1996 E320 -ETS and ABS Lights On....
 

Hello all,

Need some help/advice please on my 1996 E320. I was driving along and suddenly the ETS (El. Traction Support) warning and light, plus the ABS light came on in my dash. At the exact same time, the speedometer stopped working as well. This happened twice before, but immediately went away. This time the warning lights are on for good and the speedo is still not working. Doing a bit of research here on the forum, it appears that the problem is most likely a sensor. My questions are:

-Which sensor is the one that gives the speedometer its signal? I suspect this one is bad since the speedo stopped working at the same time the warnings came up.

-Would a low voltage situation cause this problem? The battery is a bit old and on the weaker side, but it cranks over and starts the engine okay. There shouldn't be a low voltage problem because the alternator is charging when the car is running anyway........correct?

-The brake light switch shouldn't be the problem since the brake lights are working fine. Or, does this switch have a dual function to it??

-The ABS sensors at the wheels shouldn't stop the speedo from working, should they? I find it a bit hard to believe that Mercedes uses the ABS sensors as a speedo output too??

Any advice, opinions, or personal experience stories with the same kind of problem would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks very much in advance!

BTW..........A couple of other items:

-The transmission is shifting through all of the gears and is not in limp-home mode.

-There is no CEL light or codes as of yet. I have stopped driving it until I sort out this problem.

Thanks again!

My 2000 E-320 did the same thing last fall when both rear tires wore down more than the fronts, and the wheel sensors read the differences in turn rates as a slippage that wouldn't go away. I replaced the rear tires with new ones closer in diameter to the fronts, and the problem never repeated.

the ABS/ETS traction system processes the wheel speed signals & sends that info to the speedo.

Reading the codes from the traction system would be my starting point.

Thanks for the info. I don't think the tires are my problem. The tires are pretty new all around. Also, I noticed that about a month ago when the ETS light came on intermittenly, it came on WITHOUT the car driving. It was just idling in the driveway. Then, a few minutes passed and just as suddenly it went right off while still idling in the driveway! Weird!

However, this last time, it happened while driving. ....And the light now stays on all the time! Obviously whatever was "on edge" before has finally failed for good!

Thanks MB DOC. So, the speedo uses info from multiple sensors and not just one in particular? Does it take an "average" of all of them to give one "final signal" for the speedo?

How would I read the codes from the traction system? That would be separate than the OBDII system? As mentioned previously, there are no codes and no CEL light at this point.

Thanks in advance!

Yes, you need to get to a MB repair shop that can read those codes.

The other time the ABS/ETS threw yellow lights on my 2000 E-320, it turned out to be a failing lateral motion sensor located on the automatic transmission. When the yellow lights came on and stayed that way, I took it to a MB dealer, who read the codes and replaced the sensor. Two years have passed and I haven't had any repeats. When the problem was developing, the yellow lights came on at seemingly random times, but always when the car was moving under power, and usually followed a quick change of direction. By all means, get those codes checked out.

Thanks MBDOC and DWalter for your help. I will take it to have the codes checked out.

MBDOC, are the transmission codes on a separate circuit? Where is the plug/connector for that system located at? Thanks in advance!

Anyone else with similar stories and experiences with the same problem? I would love to hear about them just for curiosity sake! :) Interesting problem with this ETS light.......it's not only one particular item causing the trouble. It seems that there are a number of reasons on why this warning gets tripped.

Thanks everyone and Have a great day!

I know some people pull the dash and take out the bulbs.Check engine everything.

Trans on a 1996 E320 was of the mechanical type (722.3) not the later electronic trans (722.6)

HI EVERY BODY. I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM WITH MY 2000 C230 KOMPRESSOR.
IT STAY IN ELECTRICAL LIMP MODE. CHECK ENGINE,ABS,BRAKE,ASP/BAS LAMP STAY ON.
SPEEDOMETR IS NOT WORKS .
THE CODE OBDD2 IS: P0500,P0600,P0720 AND P105.
REPLAYS BRAKE LIGHT SWICH,BRAKE PEDS, ATF,FILTER,GASKET, TRANSMISSION CONNECTOR,AND NO HELP.
ANY BODY HAVE THE SAME EXPIRIENS ?
ANY INFO WILL BE GREAT. THANKS TO ALL.

BXTECH,

Did you ever find out what the problem was?. I have same exact problem with my 96 e320. Abs, ets always on, no speedo, odometer or cruise. But car drives perfect with no limp mode or engine light. I have replaced engine harness, transmission harness, brake switch, battery. I have also cleaned and inspect the k40 relay module ,ets module, vss . My car was scanned by MB tech and was told the wiring harness was the problem. I have tried everything, where the heck do I go from here?

ETS problems
 

I have had recent problems with our 96 E300D.. about 4 months ago turned into a driveway and the car shut of with the ETS light lit. Parked it, and it started right away with no problems until two days ago. Again, made a right hand turn and it shut off with the ETS warning light. Coasted into a parking stall and it started right away. Yesterday.. coming down the freeway, doing 75, the car lost power momentarily, the ETS light flashed on/off and we continued driving with no problems. One of the above post mentioned a lateral sensor, which would make total sense with the first two occurrences, but not the last. I'll start with the lateral sensor first and then see if I get a repeat of the freeway incident. Now, where is the lateral sensor? I'll do some homework in the meantime to see if I can figure it out.
Thanks,
Matt