1992 500SEL with 73k miles. First time ASR light (rectangle, not the triangle with !) went on. No problems with ABS indicator.

Engine was relatively cool.

Immediately noticed loss of power. Was able to maintain highway speed by pressing down on accelerator, but the RPM was up 50% from normal. Letting up on accelerator resulted in a drop of RPM to normal but could not maintain speed on speed on inline without downshift. Put in neutral for brief time with no change in ASR indicator.

Manual states that if ASR lamp goes on and stays on it needs to be checked out by Mercedes dealer. Also it states that there will be a 1/3 power loss.

Drove about 10 miles in this mode (60 mph) and had no problems maintaining traffic speed at higher revs. Stopped and then restarted and car behaved normally.

Recently break light bulb blew. Replaced it. Now other side blew but haven't replaced it. I see in threads that ASR indicator may be associated with a faulty break light switch.

Any suggestion?

Could be many things. It's a complicated system, prone to many problems. You really need to get codes pulled to isolate the problem(s).

__________________
1995 S600, 1 of 618 (sold)

"Speed is just a question of money...how fast you wanna go?"

LONG LIVE THE W140!
Visit my Web Page at www.v12uberalles.com

I have since put on 1000 miles without incident since. Car is running very well.

Is it too much to hope that the ASR light staying on was a one time incident?

I note my local (non-dealer) mechanic who is reasonably good, did not want to touch the problem. My guess is he got painfully involved with other customers with an ASR light problem.

Is there a way I can pull the codes if it happens again without having to go to the dealer?

Read this web page. Lots of good info...

http://pages.prodigy.net/jforgione/MB_X11.html

__________________
1995 S600, 1 of 618 (sold)

"Speed is just a question of money...how fast you wanna go?"

LONG LIVE THE W140!
Visit my Web Page at www.v12uberalles.com

the ASR light and LH mode stay 'sleeping'. . . but it probably won't. Check my page, MENU#24, for the symptoms for my car. The internal wiring in the ETA cracks and then shorts causing all klinds of difficulties.

You can plug the codes following the procedure in MENU#2. Take some time and read through the various topics.

__________________
Regards . . . . JimF
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'94 S500 Cpe

Visit my Mercedes Web Page

The light started going on intermittently but consistently. My mechanic held it and waited for the ASR light to go on.

No relevant current or stored DTC came up. Only code was a loose gas cap which is not relevant. He went on line and his conclusion is that it's most probably the ETA. He does not want to take the responsibility to change it because of horror stories his fellow mechanics talk about that the problem doesn't get cured in the long run. That is, the problem reappears in a few weeks or months.

He said that my car (92 500 SEL) ETA is quoted at $1600 from the local Mercedes dealership and there is only one ETA on my car.

Any suggestions? Do I replace the ETA without confirmation that it is the cause of the problem?

any relevant DTCs such as the ones that show in MENU#24, then I certainly wouldn't r&R it. If it's the ETA, there should be a 'trail' of DTCs. Without some 'proof', it would be a crapshoot (and expensive to boot) to replace it.

Now if you decide that you MUST, then remove it yourself and send to Beckmann; check out the link in Menu#24. Price is much less and the results, are excellent based on the feedback to me.

But until you get some concrete DTCs, not sure that I would do anything. First I make sure that a 'pro' scanner tool is employed.

__________________
Regards . . . . JimF
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'94 S500 Cpe

Visit my Mercedes Web Page