Unimog-Community

Hello everyone. Sorry but I don t speak german,but I m in a bad situation at the moment,and I d like some advice.
Brought my Unimog to repair a trasmission problem at the Mercedes Trucks,but meanwhile,it stopped starting,so they first had to sort that problem. When we left the truck there,main switch was working normally,but we had to jump start directly on the starter to drove there. Already the day after they told me they tried to start and didn t work,and that main switch stopped working...that was already misterious,cause we later found out it melted,and those thing don t happen just by turning the key on the ignition...anyway,once they replaced it,and put a new battery still didn t start,so they remooved the starter and told me it wasn t turning so had to be replaced. Got a new one,they replaced it but truck still didn t start,but at that point they had enough of my truck,already told me thay wouldn t make the trasmission and give me a 50%off if I d go somewhere else. So,for hours they saied 4mechaniks has been chacking all cables but couldn t find the fault,than as they thought I was suppose to have a 24V starter and not a 12V one as I do,they jumped start with a 24V booster on my 12Vstarter started the truck and kicked me out of the workshop. I payed 833Euros,that was the 50%,600 of wich(300for me) just for the hours they spent to check the cables...
Drove back home pretty upset and start writing to a good friend of mine from Australia,who s 72 and a fine mechanik,told him the al story and he told me what to do. Start from the very simple,check all the ground cables,where they are,in wich conditions,evetually clean the connections,and check they are all plugged. Than is when i found out that THE GROUND FROM THE STARTER WASN T PLUGGED!!!!! You can image my surprise,and how upset I was with the Mercedes people already,but again happy that I found the problem and couldn t wait to try again to start. Cleaned the ground cable,connected it,I try to start,it sounded it would have strted but smoke start to come out from the motor and I stopped and ren out to cut main switch. So,when smoke disappeared I manage to see what was burning and it was an orange cable connected to the mass of the starter!!!! That cable was never connected to the starter before and surely nothing had to be put there!!!! So now the all line that goes from starter to alternator is burned. Perfect.
Well we went to Mercedes,show them picture of what happened and the picture i had from the old starter,told also the story of the ground cable hanging and they told me they had to ask to their mechaniks but they are all on holidays,where i was suppose to be right now,if my truck would be working,I even had to moove my ticket and pay 200euros more.
So what they are now proposing me is to tow my truck back to them and there they ll check if i m telling the truth,if so,they ll repair it and refound me,if not i ll have to pay also for the towing. What a deal!! Why should they have to bring the truck by them to know i m teling the true? How should I act? Don t I have the right,once they messed up,of not wanting them to touch my truck anymore and have it repaired somewhere else?How can I make justice for myself,because is my word against the one of 6mechaniks that I can expect wont admitt such a stupid fault!! What should I do? If anyone of you have any experience on this subject or is a lawyer please,I need help,I really don t know how to make the right moove in this situation. I have by myside pictures of the oldstarter when was still in,where you can also see the ground cable connected,I have the skype conversations with my Australian friend, and another friend was with me when i found the hanging cable,and about the new starter,why would I decide to plug there a cable that was never there? But why would I even look at the starter when I know Mercedes mechaniks have just put a new one?
Ah,almost forgot,the old starter,IS STILL WORKING!!! Checked it myself at home,and it turns normally!
Thanks for reading. Hope someone can give me some good tips! A nice day and holidays to everyone!

Hello unknown
nice to see you here at our community. We please ask for regarding our rules, we sign each post with our real name.

Please tell us, which Unimog type you own, there are some differents between the models.
Military vehicles usually have an additional battery master switch installed. At civil trucks there ist only key operated main switch.
I gather from your text that you are from Australia, is that correct. So I am guessing it's an ex Australian Army Unimog U1750L BM437.131. which are equipped with a 24V system. Maybe you can tell us a little bit more about your Unimog.

Normally a licensed Mercedes Benz truck repair shop can view or request the factory documentation and wiring diagrams.
To prove a fault of the mechanic, first you have to know the system yourself.
Informations about this modells you can find at Australian Frontline Machinery
After you know the wiring diagram you can figure out, which Voltage is used, and whats wrong with the new cables and the starter.

What you have to do to get your rights, we can't know here. Our laws and regulations are different from the Anglo-Saxon legal system.
For evidence you should make a documentation with photos of each part and confirm it by a witness.
We wish you good luck.



Schön dass wir dich hier in unserer Gemeinde zu begrüßen . Wir bitten um Beachtung unserer Regeln, wir unterschreiben jeden Beitrag mit unserem Namen.
Bitte sage uns, welchen Unimog-Typ du hast, es gibt einige Unterschiede zwischen den Modellen.

Bei Militärfahrzeugen ist in der Regel ein zusätzlicher Batteriehauptschalter verbaut. Bei zivilen Fahrzeugen gibt es nur einen schlüsselbetätigten Hauptschalter. Ich entnehme deinem Text, dass du aus Australien kommst, ist das korrekt?
Daher vermute ich, dass es sich um eine Ex-Australischer Armee Unimog U1750L BM437. 131 handelt, die mit einem 24V-System ausgestattet sind. Vielleicht erzählst du uns etwas mehr zu deinem Unimog.

Nomalerweise kann eine Mercedes Benz- LKW- Vertagswerkstatt die Werks-Unterlagen und Schaltpläne einsehen oder anfordern.
Um einen Fehler des Mechanikers nachzuweisen, muss man zunächst selbst das System kennen.
Informationen zu diesen Modelle findest du unter Australian Frontline Machinery
Wenn du den Schaltplan kennst, kannst du herausfinden, welche Spannung und was mit den neuen Kabeln und dem Starter nicht stimmt.

Was du tun musst, um zu deinem Recht zu kommen, können wir hier nicht wissen. Unsere Gesetzte und Regeln sind unterschiedlich zum angelsächsischen Rechtssystem.
Als Beweismittel solltest du eine Dokumentation mit Fotos von jedem Teil erstellen und von einem Zeugen bestätigen lassen.
Wir wünschen dir viel Glück.

hello. Thanks for answering,even if the answer wasn t fitting the questions... My truck is from Germany, I live in Berlin,and my name is Miriam Saporetti.
Is an old kipper,so baustelle,no bundeswer. So 12V not 24...and I m pretty sure is their responsability to know what they are dealing with,if I can t unfortunatly provide them the informations. Maybe you work for Mercedes that s why you answered me that way...I wanted to know about my rights once i ve got ripped off,not told I should had look myself for electric slides! Thanks for nothing!

if you don`t need help leave this community.
sincerley Lothar

Hello Lothar,

I think your answer is not the right way.

Hello Miriam

It seems to be some missunderstanding in this threat which needs first clarified.

Helmut believes that the initiator of this threat lives in Australia as he or she gives information about australian friends and is asking in English language which is unusual for people livng in Germany but usual for people living in Australia. Therefore all answers of Helmut are based on this assumptation.

So, Miriam, give us a clear information which Mercedes Workshop at which place your are talking about. Also an important information might be the type of your Unimog. I am sure if your Unimog is in Berlin some people out of the community can help you.

But please also note, we only can read and understand what you are really writing but not what you are thinking. And also be sure, Helmut is not working for Mercedes but is one of the helpful technical specialist in this community.

Best regards, Jürgen

Hallo Jürgen
wenn ein vermeintlicher Australier in Berlin wohnt, eine vermutlich italienischen Namen hat,kein Deutsch kann und kein Benehmen an den Tag legt, ist mein Einwurf sehr wohl begründet.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
lothar