W203 ESP error fault

[Stucoupe]

Alex, one biker to another, thanks - will try this.

 

[Stucoupe]

...checking the can connector block in the o/s sill wiring compartment - at the base of the 'a' pillar by the driver's ankle. any corrosion in here will do it. ..

Hmm, thanks. Just went into carpark and was loosing light. Do you mean lefto f the footwell, or right? On the right I could feel a large plain bit of plastic, that went under the sill trim. Whereas the left it was carpet.

Im pulling this stuff back and looking for a loosly hung black box?

Mini-walkthrough appreciated ... thanks

 

[Alex Crow]

hi, you need to lift the plastic sill trim and you will find a plastic duct that follows the cill and contains a zillion wires! c-can bus are all green twisted wire pairs. sill trim prises off vertically.

 

[Stucoupe]

Thanks Alex, I'll take a look. I've been overwhelmed at work - and in current times its hard to say no.

Mal, if I come up with a blank, Im considering on phoning Merc Land / Jay and seeing if they'll have a spot to put it in - hoping the £25/30 still stands. But if they run a Diagnostic, they'll want a couple hours right? Means I need to leave the car with them and dissapear; Im hoping its a sensor and they can buy it off the shelf.

Had real fluctuation of the idle recently, races up to 1,800 revs then dies down to a comfy 800, then occasionally blips down to 600 and back up to 800. Got to be electronic.

 

[television]

I think that jay charges £45 now to run through on STAR

 

[Alex Crow]

hi stu, you could check the can connector, but that is a long shot really i think.

you ideally need a specialist with star, as you suspect. i understand that mercland are a large concern with years of experience, but have never dealt with them myself! good luck.

 

[Stucoupe]

Hi guys
thanks for your help

Jay did a quick plug in and seems it could be the steering angle sensor (£202). He's going to spend a couple hours swapping it over from a second hand car; try it in mine; if it fixes it then great I'll order a new one and come back another day.
Failing that, his next guess is the little ESP black box (£??); again a couple more hours work.

Only problem now, is its bringing up an Engine srror light on dash - arrhhh. But it defines it as the O2 (on cat) sensor being duff.

Other than Merc - do you guys get your spares from anywhere else? (for my old VW we used GSF for less cared items, but used VW on important stuff).

 

[television]

The O2 warning lamp should be just the MAF going down,,it is on 90% of these faults, and Jay did one the last time i was up there, and the light went out

 

[Stucoupe]

Hi Malcom

Engine light went out - cheers!

Jay let me down and cancelled the booking at 6pm the night before; slightly annoying as we'd selected a a date that their diary was very clear. They said they'd call to rebook me.

I partly gave up hope after that; they never did call me back to say they were free. But obviously the problem remains. Do you normally find they are helpful?

If I were to take the car elsewhere, there is the problem that I will have to buy and try; buy the steering sensor for £200 and if that fails tough. Then buy the next thing, the little blakc box. How do I go about finding out the part number for this ESP box? Do you ring Merc and give your engine number?

 

[jaymanek]

I think we were awaiting a call to arrange a time, I may be wrong... We can do this whenever you have time. Thanks

 

[Stucoupe]

Jay - seems to be a mixup; I was awaiting a call to confirm when your diary was next free. PM sent.

As for the actual proposal, it all seemed very fair - thank you. Shame we cannot diagnose the exact problem - I presume this is a problem with Mercedes computers; they dont share all the info?

 

[jaymanek]

Yes from memory we were getting faults at the steering angle sensor.. however testing the sensor through the actual values showed it to be reading ok... So we concluded that it could be a fault with the control unit so wanted to swap from one of our similar cars to test...

 

[Stucoupe]

Yes from memory we were getting faults at the steering angle sensor.. however testing the sensor through the actual values showed it to be reading ok... So we concluded that it could be a fault with the control unit so wanted to swap from one of our similar cars to test...

Jay, is there a chance it is more likely to be the Control Unit? The fault code C1036 and C1172 that I got off an mechanic before coming to you points at traction control; therefore if steering angle and traction and otehr esp related items are all reading faults, then amybe it is the main box of tricks?

Were you able to get a price on that part in the end?

thanks, stu