1996 SL600 in limp home mode
 

Gentlemen

I just went out to lunch and my 1996 SL600 was running perfectly. When returning it went into engine limp mode. After shutting it off and turning the key on I noticed the right side throtle actuatore was humming and vibrating left side was quiet.

A) Can I get home tonight.
B) Whats might be going on and can it be fixed.

Is this your R107 SL600, or an R129 SL600?

Variety of things can cause limp mode, including ASR problems. Since your 107 doesn't have ASR the control unit may have registered a sufficient number of faults to trigger a code and limp mode. Or did you use a different ECU? Or did you install the wheel speed sensors and ASR control unit? I don't remember.

But if the ETA is making funky noises, it may be that you need a replacement/rebuilt ETA. If that turns out to be the case, then there's not really much you can do to get her home, since the car will not really be highway-drivable with one ETA not functioning.

The later cars like my 2001 have twin standard mechanical throttle bodies, so I'm assuming you mean an actual electronic ETA. There's a company that rebuilds those for much less than buying a new one costs, but I'm sure there's a lead-time so that's probably not going to be a "right now" solution.

You might try unplugging that ETA, cleaning the connections, clearing the codes, and then seeing if it will get you home. But odds are, the ETA harness is probably shot and the unit needs rebuilding. That's a very common complaint, and obviously MB was aware of it since they ultimately switched to standard mechanical TB's. Wish I could help more.

Yes its the 107 SL600. It's been running real nice up until this afternoon. It's time to go home now so I will soon find out. Hopefully everything cooled down now and it will run run on all 12 cylinders again. Wont have a computer to read codes until I get home. Thanks for the reply.

Worst-case, I guess you could pop into a $tealer and have them clear the codes.

Well before I went home I flipped each throttle actuator a bit manually. I started it up no buzzing noise drove home on all 12 like nothing happened. I'm getting ready to put the scanner on now.