Abs bas light flashing

[abecketts]

Driving along the m27 last night in my w210 and the abs/bas warning light starts flashing of and on rapidly. Oh feck say I but it only happens above 60mph which perplexed me, would that be a abs speed sensor thingy on one of the wheels playing up? Off to the garage I go.

 

[abecketts]

Driving along the m27 last night in my w210 and the abs/bas warning light starts flashing of and on rapidly. Oh feck say I but it only happens above 60mph which perplexed me, would that be a abs speed sensor thingy on one of the wheels playing up? Off to the garage I go.

Update to this, visited garage car put on star and steering wheel position sensor is the item at fault. Codes cleared and off in go. Once I pass 61mph it is back again but this evening driving back I put full beam lights on and the front parking sensor indicators above the central console come on. These usually appear at below 5mph.

I then turned on the front fog lamps and the abs/bas light comes on and the abs warning message comes on. If I dip my headlights the parking sensor lights go off again and if I turn off the front fog lights the abs message and abs/bas light goes out.

Confused am I. Could the battery be on the way out?

Any help appreciated before I head back to the garage.

 

[markjay]

Spurious and seemingly-unrelated electrical faults can indeed be the result of a weak battery, or bad earth connection etc.

 

[abecketts]

taken car to garage, star shows more error reports around epc/abs/bas, on a whim they took an airline to the engine compartment and blew out loads of leaves and crud, current hunch is that the drains were blocked letting water into the car and it might be affecting connectors under the carpet in the front foot wells. E class apparently have 2 of these and if water gets in it can get challenging for the electrics. Whilst I can't feel any damp on the carpets i'm prepared to try and dry it out to see if that is the problem.

 

[a111r]

I've stripped one of these to a shell.
I didn't find any such connectors under the carpets.

There's a ground point behind the OS headlamp that's prone to corrosion.

 

[abecketts]

The overheating problem sorted with a new viscous coupling but the odd dash light activity remains.

If I turn on the side and dipped lights the front fog lights come on dimly, if I put the front fog light on one goes out and the other comes on. The earths as suggested must be the next bit to check.

 

[markjay]

The overheating problem sorted with a new viscous coupling but the odd dash light activity remains.

If I turn on the side and dipped lights the front fog lights come on dimly, if I put the front fog light on one goes out and the other comes on. The earths as suggested must be the next bit to check.

In the olden days it was simple... when the tail lights on the Ford Escort or Vauxhall Viva in front came on seemingly at random resembling a Christmas tree more than a car's tail/brake/indicator/reverse lights cluster... I would authoratively announce to my totally-disinterested passenger that the earth strap for the rear light cluster was loose.... the ladies however were not impressed, and my friend who knew absolutely nothing about cars but had long hair and played the guitar fared much better than I did

 

[abecketts]

MarkJay the earth strap strikes again, it had come completely away from the body as the weld had broken. All is now well in the Merc world, back to rescuing an Alfa

 

[a111r]

The overheating problem sorted with a new viscous coupling but the odd dash light activity remains.

What temps were indicated?

I've removed the mechanical fan (from the viscous coupling) on mine.

So far in all traffic / weather conditions the temp remains rock solid at just over 90C.

 

[abecketts]

What temps were indicated? I've removed the mechanical fan (from the viscous coupling) on mine. So far in all traffic / weather conditions the temp remains rock solid at just over 90C.

It got to 130c on the gauge, it is possible that the earth strap might have been the cause of the problem but for the small cost involved I can now hear the "whoosh" of the fan as I accelerate.