Engine wiring harness failure, multiple systems affected. Car will sputter, stall, not restart. Happens while going down the road, turning corners, coming to a stop, while trying to accelerate from a stop.... The engine wiring harness has bare wires all over the place. Mb refuses to acknowledge that there are problems with these cars, although I've spoken with many mercedes owners who have the same type of problems. Calls to mercedes benz never get me anywhere. They are rude and only say that they have never heard of another benz with an engine wiring harness problem before. I cannot drive this car, period. I wouldn't drive it to the corner for milk even it would start and run consistently. The wiring harness was made with "biodegradable" insulation on all the wires. When can I expect the air bags on my newer mercedes to fail due to some type of "biodegradable" materials being used?
The worst 1991 Mercedes Benz 500SL problems
Ranked by number of owner complaints. Mileage and cost come from what owners wrote.
- Electrical2
- Acceleration1
Problems by type
Tap a problem to see which part fails, at what mileage and in which other years.
- Electrical2
- Acceleration1
Recalls 1
Service brakes, hydraulic: power assist
- What is wrong
- During the removal and installation of the air filter housing while servicing the vehicle, it is possible to misroute the preformed vacuum hose and damage the check valve in the vacuum hose. If the check valve is damaged, loss of sufficient brake power assist will occur.
- Risk
- Lack of sufficient brake power assist will increasestopping distance and could result in a vehicle accident.
- Remedy
- Replace the preformed vacuum hose with a newly designed preformed hose with a relocated check valve which will eliminate the possibility of the check valve being damaged.
Recall number 93V067000 · Recall details
What 1991 Mercedes Benz 500SL owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
While driving, my 1991 500sl convertible for no apparent reason will not accelerate and the asr light comes on. If I shut down and restart it goes away but will come right back if I goose the gas at all. This happens a lot! Looks like the same problem many people are having with 91-96 various models with their wiring harnesses.
Terrible cracking of main wire harness!!!!!!
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Questions about the 1991 Mercedes Benz 500SL
Is the 1991 Mercedes Benz 500SL reliable?
Owners have filed 3 complaints about the 1991 Mercedes Benz 500SL, close to a typical 500SL model year.
What is the most common problem with the 1991 Mercedes Benz 500SL?
Electrical system, with 2 complaints. Next is acceleration (1).
How many recalls does the 1991 Mercedes Benz 500SL have?
1 recall, covering service brakes, hydraulic.
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