Some of you might have already noticed but at 12:10 i must have accidently hit the multimeter button and changed the setting from DC to AC before starting to record my findings. It doesn't change the Diag in any way but the multimeter should have been (and was off camera) in the right setting!
This same thing happened to my Chevrolet Equinox, turns out there was an internal short circuit in the fuse box. The entire fuse box had to be replaced at a cost of $700. They would not cover it under warranty because they said it was not part of the "Drivetrain". I told them to remove the fuse box and see if the car will drive, then get back to me about that!
Wow❤...As a Motorcycle mechanic,i am learning lot of things from you Mr.Dan..Your diagnostic methods are absolutely amazing.Recently i have found you in RU-vid and after that every night before sleep i have watching at least 2 episodes..Thanks a lot that you are improving my knowledge🙏🙏
You're a specialist, with all your extra instruments, Dan ! These vehicles are legally desposed of in Japan after 5 years of service, almost new ! Modern luxury vehicles are insanely complicated : total B.S.obsolescence par excellence ! Money for you, specialist Dan !
I'm an electronics technician by trade. Your explanation of voltage drop across fuse(s) is well known, and I am embarrassed to say that I had never thought to employ this "trick" to diagnose where current is flowing. It is absolute GENIUS. You haven't disrupted anything / poked /probed / removed fuses, and you have immediate answers. I would love to own a thermal camera, and they are coming down in price, but sometimes the simplest and cheapest test equipment in the right hands can give the answers you need. I am willing to bet this isn't in any factory service manual training ANYWHERE. Thank you, Dan!
Thermal imaging cameras are not that expensive anymore, and you can do a lot with them. So it's a tool that's also worth using privately. I also thought it was a good idea to measure the voltage on the fuses. But with the number of fuses "had" to come up with something. If you had pulled every one of them, you would have woken up x control units again and then had to keep waiting.
Thermal cameras are becoming better and cheaper. My first one was a Fluke and that cost thousands. Next i got a snapon that was hundreds. But now they are becoming more affordable and alot better than my old Fluke!
@@Diagnosedan Just wondering, if you could measure the voltage drop across a fuse that was carrying current, would the thermal camera have picked that up? Might be quicker than poking multimeter probes into each fuse!
I'm from Waco Texas, I enjoy your videos very much they have helped me to be a better mechanic. I would have loved to have been an apprentice under your teaching. THANKS for sharing your skills and knowledge with us all.
I would even now, at 44 years of age, not mind to spend a couple of weeks with him in his shop. I will be a willing student that will do all the crap tasks, only to be able to learn from him.
Glad you found the draw in the 2nd fuse box and not the last one. I wonder how many more of those modules will need replacing in the coming years?? Nice video by the way.
Nice one Dan , great in depth testing there , the public haven't got a clue how difficult our job can be , they have no understanding how complex modern vehicles are , well done sir 👍👍👍👍
Good video as usual mate, but I must say that realizing its a Japan spec car will make a difference in diagnosis. If you have and im sure you have used merc wis, you will notice in the wire diagrams that there are often differences between a Japan, US or rest of the world car normally noted such as code 456 Japan or the like. That will make a big difference in what fuse fuse does what. Keep up the good work buddy
Legend! Worked in Spain for 10.5 years. Mercedes were the bane of my life..suspension especially and very expensive to fix(cars were new and had everything spent on them when necessary) Those rear vents I know quite well.. pulling crayons and sweets out of them most weeks.. they never failed though and interesting to see what makes them work. Really enjoy these diagnostic vids..CHEERS!
You have an ex Yakuza car in front of you. Its clearly a model for Japanese market and Japan cars are right hand drive, but for some reason the japanese mafia prefers LHD cars, just to make a statement. Was watching a video about this.
Thanks! One more of those situations in which a technician's interest in the fundamentals of his profession is perceptible. I loved watching your gestures and listening to the explanations you gave about the possibilities of each step. Therefore, thanks to what you decoded during your analysis of that car, this is another one of those moments where I must recognize that I learn from someone. My deepest obligation for this and best wishes to you, Dan. Macedo Pinto, Portugal
Hi Dan, just love your vlogs been a retired Master Technician myself for younger technicians watching you brilliantly source of the proper way to approach faults. Keep up the great work Cheers Irish Paul
You obviously know every single diag is a case by case basis. Regarding your question about the inputs. In this particular case, I would say no, you don't need to check in this case. That Japanese booklet was cool. I really appreciate your videos. I used to watch a bunch of techs on RU-vid, but not anymore. I now get my knowledge and inspiration from only 2 mechanics on the 'ol RU-vid. DiagnoseDan and Eric O. Thank you for Another great video.
