So I killed something - ETA rewire gone wild
 

I rewired my ETA as it was terribly corroded...(terribly is an under statement here) ...there was no insulation left in there, and i am surprised my my cruise control was even working.....

I was very meticulous, wire by wire i desoldered each, and replaced one at a time to make sure everything goes into the correct location on both ends....

so i plug the newly rewired ETA into the car, and start it...it starts funky, but then settles down. when i hit the gas at idle, it revs up but seems to remain revved after that (idle does not go down to normal as if it still getting gas).....I had to travel next morning, so I leave the car and decide to figure out whats wrong when i return from my travel...

Came back tonight , start the car....Nothing, engine turns over but nothing is happening..i do smell gas though

so, here is what i am thinking:

1-even if something went wrong with the rewire, engine should start as the eta is responsible for cruise and idle quality on this car....am i correct with this?

2-could the butterfly be stuck closed or something? is it possible that the car is suffocated due to the butterfly remaining shut? i can hear is clicking when i press the throttle cable by hand under the ETA....

3-drained battery due to rewiring/grounding issue?

4-OVP died due to wiring problem?

how do i even begin to address this? of course buying a new ETA at this point is out of the question.....

Gurus, some help here....:mad:

thanks

Tampering with the dreaded bio degradable wiring harness's is liable to introduce more faults than before you started.

I would suggest that you find a whole new harness and install it. Unfortunately $$$$.

I am certainly no guru, but here's my two cents:

I think there is a reference potentiometer inside the ETA that controls the idle. Maybe you could have disturbed it in the process of rewiring. If the ref pot goes bad, I read that they are not sold anymore. Is there any way to pull the codes?

If my ETA went bad, I would consider looking for the dealer who would sell a new one at the lowest cost. By the time you wait for someone like 4mercedes to rebuild it, and then take the chance that the rebuild is DOA (it happens), it's probably not worth the down time.

And you took it off the car to do this? It sounds to me like the off/on process could be the problem, or that you've disturbed failed wiring inside the ETA.

I will pull the codes....

The only thing i did (maybe wrong) is to rotate the gears inside by hand to check for functionality/cleanness/lube....etc.....other than that, everything looks fine?!

is that what caused this?

It's very possible that the ETA had failed . . ref pot, clutch solenoid, etc . . and rebuilding it made it worse.

Also has the engine wiring harness been replaced?? If not, that does need to be done asap. The bad harness could have caused damage to a ECU.

After the w/h is replaced and if the ETA still doesn't function, it needs to be tested and inspected to see what's wrong. Beckmann is one place that can test it. See Menu#24 . . direct link: http://www.k6jrf.com/MB_asr.html They may be other places also.

ETA
 

I was tempted to do the rebuild but decided to sent it for repair because no way for me to test the internals. I sent my ETA to BBA-reman 2 weeks ago before sending it for repair i spliced the ETA harness - wire insulations were degrading. I received/installed the repaired unit last saturday, idle and driveability is ok, so far no limp mode. I'm driving the car daily since Saturday to make sure everything is OK. For $250 (ebay BBA listing includes Free Next Day shipping) - I'm a happy camper. You may want to check them out.

BBA will test your ETA if your core can be repair.

My ETA part number was 000 141 57 25 for non ASR 1994 E320 Wagon.

Hope this helps. Also, BBA listed their service as Repair / Rebuild.

Here is their ebay listing: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mercedes-Throttle-Body-Actuator-Rebuild-Repair-Service-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem35a7bbc3caQQitemZ230447367114QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccesso ries

The ETA was working perfectly prior to wiring rebuild. Internal wires were also in great condition. Only the external wires were the bad ones...

is there anyway to reset this thing (the potentiometer)?

thanks,

Got the car to start. I did reset the system a couple of times. it drives, but after hitting the gas for the first time, the idle remains above the 1000 mark at idle...cruise control is dead....

i am going to pull it out again and check on my work. I think that when i rotated the internal gears manually by hand during 'repair' i might have messed-up its internal alignment or something? ? ? anyone have any ideas on how these work internally?

thanks

question: does the thickness of the replacement wiring matter?
there was no insulation left by the time i got the original wiring harness open. so i could not tell. I used 18 gauge wire for the bigger 2 wires and the rest were 20 gauge. I have read somewhere that in this specific application the wire thickness could have an effect, and that 2 or three wires should be 22 gauge. not sure about this, and not sure which ones....

This thing was working great before rewiring. this has to be a wiring issue....


any help is highly appreciated.......

After repairing and reinstalling the ETA, you are supposed to turn the ignition to the position before start and hold it for 90 secs or so. The ETA goes through a learning cycle which includes moving the throttle through full range of motion. I don't know if this would cure your problem, but it's a tidbit of information I had when I rewired my ETA.

Thanks Kestas. Yes, i have done that, and that is how it eventually started to work....

what are your thoughts on wiring thickness if you remember?

best,

wiring
 

Since the 20 gauge wires were larger than the 22 gauge that were recommended I would expect no problems.. If you went with smaller wires, higher gauge.. then, perhaps, added resistance might be a problem...

Thanks for the info. that is really helpful.

At this point, i am trying to make sure the wiring the job i did is ok (i.e pins correspond to the correct locations on the board)...other than that, there is no other reason (at least in my opinion) for this to go bad. it was working perfectly before the rewire, and i was extremely careful not to mishandle it, shake it, drop it...etc...

hopefully i will not have to get another one since i am selling this car by the end of this month.....

any ideas? anyone have the pin/wiring diagram?

thanks

FIXED!!!!!!!!

Wiring error on my behalf.....

Thanks to Mr J.M van Swaay for providing with the pin layout....i had reversed one of the wires by mistake.....

idles great and cruise control works perfectly !!!!!

thanks for all the input ...