[rob_fed]

Some more details from yesterday....

I am assuming the SAM is bad. So I wanted to ensure that I could remove and replace it and ensure that I can get the appropriate part number.

After disconnecting the battery.... The fuse/relay section unclips out of the protective box with two clips. The rear one is plastic and the one closest to the front of the car is metal.

The SAM is located under the row of relays nearest the power brake fluid holder in my picture. You will need to disconnect 4 connectors under the red 40 amp fuse.

The big black area is where the SAM is mounted, you just need to take two flat place screwdrivers and wedge them between the black plasic of the fuse/relay holder and the top of the metal SAM. There is a picture on the SAM label that shows this.

One the SAM is out, I unclipped the plastic cover on to expose the printed circuit board. I did a quick check with a digital multimeter to see if the output driver are shorted. They are the square ones with 4 pins (actually 5, but the center one is clipped since the heat sink side is the same connection on the top). Nothing was shorted, but it was just a quick check.

I also checked all of the relays to see if they were stuck, by removing them and placing a 12v on the pins 85 and 86. All relays clicked on/off.

Basically, I found nothing except for the actual part number of my SAM. From the www.startekinfo.com site I found that since my car is the last model build year, the SAM has the latest hardware SAM module. If you have an earlier car, you could replace it with my part, but it is probably not a good idea to replace the newer part with an older one.

 

[rob_fed]

FIXED: My constant on left side turn indicator bulb

My commentary:

When researching this forum and like sites, it is up to the user to filter the results to fit their needs. Some answers may come from threads/posts seemingly unrelated to the issue at hand. This is not new, only my personal experience that everyone else deals with.

FIX: Removed and replaced left side SAM - After the turn signals work as designed and I did not see any other lighting issues.

Why?

* Outside headlight left turn indicator bulb stuck to constant "on" after erroneous bulb warning messages appeared in the center dash display

Debug:

After reading that the SAM boxes do not last forever and finding very nice descriptions on the basic functionality on the "START HERE" sticky. I figured it would be related to the left side SAM on my car. Given the nature of the error, it is unfortunate that the in-car diagnostics would not set a warning flag for this type of issue, but understandable, not every electrical function can be associated with warning message. So I bit the bullet and purchased an used Ebay SAM with the exact part number from my car (they are firmware dependent).

 

[nanu13]

bought a used SAM from ebay and it cured the problem!!

It was weird I didn't have to do any resets either for windows and such even though I removed the battery.

I just wanted to report back here and update for future readers.

I have a new problem I'll need to look into in the morning. I now have a low brake fluid warning and the break light pop up. I doubt I'm low on fluid but my flashlight crapped out before i could check. HOWEVER, my part IS used and the left SAM happens to control the brake fluid indicator as mentioned here: http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w220-s-class/1644809-what-sam-module-how-do-you.html …yea…soooo….more on that later….

Big thanks to Rob_fed for taking the plunge and sharing the results!!

 

[nanu13]

UPDATE: brake fluid was fine when i checked this morning and the light never came back on.

A?C quit working. Short story i found out the new SAM was defective since it started working again after putting my old SAM back in upon discovering A/c controls ran though the unit as well. Right now that its summer, A/c is more important to me than 1 of 2 turn signals lol so i'm working on a return or swap from the vendor.

Wish i knew for sure if i could definitely use later model SAMs ...

 

[Benzschmerz]

I have similar problems with a 2006 B200 Turbo (Canadian market): driver's side front signal won't work even when swapped left to right (right side works), bulb replaced etc. Signal indicator on dash flashes about twice as fast as passenger side's.

Apparently there is a FSB about the defective design of the contacts in the bulb-holder and housing, which is somewhat explained here.

FSB here: file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/0495996b-376a-4942-8b71-d745ff52b96d_turn+signal+socket+bulletin-1.pdf

 

[Astro14]

I have similar problems with a 2006 B200 Turbo (Canadian market): driver's side front signal won't work even when swapped left to right (right side works), bulb replaced etc. Signal indicator on dash flashes about twice as fast as passenger side's.

Apparently there is a FSB about the defective design of the contacts in the bulb-holder and housing, which is somewhat explained here.

FSB here: file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/0495996b-376a-4942-8b71-d745ff52b96d_turn+signal+socket+bulletin-1.pdf

I don’t know what a B200 is…and while I appreciate your desire to help, this thread is nine years old (and I imagine they’ve figured it out by now) and the link is to a file on your personal computer.

So, perhaps repost the bulletin as a .pdf, and we can see to what chassis it applies?

 

[cowboyt]

If need be, I can move it to the proper forum once we get a look at the PDF.

 

[Benzschmerz]

B200 = W245

 

[cowboyt]

Hmm...no PDF, so I guess it's time to go ahead and close this older thread.