I look forward to these videos. I'll never work on a Mercedes in my area but I know I can use the same procedures on the Chevys, Fords or Dodges that the Hillbillies drive here. :)
It would have been interesting to see how the thermal imaging camera would then have displayed the fuse. Mathematically, the fuse "consumes" (0.8A x 5.5 mV) 4.4 mW of power. The thermal imaging camera should have shown that on such a small fuse.
Brilliant as usual! But what do you do when you have the type (idiotic type) of fuses where the top end is covered by a transparent piece of plastic where the rating of the fuse is written?
Thank you Dan , just solved my self a similar problem , on my case it was alarm module installed from factory , Thanks again , my pleasure to follow your chanell.
Me ml has sometimes a weird action rear Blower as well so you helped Me out if it will drain the battery in future. Thanks! Me slk however blower resistor as wel that wouldn’t control proper. I ordered one from alie and that thing would turn on the blower motor as well when the car was off. Same like this one. Glad you find the culprit. It’s an common issue on the w164/x164
REminds me of the fuel pump module on the mkv golf I diagnosed a couple of years ago. That was a much bigger draw though and the pump ran even with the relay unplugged.
@@Diagnosedan I think there was a short to ground/prower through the CAN or some other communication nettwork. There was codes for every module connected to CAN. Only codes left after changing the module were The classic VW brake pressure transducer code and NoX sensor which was intermittent. Both easily fixable but my friend who ownd the car didnt want to fix them because the sills and floor were rusted out.
Good find. One thing to note though, your meter was reading mV AC, not DC. Fluke meters are good as they measure RMS which is fine for DC, other meters use a DC filtering capacitor which would read 0mV.
The first time I experienced a fan module where it failed 'ON' was in a new 1982 Buick Riviera, the module failed once a year. Troubleshooting: I pulled wires until the blower shut off. Forty years later we're still dealing with the same failed components. 😒
Nicely done once again - I've tracked down a few parasitics in the past. Two of them were radios and the other was a bad boot latch (boot light was staying on when boot was shut). Never seen the voltage drop method before - I just take a few pictures of the fusebox(s) and pull fuses one by one, leaving them out. When the current flow drops you know the last fuse pulled was the culprit. Oh I almost forgot - one more thing...stupid over-engineered merc! (had to get that in there!)
Great video Dan! I have a customer with Mercedes G wagon with a parasitic drain and everyone I talked to about it were telling me not to take it bc they’re kinda weird. You make these things look so simple to diagnose (some) issues lol I don’t think it’ll be too bad based off this video. I don’t think that their models differ that significantly. If I’m wrong you can chime in and let me know thank you and thanks for the great content as always. Until next time.. Diagnose Dan, fixed it again! Good job buddy! ✊🏾
Used to have this problem while having financial issues so I would park the car at night, unplug the battery, wake up in the morning, plug it back and hope it starts. I knew the battery was the problem cuz dynamo was working fine and everything was okay but the battery. I finally managed to buy a new battery tho and it was fixed. I miss that car tho.
thank you Sherlock Holmes! that SnapOn thermal imaging gun accuracy is insane. I must get on so I can play ( testing :) ) all day around in the shop :) best regards!
Wish i new this trick about 5 years ago the audio gateway in my 2005 MB E320 went bad while on vacation and was killing my battery. The only way I found it was by luck, we hear the cooling fan running ( it wouldn't go to sleep). Without it the radio didn't play and being cheap I didn't want to replace the gateway, so I removed the power wire to it and wired a relay in that would power on the gateway whenever another circuit that was key powered was on. It's been working that way for about 5 years now.
I had a similar problem on a Fiat Tempra SW I had (great car pity they're no longer made) O eventually tracked the problem down to a stuck/welded relay after checking all of the fuse and the relays with a multimeter,
