2002 W168 A170 CDI Problems!

[JimVmax]

Hi to you all, thanks for the hours of entertainment reading your posts.

Let's start at the beginning, our lass was on a shopping mission last August ( Like they do!) She went to overtake a car approx 40mph, changed down with the gearshift tapping it to the side, when all of a sudden, loss of power and a lovely greeting light on the dash ESP/BAS. The AA came to the rescue, No help at all the OBD diagnostics they carry only do engine management.

So then on to google alot more help than the AA. The results of reading many hours on different forums, brakelight switch replaced, voltage checks, wheel speed sensors tested. Steering angle sensor reset.

After many hours of testing, I gave up and rang the local MB stealer, to be told " we will run star diagnostics and give you a print out, this will tell you whats wrong" all for a standard price £30.00 Sounds OK to me. We agreed a time and date, the car was put through the diagnostics and reset, problem gone. Star cofirmed we had problems, but here is my gripe the star diagnostics gave a three sheet print out & MB dealer said I could only have one sheet from the results?. The other sheets were for their records. Then he explained the gearbox module had gone and the cost of replacement would be in excess of a thousand pounds. I was not impressed the car has full dealer service, when the car packed up it had only done 24k, they had serviced the car at 16K and I had told them the Auto gearbox seemed lazy. Their mechanic test drove it and said the gearbox was fine. He told me he would have a word with MB UK and see if they would sort it out under warranty or pay something towards the cost. He would ring me tommorow, he didnt and also never returned my calls.

Now here is the interesting bit, a friend of a friend knows a merc mechanic. He rang and told to meet him at work at a said time. He plugged the star diagnostics in, now I know why they did not give me the other two print outs.
Because they were full of faults too.

Here are the results!

CDI
CODE P0600-032 CAN FAULT COMMUNICATION IS NOT OK.STORED
P1221-032 CAN FAULT IN CAN COMMUNICATION WITH CONTROL
MODULE N/15/4 (AUTOMATIC CLUTCH CONTROL MODULE) OR
(FRONT TRANSMISSION CONTROL(FTC) CONTROL MODULE).STORED

FTC
CODE P1872 CAN FAULT: THE CAN SIGNAL FROM CONTROL MODULE GRM
IS FAULTY.STORED
P1873 CAN FAULT: FAULT IN CAN COMMUNICATION WITH
CONTROL MODULE ESP, OR BRAKE PRESSURE IS IMPLAUSIBLE.
STORED
P1874 CAN FAULT: THE CAN SIGNAL FROM CONTROL MODULE CDI
IS FAULTY. /THE ENGINE TEMPERATURE FROM THE ENGINE
CONTROL MODULE IS IMPLAUSIBLE. STORED.
P1876 CAN FAULT: THE CAN SIGNAL FROM CONTROL MODULE ESP
IS FAULTY. STORED.
P1877 CAN FAULT: THE SIGNAL FROM CONTROL MODULE N3/18
(ENGINE CONTROL UNIT WITH THROTTLE VALVE ACTUATOR) IS
FAULTY. STORED
P1878 CAN FAULT: THE CAN SIGNAL FROM CONTROL MODULE
HEAT/TAC IS FAULTY. STORED
P1892 THE FEEDBACK THROUGH THE TRANSMISSION PROTECTION
IS NOT MAINTAINED. CURRENT AND STORED.
P1895 CONTROL UNIT FTC IS FAULTY. CURRENT AND STORED.

GRM
CODE P1875-000 CAN FAULT: CAN COMMUNICATION IS FAULTY. STORED
P1875-001 CAN FAULT: FAULT IN CAN COMMUNICATION WITH
CONTROL UNIT A1. (INSTRUMENT CLUSTER) STORED
p1875-002 CAN FAULT: FAULT IN CAN COMMUNICATION WITH
CONTROL UNIT N47 (ELECTRONIC STABILITY PROGRAM (ESP)
CONTROL MODULE). STORED

ESP
CODE C1024 FAULT IN CAN COMMUNICATION WITH CONTROL UNIT Y3/7N2
(FRONT TRANSMISSION CONTROL (FTC) CONTROL MODULE.
CURRENT AND STORED

RFL
CODE B1101-002 CONTROL LINE FOR LOCK SWITCH 2 (LOCK): PSE,
CONVENIENCE FEATURE, ATA. IF NO LOCK SWITCHES ARE FITTED
THE FAULT CAN BE IGNORED, CURRENT AND STORED

ATA
CODE B1709 THE BATTERY STATUS OF THE ALARM SIGNAL SIREN IS FAULTY
CURRENT AND STORED (17 TIMES+ !)

