The 1993 Mercedes-Benz 400e has 1 NHTSA recall campaign affecting an estimated 5,900 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 23 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the electrical system. Last updated July 5, 2026.
Recall campaigns
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING94V0040001994-01-065,900 affected
Defect
HIGH AMBIENT ENGINE COMPARTMENT TEMPERATURES ARE EXPERIENCED AFTER THE VEHICLE IS OPERATED AND THEN PARKED. IF THE VEHICLE IS RESTARTED A SHORT TIME LATER AND THE CHARCOAL CANISTER IS SATURATED WITH FUEL, IT IS POSSIBLE THAT FUEL VAPOR MAY BE EXPELLED THROUGH THE INLET VENT LINE OF THE CANISTER ONTO THE ELECTRIC…
Consequence
UNDER CERTAIN OPERATING CONDITIONS THE ELECTRIC AUXILIARY RADIATOR FAN PRERESISTOR BECOMES HOT ENOUGH TO IGNITE THE FUEL EXPELLED FROM THE CHARCOAL CANNISTER AND RESULT IN AN UNDERHOOD FIRE.
Remedy
DEALERS WILL REPOSITION THE FUEL VAPOR CANISTER VENT LINE AWAY FROM THE ELECTRIC FAN PRERESISTOR. IN ADDITION, THE PRERESISTOR WILL HAVE A LARGER HEAT SHIELD AND A FUSED WIRING HARNESS WILL BE INSTALLED.
Complaints by component
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
6
1fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING
6
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING:FRONT UNDERHOOD
2
ENGINE
2
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
2
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
2
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)
1
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
1
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
1
Total complaints23
What owners report
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal
information removed.
“Parked the vehicle and placed it in park then turned ignition off. Burning smell coming from vehicle then smoke started going in through vents and seemed liked it was coming from under the car. The electrical wiring harness is creating mass and the car nearly went up in flames. The fire department…”
“Parked the vehicle and placed it in park then turned ignition off. Burning smell coming from vehicle then smoke started going in through vents and seemed liked it was coming from under the car. The electrical wiring harness is creating mass and the car nearly went up in flames. The fire department…”
“Parked the vehicle and placed it in park then turned ignition off. Burning smell coming from vehicle then smoke started going in through vents and seemed liked it was coming from under the car. The electrical wiring harness is creating mass and the car nearly went up in flames. The fire department…”
“The fuel injection engine harness wiring has completely deteriorated due to the use of a bio degradable material by mercedes benz. Has resulted in a lot of shorting issues, which resulted in air conditioning turning off, fan control off, engine heating up, blue and black smoke, and now smog…”
“Wiring caught fire due to faulty wiring harness insulation, which is well documented. Yet, mercedes refuses to resolve/recall this issue. Wiring harness needs to be replaced. *tr”
“Faulty wiring in engine harness resulted in loss of power at speed on a major interstate, luckily at the time I was able to get off the road safely. It was determined that the car's charging system had been shorted out. Still waiting on other system tests. This is a known problem with certain…”
“Faulty wiring in engine harness resulted in loss of power at speed on a major interstate, luckily at the time I was able to get off the road safely. It was determined that the car's charging system had been shorted out. Still waiting on other system tests. This is a known problem with certain…”
“Faulty wiring in engine harness resulted in loss of power at speed on a major interstate, luckily at the time I was able to get off the road safely. It was determined that the car's charging system had been shorted out. Still waiting on other system tests. This is a known problem with certain…”
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL,
FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 1993 Mercedes-Benz 400e as of
July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page
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