NHTSA Complaint #10150787 — 1995 MERCEDES BENZ 129

CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON DASHBOARD,IDLE ROUGH,STALLING OF CAR. I CHECKED THE ENGINE HARNESS CONNECTOR TO THE AIR MASS METER AND GENTLY MOVED THE WIRES. THE OUTSIDE INSULATION BEGAN TO SMOKE, THEN MELTED FROM THE HEAT. I QUICKLY TURNED OFF THE CAR'S ENGINE AND CHECKED THE DAMAGE. THE INSULATION COVERING THE 4 WIRES INSIDE OF THE HARNESS HAD TOTALLY DISINTEGRATED, THUS CAUSING SHORT CIRCUITS IN THE HARNESS. THE HEAT GENERATED ACTUALLY MELTED THE OUTSIDE COVERING OF THE WIRES BOTH AT THE AIR MASS METER CONNECTOR AND UNDERNEATH THE MAIN ENGINE COMPUTER(ECU). I HAD THE CAR TOWED TO THE LOCAL MB DEALER AND THEY SAID THAT THE WHOLE BODY WIRING HARNESS WAS DESTROYED AND HAD TO BE REPLACED AT A COST OF $1250 PLUS $600 FOR THE HARNESS. MB SAID IT WAS NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR AND OFFERED NO ASSISTANCE. I FEEL THAT THE HARNESSES ON MY 1995 SL320 WERE MADE FROM SUBSTANDARD MATERIALS AND THUS DISINTEGRATED PREMATURELY PUTTING MYSELF AT RISK FROM A POSSIBLE CAR FIRE. I STILL HAVE THE HARNESS IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO INSPECT IT. ANOTHER HARNESS, THE ENGINE WIRING HARNESS WAS ALSO FOUND TO BE DEFECTIVE, CAUSING SHORT CIRCUITS, AND WAS REPLACED BY MB UNDER WARRANTY IN 1998. SO FAR I HAVE REPLACED 4 DIFFERENT WIRING HARNESS ON MY CAR, ALL SHOWING THE SAME DECOMPOSITION OF THE WIRING INSULATION. *NM