This is all SAM operated and no direct wiring at all, you may have to put the car on STAR,, this car could also have the system where the voltage is removed from the lamp if no bulb detected, so after fitting a bulb, you would need to turn everything off and turn on again.

 

I'm not sure i follow about turning off and on again. If you mean the car or attempting to activate the turn signal of course I've done that already, driven the car etc.

As far as STAR goes, I think i would consider getting my own diagnostic tool given the complexity of the computer system in these cars. I've always been a DIY guy when it comes to autos but i realize this is a big step up. I don't know what a dealer would charge but i'm sure it would ad up quick. I'd be open to any recommendations since i see a lot of the tools are worthless and have no CAN bus ability. Not sure all i need to look for tho.

There's no other way to do a "reset" of the SAM to see if thats the issue? Correct me if i'm wrong but there are TWO SAMS, one for each side and therefore turn signal right?

 

Same problem both sides?

 

yea, same problem both sides. The turn signal bulbs located in the housing do nothing at all. Everything else turn signal related works car wide regardless if triggered by blinker or hazard switch and the dashboard seems aware of this

 

He says turn signal bulbs,, I had to think on that one.

 

Yes 2 SAM's, I think it will need STAR, such an odd fault, I wonder if someone before playing around has deactivated it.

 

Hi all! Just bought an 00 s430 w.118k the other day.

Welcome to the forum..

I've looked into this problem of yours and have a suggestion, but first let me show you how the 2 front SAMs deal with the external front lights.

The left front SAM (N10/6) powers all the left front lights - with one exception.
The right front SAM (N10/7) powers all the right front lights - with one exception.

The WIS drawing for N10/6 below shows the following connections, where E1 is the left headlight assembly and E2 is the right:

E2e2: right low beam
E1e1: left high beam
E1e3: left standing/parking
E1e4: left front fog
E1e5: left turning signal

In my opinion there is no way that both SAMS can have an identical fault like this. So it must be a problem with the 'modified' headlamps now fitted.

There are 2 types of problems folks post about. Real faults that can be fixed, and those caused by botched modifications. Did you see the front turn lights working when you bought the car? If not, maybe they have never worked.

The only thing I can suggest is that you use a testmeter to check the continuity from the headlamp connections to the SAM connector, using the pins shown on the WIS circuit. E1e5 is shown as a gr/sw wire. That is green/black in English. For safety, do this with the key out of the switch.

If you are thinking of getting something to assist ownership of your MB, I can recommend getting a WIS and loading onto your laptop.

 

Holy shit! lol i'm not even sure what i'm looking at. Translated into real life where the E1 and the e5 lines route, thats the pos and neg? and where they end, at the 0,75 gr and 0,75 gr/sw would be the wiring harness at the headlight housing? if i actually got all that right where is the starting point?

I'm assuming from the turn signal contact within the housing to the pin associated with those addresses at the harness. Then i can use my multimeter to check for continuity in the housing itself.

How am i doing so far?

 

On cars where a substitute bulb is used can be hard as the voltage turns off at the problem lamp. Always keep a good bulb in while testing.

 

OK! Finally got some time to get my hands dirty on this project. If you just want the quick version with the results skip the next paragraph and go straight to the paragraph in blue.

So after following your directions I got 0 ohms between 3 and 6 but the bulbs are brand new and tested. So I knew that couldn't be, and the internal assembly wire coating is still shiny, no signs of heat, stress pints etc. This caused me to examine more closely and I realized that for whatever reason the "snap" point in which that bulb holder snugs couldn't possible be allowing the contacts to contact. Once I realigned everything, the passenger side turn signal worked perfectly without a hitch.

The driver side turn signal however, was a different story. It turned. I mean on constantly, so for the hell of it I tried both the turn signal and hazard switches and ever so faintly it would pulsate but always go back to constant on no matter what. The passenger continued to operate normally. This caused me to go back to the loom harness and sure enough, no matter what I do and regardless of key position i have a little less than 12v. i believe it was around 11.7x

This would explain why the PO took the bulb out smh. This would lead of course to a dead battery.

In summary: for some reason I have a constant 12v power going to the driver side turn signal regardless of whether the key is in my pocket or in the car in ANY position. It is pin 6, grey with white tracer. Now what? I'm stumped.

I've think I've been able to trace the wire back to the SAM on the passenger side and found where it plugs into the SAM if thats relevant.Does the SAM act as a flasher module or is that a separate component? All I can think is maybe the flasher box got stuck in the on position and could simply be replaced?

 

I'm still trying to work out the problem with my driver side turn signal being constantly solid on.

does anyone happen to know how to temporarily disable the driver side SAM or turn signal?

