1995 Mercedes Benz E320: engine stalls while driving

Filed Sep 29, 2014 · Electrical · 117,000 miles · VT

Purchased in late spring 2014. Fire in right door electrical wiring mid june. Stall at red light in mid july. Stall on highway, stop and go traffic in mid september. And stall at a red light sept. 27, 2014. Bought it, it had 107,000miles.

Filed Mar 8, 2011 · Electrical · 156,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 1995 mercedes e-320. While having the vehicle repaired by an independent mechanic for unrelated failures, the contact was advised to replace the wiring harness because the insulation on the wires was deteriorating. The contact was also informed that the deterioration of the insulation could lead to engine fires as well as the vehicle stalling. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 156,000. The VIN was not available.

Filed Dec 23, 2008 · Engine · 69,000 miles · CA

Tl*the contact owns a 1995 mercedes benz e320. While driving approximately 30 MPH, the engine stalled and then shut off. There were no warning indicators illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was towed to a dealer and they stated that the engine wiring harness was deteriorated. The dealer remedied the issue. In december of 2008, the vehicle shut off while driving approximately 60 MPH. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and they stated that the wiring harness failed again. The manufacturer could not assist. The current mileage was approximately 72,000 and failure mileage was approximately 69,000.

Filed Dec 6, 2008 · Electrical · 155,602 miles · AZ

Wiring harness and computer failures have caused vehicle to stall and fail to perform as expected.

Filed Oct 6, 2008 · Electrical · 108,000 miles · CA

Car just stalled and stopped working. Car was inspected and we found out it was an deteriorating engine harness. Wires were all fried an burned up.

Filed Aug 17, 2008 · Electrical · 143,000 miles · VA

1995 mercedes e320, the engine wiring harness deteriorated and I have multiple short circuits in the car. The engine stalls, turns on the wiper shield, sets the alarm on and check engine light is on. A certified mercedes mechanic in autohaus yorktown (virginia) found out the same thing...wiring harness are exposed due to deterioration (w/c shouldn't be since it is plastic..but further research said that it is biodegradable).

Filed Dec 20, 2007 · Electrical · 200,000 miles · NC

The wiring harness for the engine has failed. The insulation has disintegrated and the wires are arcing, shorting and corroding. This causes intermittent stalling of the engine and an unsafe condition. I understand this is a typical failure of this vehicle. It is odd, I am unfamiliar with any vehicle that requires periodic replacement of the wiring harnesses, ordinarily these last longer than the vehicle.

Filed Dec 11, 2007 · Electrical · 10,700 miles · AZ

My car stalled in an extremely inopportune time due to a failed wiring harness. The car stalled on the freeway, I appreciate being alive to write this. The engine wiring harness is disintegrating for no other reason than age. My car is 95 mercedes wagon. Mercedes customer service wants to take no responsibility, they blame prior mechanics and the arizona heat.

Filed Nov 24, 2007 · Electrical · 143,212 miles · MD

The outer coating of the engine wiring harness burnt away due to the interior copper wires shorting out or deteriorating. I addressed this problem with my local m. Benz dealer and was told it is not a malfunction that is covered by m. Benz. Since this is a safety issue, both fire and stalling in traffic, I have limited my use of the car. If m. Benz wishes to retain its customer base, it should step up to the plate when safety issues are presented.

Filed Aug 1, 2006 · Electrical · 118,000 miles · NJ

Car engine stalled during driving. Car was brought to the mercedes benz dealer (millennium in nj ( who told me that the wiring harness needed replacement. I had more than 100k miles on the car so I paid $2,700 to have the problem fixed.

Filed Mar 29, 2006 · Electrical · 130,000 miles · PA

My 1995 e320 with approximately 130,000 miles began to exhibit unusual performance characteristics, rough idle, occasional stalling at lights. When I took it to my local mechanic, they informed me that as they began to investigate what the problem might be, the individual wires in the engine wiring harness were crumbling under the slightest pressure, making any repairs extremely risky without having the entire harness replaced at a cost of approximately $1800. The fact that this has been well-documented for several years is troubling, especially given mercedes' reputation for cars that will run for years with proper regular maintenance. Obviously mbusa is aware of the problem, since dealers stock the harness.

Filed Jan 25, 2006 · Electrical · 160,000 miles · NJ

I have a 1995 mercedes benz e320 which was well maintained. As I was driving to work this month, the car started stalling on the highway and I was lucky I was not hit from behind by other fast moving cars. After replacing ignition parts the car still was stalling and then stopped totally. Upon examination, all the engine harness wires were found to have been totally stripped of their insulation inside the outer fabric cover. They all were contacting each other and it was hopless to fix since all the wires failed at once. Several merecedes benz dealers knew of this problem and it was common knowledge to them. However, merecedes benz seems to think this problem is not of their concern and contacting them results in refusal to replace the wiring harness as car is out of warranty. This is a defect that could injure by accident or start a fire and not a warranty problem. Mercedes-benz needs to recall these cars and replace the engine harness before someone is unlucky and becomes injured.