Hi guys, I really need urgent help I we departed on our holiday travelled 500 miles no problem. Started up this morning as i accelerated the asr light lit up, no other warning lights, obviously went into limp mode. I shut car off restarted and drove another 400 miles no problem. When starting up again asr lit up, shut car off start up fine for the days drive.

What can cause this my toughts rests on the throttle position sensor, as other sensor will have deactivated the abs as well, right? And abs stayed active.

cant pull any codes now but this car does not have a cel
,

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1996 s500
1978 450 slc
1999 C240

Peet,
Welcome to the club. I've had the same problem on a 300CE for TWO years. Got a lower limit switch code. Eventually replaced everything except the roof! Still can't find it. My indie has a friend that is a retired master Mercedes mechanic. He has taken on the project as a matter of honor. He thinks the problem is in the throttle linkage although the adjustments are dead on. And the problem is if you make an adjustment or change and run the car, you have to wait until the next morning to see if you have done any good.
If either of us finds the answer, I hope it gets posted.

Anziani
'93 300CE 200K
'95 E4250 122K

I had this problem with a W140 400SEL when it was new.

Took months for the dealership to find the problem. Even then it was never clear if the problem went away - it was intermittent.

Check the brake switch under the pedal.

The car did the same thing this morning, switched it off restarted, asr went away. I found a dealer here went there wanted them to pull the codes, had to make an appiontment. So tomorrow I will take the car to have the codes read.

What linkages can be adjusted and how is adjustedment deterimined?

More important, if I get stuck on the side of the road, can the asr be disabled somehow so that the car can be driven home, pul a fuse?? can it be done

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1996 s500
1978 450 slc
1999 C240

I just realised, that the day before my asr problem started, I had the chassis en engine presure washed, after the presure wash the engine missed a bit and ran unevenly for about five minutes and then returned to normal.Following day the asr issue started, can this be related?? Is there any connections I can check for possible moisture?

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1996 s500
1978 450 slc
1999 C240

In my two years of this agony, I have never been stranded. I just pull over and restart. What I have noticed though is my problem is temperature related. The colder the mornings, the more times to restart.
On the 300CE there is a microswitch on the throttle linkage below the instrument cluster. We thought this was the answer, but it wasn't. There are definite linkage adjustments to be made on some cars. The brake pedal switch is a suspect along with anything in the brake circuit including the bulbs. The wheel speed sensors are fair game and make sure all 4 tires are the same make and diameter. I assume that your wiring harnesses are good.
If you DON"T get a warning light then you have the same problem as I have. We get only one fault and that is a "closed throttle idle switch"
Keep us posted please.
Anziani

Certainly can . . . check the NSS mounted on the side of the tranny. If it's original as was mine, it's probably is toast!

Read Menu#24 for details of a 'going-bad' ETA. Details of my bad NSS are toward the bottom of the page.

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Regards . . . . JimF
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'94 S500 Cpe

Visit my Mercedes Web Page

common cause is fault code N4/1 no canbus communication, so far no one in the whole world has ever come up with an exact science on how to resolve the issue, all guesses (better than nothing i should say) but so far no one has ever sincerely reported their problem to be resolved, if you must consider changing everything then that is not resolving the issue prudently. the usual culprit which sets off this ASR issue are the bad wiring harness on the ETA and the engine harness, it somehow destroys the ASR Control Module (located inside your black box).

Still hoping someone may enlighten us victims of ASR nightmare with a true blue resolution and finally putting to rest this 15 year old problem.

The "canbus" . . . actually it's CAN bus . . . error code is just a symptom of failing w/h or a going-bad ETA or failing brake switch or NSS. Those are the main culprits. The CAN itself does not fail just the inability of the ECUs on the bus to communicate.

I've personally NEVER seen a bad ASR module as a result of a going-bad ETA, w/h or anything else and I've seen a lot of them.

My ETA writeup is the BEST overall treatise on the problem b/c it shows initial symptoms plus DTCs, then, as it progresses, variations on these symptoms and codes, then finally what happens when the ETA dies.

Also later in the writeup (about 2yrs down the road) the DTCs and LH problems return but now, it's another module, the NSS.

The reason that "no one has come up with an exact science . . . " is simply that there isn't any method including MB's Star system that can diagnose which part in the chain is bad.

This is a common problem in ALL electronic system where there are electronic elements (ECUs) in series. Any one of them can cause a problem and it's impossible to diagnose if there are no intermediate TEST-POINTS. That's the main problem with Mercedes' fly-by-wire system.

When Mercedes built these cars, the concept of adding TPs was in it's infancy. Nobody thought about adding this important feature. Now it's the norm. Had some TPs been used and brought to a test connector, the problem would have become trivial.

But however trivial it might have become, the "FIX" would still be expensive!!

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Regards . . . . JimF
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'94 S500 Cpe

Visit my Mercedes Web Page

Have you cleaned your ETA? Here's a good throttle cleaning kit from Amazon.

3M 08963 Fuel System Tune-Up Kit

If that does not fix it replace your ETA. That's the fix for ASR problems most of the time.

Olmechtec,
The Throttle actuator has little exposure to the fuel stream. Imagine looking into a throat of a carburetor with only the butterfly valve and no fuel jets. A fuel cleaner would have little if any effect on this unit. The ETA is mostly sealed consisting of switches, pots and a drive motor.
Anziani

The 3M cleaner has three cleaners. Two for the throttle body, and one for the fuel system. You can check out the video below:

Amazon.com: 3M 08963 Fuel System Tune-Up Kit: Automotive

This worked wonders solving bad idle issues on my 300E, and improving gas mileage. I'm only out $39 after doing this.

If cleaning it does not work, I would try swaping in a used ETA to see if that solves problem. Almost all the "Solved" ASR issues I've seen were caused by ETA idle issues.

You know what PT Barnum once said . . . .

If you feel that you MUST do this, get a can of "carb" cleaner and Lucas "Seafoam" and save yourself $40 dollars or more.

__________________
Regards . . . . JimF
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'94 S500 Cpe

Visit my Mercedes Web Page

Point taken.

Clean first, then replace if necessary. Maybey you get lucky.