Engine warning after garage visit

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philepo

Active Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2009
Messages
294
Car
C270 CDI (2004 w203)
I have just had some suspension work done on the front.
When I picked up the car the engine warning light was on (yellow one)
But the mechanic turned the ignition off/on and it went away. Fine.
next day while driving on motorway the 'ESP faulty, drive to workshop' came on.
Not happy.
I suspect the mechanic gave my car a good thrashing while on test drive :crazy: and has weakened something like a sensor, but obviously that may not be true, could just be coincidence :confused:.

Where do I stand regarding fixing this??

Cheers
 
I doubt a good thrashing would have done it. Is the steering off centre by more than 15 degrees? This will log an steering angle sensor fault
 
Brilliant!

yes, the steering is miles out, and they have agreed to sort that, but after they have investigated the sensor fault... this must be connected! (I hope)

Also, yes, the battery is only 6 months old and in good nick

Cheers people
 
Yes they must have replaced a track rod which has put the tracking out and has now caused the steering Angle sensor to be out of spec.
 
Yes they must have replaced a track rod which has put the tracking out and has now caused the steering Angle sensor to be out of spec.

Sounds like the steering alignment wasn't checked/corrected after the front end work had been carried out.
 
The tracking was well out on my W203 after a track rod end had been replaced just before I picked it up and it threw BAS/ESP errors constantly. I've not seen it again since the alignment was sorted.
 
Some seem to believe that screwing on a new track rod end the same amount of turns that the old one came off at will not affect the alignment .....this is not so, 99% of the time, the tracking will still need re-adjustment.

A clue to mis-alignment after having front end work done is if the steering wheel is off-centre when driving the car.
 
Some seem to believe that screwing on a new track rod end the same amount of turns that the old one came off at will not affect the alignment .....this is not so, 99% of the time, the tracking will still need re-adjustment.

A clue to mis-alignment after having front end work done is if the steering wheel is off-centre when driving the car.

Thanks all.
yes, steering wheel is canted over 45 degrees to the left and the ESP warning is on.
They did say they tracked it tho... how could they?
 
Thanks all.
yes, steering wheel is canted over 45 degrees to the left and the ESP warning is on.
They did say they tracked it tho... how could they?

Petty poor standard of work, imo, to hand the car back to you with the steering wheel so far out of true after front end work being done..

They might have aligned the tracking without first ensuring the steering wheel was in the straight ahead position. (if they did it at all)

I always check alignment including that the steering wheel is centered after work done, using my trusty 45yr old Dunlop tracking gauges.
 
Last edited:
self centering

This may not be related (I may have only just noticed), but the steering self centering is weak, and on a sharp, slow car park maneuver I have noticed that the centering actually starts to work the opposite way - ie it self centers to the right or left... never noticed before

They changed a track rod end at the rack end and that's all.
 
This may not be related (I may have only just noticed), but the steering self centering is weak, and on a sharp, slow car park maneuver I have noticed that the centering actually starts to work the opposite way - ie it self centers to the right or left... never noticed before

They changed a track rod end at the rack end and that's all.

The self centering will be noticeably affected when the tracking is as far out as it sounds. (you have 2 wheels trying to go in different directions!).......as long as they didnt adjust the opposite side to the new track rod that was fitted, then setting the alignment to the correct setting by re-adjusting the new TR should align the steering wheel, and the self centering, back to its original position.

I would go somewhere else and ask that any adjustments are made only to the new TR. (assuming the other side wasnt touched.
 
If they gave you your car back with the steering out by 45 degrees then they did a cr*p job:fail

Take it back and tell them to FIX IT or find someone who is more competent and have the original ****er pay for it.:crazy:
 
The steering being miles out is the esp fault :doh:
There is no sensor fault
 
I've used them for a couple of years and trust them, bu yes on this occasion they have done a sloppy job. As long as they correct it tho i will be happy.

Thanks for the feedback... they wanted to inspect the fault and then do the steeering :rolleyes:
 

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