I'm thinking before i get the SAM scanned it might be worth pulling a fuse or what have you and then testing the loom harness to see if its still putting out voltage in order to determine if somehow its shorted to a live wire some where

 

Hi nanu13, I have the same problem, driver's or left side front turning indicator bulb stays on continuously. It happened earlier this evening. I even took out the driver's side headlight assembly to ensure that the short was not inside. But hindsight would indicate that it is in the harness or whatever controls the pin keeps the voltage "on"

Were you able to resolve it yet?

If I leave the bulb in the normal but constant illuminated mode, I do not get a dash error any more. The flasher clicks are at normal speed and all other lights flash normally. Now, if I loosen the bulb holder by unscrewing it about 1/8 to 1/4 turn, enough to turn the bulb off. I get the dash error and it speeds up the clicks of the flasher, as I would expect.

Very strange.

 

Although the wiring diagram leads to the SAM, you probably don't want to disengage it. See what it controls, in the Encyclopedia. The unit itself is expensive, and if other troubleshooting doesn't identify the problem, I'd suggest STAR diagnostics for that component.

The fuse for the turn signal is an "electronic fuse" contained in the SAM. It is nothing like the blade fuses you can pull. The Encyclopedia also discusses electronic fuses. If the problem were that, you would have no power to the turn signal.

You could try pulling either or both of the "steering column jacket" relays, but I don't know what you might lose. Some fuse diagrams aren't very explicit - while a few indicate the relays may be simply for the steering column adjustment, others are less specific - and the "jacket" itself is a non-powered plastic cover. I do not know if the relays provide power to any other components in the steering column.

As you have already mentioned, the problem could be a shorted wire - but if it was a short, I would think the electronic fuse would trip and you would lose the turn signal altogether. It could also be a bad turn signal switch.

Against the possibiiity that it is a short, I'd still look to a shorted wire, possibly in the mirror housing or even in the wiring where it enters the door from the body, or possibly wiring going to the turn signal switch. You may already have done that - beyond that, I just don't know.

Also: Please post the year of your car where you have the model listed, so we don't have to hunt for it. Diagrams and charts differ based on model year.

 

Hi Rob

Sounds like you have the EXACT same issue as me down to the side of the car. Unfortunately i haven't resolved this issue yet. At this point my plan is to get it on the STAR and have a diagnostic run. I've pretty much exhausted the physical possibilities within my capability other than steering column relays. The fact you have the same issue as me tells me its probably not a short which is probably a good thing.

My work schedule and some of the other stuff i've been taking care of on the car haven't allowed me to head up to the shop yet. So if you do make it there before I post back here about it please keep me, us, informed. I'm really interested to hear what kind of results or info you turn up

Feel free to use this thread or PM me to exchange info and update until we find some closure to this issue.

 

Hi nanu13 - Understand about your personal time constraints... I will contact you as soon as I get resolution and/or take in for a STAR check.

Just a few more thoughts....

I am thinking the left side SAM is bad, I suppose the STAR diagnostics would show something, but seems that the internal failsafe(s) should not allow the bulb to stay lit since the bulbs do not flash through a thermal mechanical flasher and/or relay.

My guess is this... The turn indicator system via the SAM module uses a CANBUS code from the interior turning switch stalk to send a left or right signal code. The SAM module reacts and flashes the appropriate sides. Each bulb or mirror leds have there own input from individual outputs from the SAM. As indicated, the SAM protects each of these outputs via an "electronic fuse" which is supposed to be a semiconductor device like a SCR. I think one of or more semiconductor devices are somehow latched up, possibly now burned permanently that way since removing the battery power for over a half hour does not reset the stuck on bulb. Unless the SAM has some sort of capacitor to keep it's memory. If you turn on the hazard signal (all lights flashing) while the stuck on bulb is lit, you will see that the "on" bulb slightly pulses to the on/off of the rest of the bulbs. So the SAM still can output the pulse to the bulb while it is still on. What makes this more strange is the fact that if you remove the on bulb, the SAM knows the bulb is not there. The bulb failure circuit seems to be looking at the filament continuity and not checking for any abnormal voltage on the output. This situation may only happen once in a while since there are not any other posts or threads related to this action.

 

I'm thinking if anything is wrong with the same it should show up on the STAR. But its funny you mention a "burned switch", I have had the same thought on my mind. Like something got stuck or burned on. I even tried tapping the SAM module lol. I absolutely agree with everything else you've said too.

 

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.

 

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).

 

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!!

 

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 ...

 

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?

 

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

 

B200 = W245

 

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