ASR Light

[zevgadol]

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?

[pcmaher]

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).

[zevgadol]

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?

[pcmaher]

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

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

[JimF]

Originally Posted by zevgadol

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?

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.

[zevgadol]

Originally Posted by JimF

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.

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?

[JimF]

Originally Posted by zevgadol

No relevant current or stored DTC came up. 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.

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.

[zevgadol]

I agree.

I called Beckmann. Steve at Beckmann's advised t get the DTC scanned by someone who has the mercedes scanner. He gave me three shops that they have dealt with in my area.

I called one of the shops. They claim to have the diagnostic scanner (Starr?)used by MB dealers. And they will go to Beckmann for a rebuilt if needed.

Thanks for your generousity in responding, it is appreciated.

BTW, I'm really tired of all the things that have gone wrong with this car since I purchased it 2 years ago. It only has 77K miles and it is a bear to maintain. Love the car and the ride (and the luxury).

Oh well, if you got to question the cost of maintenance, it's the wrong car.

[zevgadol]

Initial conversation with new shop indicates that there are a huge number of DTC's. What they are proposing is to clear the codes and start fresh.

The most suspicious code is lack of communication from the cruise control module and ASR module. Does this make sense?

We shall see.

[JimF]

Originally Posted by zevgadol

Initial conversation with new shop indicates that there are a huge number of DTC's. What they are proposing is to clear the codes and start fresh.

The most suspicious code is lack of communication from the cruise control module and ASR module. Does this make sense? We shall see.

The codes are shown in MENU#24 in RED.

There's seems to be two 'repeating' codes:
1) Code 6 from the DM; "ISC fautly"
2) Code 30 "CAN bus to EA/CC/ISC faulty". <-- that's your code!

[argosy60]

Does the code 30
#30 ASR only can data bus to ea/cc/isc control module interrupted

mean the eta or the asr computer is bad?

[JimF]

Originally Posted by argosy60

Does the code 30
#30 ASR only can data bus to ea/cc/isc control module interrupted

mean the eta or the asr computer is bad?

Well, it did for me! ETA was shot. ASR was/is fine.