No check engine light (CEL) lit up?

Traction is the ASR and with some options is ETS.

That error can also be caused by a faulty ABS sensor at the wheels or the the drive shaft.

*Edit* - Sorry, am going too fast. Your dash/ODO being out may also mean these issues are being caused by an electrical gremlin which can be caused by a faulty K40 relay. Is your battery voltage good? ABS can also be triggered by low voltage.

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

Nope, no check engine light..

ETS, thats the light. Battery is within a few months old...K40 relay, any more info on that?

K40 is in the computer box under the hood. Right side, front most unit. They get hairline cracks in the circut board and cause lots of glitches. Some have soldered and repaired them. Costs about $80 to replace.

Check the fuses on top of it for corrosion or hairline cracks too.

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

I will look into it. I appreciate all the info! It just seems odd to me that all this happened after adjusting the steering wheel...go figure

Awesome!!! I dont know why but the lock to lock trick worked! All is well, but I will be looking into the problem. Thanks!!

That fixing your problem sounds like a wire in the harness contacting something it should not. Rotating the wheel several times simply moved it from it's offending location. At least that is how I visualized it.
Disclaimer: I don't have an E300D, just reacting to thread info.....

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

A faulty speed sensor would cause the traction control, ABS, speedo and odo to stop working too so you may have an intermittent problem or just a dirty connection at the sensor. I'm not sure where it is on your E300 though since it is different than mine...maybe someone else can chime in as to the location of the speed sensor on a '96?

Also, when you say the speedo and odo stopped do you mean the display on the odo was blank? It could be the wiring to the cluster is loose...that's easy enought to check and could be disturbed by the adjustments you made to the steering wheel's position.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz