problem once and ,for all???
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2003 Obsidian Black E320
1997 Black E320
1994 Black Acura Legend L (gone,but not forgotten)
I just checked, and the "Lamp Defective" came on first with just the parking lights, so the problem must be there. For a while it was very intermittent, but now it seems to go on all the time. Thanks for the tips!
the problem is not only with the socket, it's the tail light housing also. I find that the sockets have a much too small contact area. This tends to pit the tail light current bars. These pits are resistance. Where there's resistance, there's heat. Because the brake lights are on the most out of the large consumers, 2,3,4,5,6,7 minutes at a time, the problems start at this socket. The tail light plastic melts and separates from the socket. All that can be done is use the correct bulbs & keep the contacts clean (sandpaper or wire brush). A little die-electric compound on the contacts helps too. Finally, don't sit with your foot on the brake pedal while parked. Try to contact Mercedes cause they know about the problem. You could just forget about using your brakes altogether!! kidding
This is a weird coincidence. I started to work this morning and turned on my headlights and the "Lamp Defective" message popped up. Weird timing with your post/my reply. I guess it must be related to the head/tail lights based on the other posts but weird that it picked today to start happening again. I did get the car washed Sunday, so maybe related. I'm going to check the tail light contacts, but all my lights are working fine.
I have recently started seeing the famous "defective lamp" come on every now and then - happens mostly when I turn on the headlights - strange thing though is that all the lights - headlights, brake lights, indicator etc seem to be working fine - anybody has any idea why this happens - defective lamp" sign goes away when I turn off the engine and turn it on.
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