Quote:
Originally Posted by mwood
I've got the same car and my cruise control has failed; is this an expensive fix and is it something I can do myself (I have moderate wrench turning skills). Also, if I leave it alone will the throttle actuator eventually fail and leave me stranded?
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Well, I hate to convict the throttle actuator based on such a simple test. There are several other components to the cruise control, any one of which could fail. And all of which are less expensive. But the throttle actuator seems to be the most common issue on this model. You certainly want to pull any error codes from the engine electronics before spending money. You can find out how to build and use a code reader by searching the tech forum.
The actuator is quite expensive. New it's more than $1000. You can find references here in the forum for rebuilt units; I recall pricing in the vicinity of $400 could be had.
It won't leave you stranded if it fails. Mercedes has included a regular cable to the throttle as a backup. What will happen is the car will go into limp home mode. It will have very much reduced power and not much acceleration, but will run.
- JimY