Help!!! S500 ASR Problem

While driving down the highway the dashboard ASR light came on several times. (Not speedo light, lower ASR failure light) The car lost power (engine went to idle) and pressing on the gas pedal did nothing. When I called MB roadside assistance they first had me make sure there was no back pressure in the gas tank, that was ok so they then told me to turn the wheel all the way to the left, then to the right, and then back to center.

I was told this would reset the system. The car drove fine for awhile then the engine once again lost power. Can anyone tell what could have gone wrong? I have a feeling the $600 bucks in towing charges(160 miles!!) are only the beginning of my woes.

As a sidenote the car is a 94 S500 with 90,000 miles. I've had no serious problems mechanically with this car until this weekend!!! Any advice would be grateful!!

Regards

[stevebfl]

The system needs to be tested to see what it thinks went wrong. Codes can be pulled fairly simply on the early models.

Usually the problem is with a wheel speed sensor. Does your car have a switch on the dash that looks like a tire with snow chains on? If so, that deactivates ASR (for driving with snow chains - seems wheel slip is valuable there). That should allow you to drive when the problem occurs.

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Steve Brotherton
Owner 24 bay BSC
Bosch Master, ASE master L1
26 years MB technician