86 560SL crash

[VettesRule]

Hi Gang,

My mom crashed her beautiful 560SL. She said that the car accelerated away from an ATM after she buckled her seatbelt and put the car in drive.

Two thing bother me about this, first, the air bag didn't deploy and secondly, why would the car accelerate?

I have considered that she may have pressed the throttle pedal instead of the brake pedal but after looking at it and feeling for my self, there is quite a distance between the pedals and this is her daily driver.

Anyway, I would appreciate if anyone could shed any light that might be helpful. I am going to fix the car (right front fender, hood, grille, radiator core support and front spoiler) but I am wondering if this "horse" will spook again.

Thanks,

[ericdee]

Sometimes the throttle links can jam, or the pedal may have just gotten stuck on the floor mat. I've had it happen before.

[Damian]

Danny,

Is it possible that there is a major fault in the cruse control amplifier? She may have bumped the stick as she started the car and there was a fault which caused the servo engage and to accelerate? This could be far fetched, but possible if the speed sensing part of the cct was faulty and say a shorted or faulty I/P part of the accelerate cct. Mind you the safty sense on the brake part would have to be fault also, unless she didn't have her foot on the break?
As I said far fetched, but if there was a major fault or a wiring problem it may be possible without looking at how the cct is constructed.

Good luck in getting it back on the road and I hope she wasn't hurt.

Damian

[VettesRule]

Eric, thanks for the response. I checked the throttle linkage after removing the air cleaner assembly and it is very free at the air valve. I need to check the pedal assembly in the car.

Damian, Thanks for the tip. I'll look into that. I have a feeling that the problem is going to be something of that nature. Something hidden in the shadows.

Regards,

[Strife]

Airbags are "last resort" devices that won't actuate in anything short of a spectacular accident. Certainly, you would expect that the car would be totaled (which it sounds like it is not) for the airbag to have actuated. However, it is almost 20 years old...and, of course, not really testable.

[mattcara]

speaking of old airbags.

i read in the manual that they need to be reaplaced after 5 years..

i have an 88 560SL with orignial bag, what should i do about it?
do most of you just leave it alone.. i sometimes wonder if it would deploy just from old age..

M

[Strife]

Well, I've wondered about that also, I think MB extended their life expectancy to 10 years...

I don't think that the problem is that they will unexpectedly deploy, it's that they may be ineffective because the bag material may deteriorate over time and distintegrate upon deployment, offering no protection.

[VettesRule]

I took apart some of the front end of the car yesterday and there is some frame damage on the driver's side as well as the upper control arm mounts are bent. The drag link mount is also bent as is the tie rod end.

I am going to look into a collision repair specialist to get the frame repaired.

Where are the air bag deploy sensors so I can disable them?

Thanks,

[elau]

How fast did she accelerate? The airbag won't deploy unless it hit something at a certain mph. I also think it has to be a direct frontal impact before it deploys, not at an angle.

The airbag is almost 20 years old. It is already past its usefulness. My '87 300E manual states that the life expectancy of the airbag is only good for 15 years.

I can't tell you what caused the car to accelerate. Did it happen before? If not, I have to say its a human error. Machines only do things as input --> output. It won't do things by itself.

[David Langsam]

The airbag in the 560sl was originally rated for 10 years, then extended to 15 years. Of course by now it is closing in on 20 years, so who knows. I wonder how much it is to have checked/replaced.

[bwheitman]

I understand that MB airbags are to be replaced every 10 years. I recently replaced all 4 on my 96 SL. It is nice to know that they are there in case of an accident. They also test and inspect the entire system to ensure it is operating properly. This has to be done at the dealer. Also the brakes on an SL are more than powerful enough to hold the car if the engine surged. I hate to say this, but if she put it in drive and had her foot on the brake there would have been no way the car whould take off, unless the brakes were not up to par. Every car is designed with Brakes that can "hold" the car. Even if the throttle linkage was stuck, or the cruise amp malfunctioned, the brakes would not allow the car to take off.... Good luck.
Brian

[bhatt]

Brian,

It would be interesting for most of us to know how expensive a proposition that was..

What was the cost to replace all 4 airbags and have the system tested? Do you know how much just the side two were? (so I could figure out what replacing the front 2+testing the system would cost.. I don't have side bags on my 1990)

Thanks!
Neal

[bwheitman]

It was not cheap, the front airbags were $1200 for the steering wheel, and $800 for the passenger side. The testing cost $36 bucks. Labor to install was $225, but that was all four. There is no warranty or anything, I actually considered selling the car instead of replacing, but everything I drove except the new SL's was not up to par, so I figured just to be safe, get it done, since a new SL was out of the question economically. They change the date sticker on the door sill too, if you look there it will tell you when your airbags expire. Good luck!
Brian

[Steve Gutman]

Years ago when Audi had the unintended acceleration problem, Audi claimed that the brakes will stop the car to zero from top speed with the throttle to the floor. I am sure the same is true for the Mercedes. In almost every case it is operator error. Audi had big marketing problems but they never proved unintended acceleration. I bought a BMW and the pedals are so close together I often hit the gas and brake at the same time when I am going for the brake. At first I thought there was a problem with the engine surging but found it was the edge of my foot on the gas pedal. It’s a really odd feeling because the harder I pressed the brake the higher the engine revved. It’s great for heal-and-toe but tricky parking in the garage.

[mattcara]

I remember that whole Audi case..

it is impossible to happen.. any car that took off on its own was always THE DRIVERS FAULT. intended or not..

please people.. there are no ghosts.. trying to crash our cars...


p.s. i even had an Audi at the time~