ICM
CODE B1039 FAULT IN CAN COMMUNICATION WITH CONTROL UNIT
TRANSMISSION CONTROL. CURRENT

THE CODE THAT'S COMING UP NOW IS THE CODE THAT WAS GIVEN TO ME ON THE SINGLE FAULT SHEET :-

TAC
CODE B1040 THE CAN COMMUNICATION OF THE ENGINE CONTROL MODULE
IS FAULTY. STORED
B1039 FAULT IN CAN COMMUNICATION WITH CONTROL UNIT FTC
CURRENT AND STORED

That's all folks!

So to the guys in the know, this fault manifests itself like this:- you can be driving along no problems, nice smooth roads, no running lights on, everything sweet, then all of a sudden ALL the dashlights come on (as if you'd turned the ignition off and on) as if the system has reset itself. When this happens there is no loss in power i.e. the engine doesnt cut out, other than limp-home. Once the instrument cluster lights go out the ESP/BAS light comes on and you're in limp-home mode

I have also read the car with a snap-on MT2500 & the only code that could be found was P 1221.

Any help would be appreciated

StayLucky Jim

 

[Birdman]

Given the low mileage and that you snagged a gearbox problem earlier you might get some help from MB. But what about going to an independent autobox specialist and getting an opinion. Dealers know little about autoboxes and will happily throw your money away replacing things. Plus, maybe something else is happening that has caused the perceived problem. I would want to talk to someone who understood what they were on about.

Btw is Vmax the bike? Or aviation?

 

[ddentrec]

Just a moment.

I am a software engineer, and I have done work on CAN bus systems and fault reporting (for aircraft, not cars, but it is the same deal).

Be aware that the single failure event can generate several CAN bus faults. Also the fault code generated is just that, a code. It does not actually mean X or Y failed.

More often than not the fault code is caused by an event that has nothing to do with the failed module.

For example, my neighbour's Siemens washing machine started generating spurious intermittent fault codes: service engineer looked up the code 'ECU failure' and duly replaced the ECU at a cost of £167. Fault came back after 2 days! I told him to check the power supply earthing, reseat all connectors and boards: fault has never returned after 4 months.

In short, Keep It Simple!!

 

[vipsdesai]

Hi there,
I too have had a problem with my SLK 320 the battery has been drained and we got the Mobilo called out. He spent 30-45 minutes checking the battery and eventually told me the fault code was B1709 - ALARM SIGNAL HORN NOT FITTED, INCORRECTLY FITTED OR FAULTY. Indeed with the car alarmed and the window down the alarm does not go off.

Anyone had this issue before or knows anything about it?

 

[BlackC55]

Yes.

I expect the siren is faulty or there is water in it.

 

[vipsdesai]

Thanks for the tip.

Could the water be as a result of leaving the car on the driveway for a while. Is it possible I would have to replace the siren? Any ideas how much at a dealer or is it best to go to independant?

 

[BlackC55]

Of course go to an independent.

Not too sure of the cost though.

 

[Vilpo]

JimVmax:
Did you solve this problem with the car?
I have same exact problem with A170 auto transmission going into limp mode, all the same error codes on FTC, ESP and P1221 on cdi too.
I hope you can help, if you solved the problem somehow, thanks in advance.

 

[STURMVOGEL]

Hi Jim.
I have a 1998 E300TD with very similar list of codes and intermittent Limp mode. I have been advised that the fault code P1221 relating to Can reception from ASR/ESP/ETC in my case, means that a diagnostic check of the codes is not possible as the code reader used the Can Bus system to diagnose faults with the various components of the car. Until i find the fault in the Can bus communication system and fix it, I cannot use a code reader to find out where the orig fault codes occur.