ESP Not Available 'Warning Light'

[mudza8]

Hi the alarm came on my C220 CDI SE and it put the car inot 'Limp' mode

Garage 1-Took the car to Mercedes garage who put it on there STAR computor and the mechanic said it was injector N03 out of limit and recommended replacing all 4 injectors at a cost of £2400!! no other fault evident! and after picking myself off the floor I said I would take the car some where else for a second opinion

Garage 2 -Said all 4 injectors fine-engine runs sweet and it has to be something electric in either the wheel sensors or steering angle sensor to cause the ESP to activate , nothing to do with the engine

Q - Is the second garage correct ?

What is the most likely thing to be playing up?

Any help appreciated

Tim

 

[Allanbee]

Hi Tim, ddont know if this will be any help to you but when I bought my c180 about 5 months back on the first test drive it had the same ESP warning but at the time the tracking was way off. They fixed the tracking but the warning light stayed up. Anyway in the end they fixed it before I took delivery and it was apparently a corroded sensor which cost about £300 to fix. Not cheap but cheaper than replacing all your fuel injectors! Of course this was all done before I paid for the car so factor in used car salesmen and it might actually be a lot cheaper. It's not much I know but it might give you somewhere to start looking.
Al

 

[Auto-mobile]

Take it to somebody who is familiar with Mercedes, garage one are bafoons and would have relived you of £2400 and you would still have the same problem, garage 2 are on the money possibly, but should if they have the right equipment/knowledge be able to quote you a price with a definate fix.

Find a Indy

 

[Justin1600]

It needs to go onto a Star machine but if it says "ESP not available" then the ESP control unit is not seeing a value or values.
Angle of steering, wheel speed, throttle position, brake application etc. When you drive in a straight line is the steering exactly in the straight ahead position ?

 

[mudza8]

Update

I changed the Brake Light Switch last night so I still need to go back to Garage N02 for them to reset the fault codes (No Charge by the way for this - Mercedes charge £79 a time-thieving bar stewards!!!)
Hopefully this will sort it but if not my next checks will be the wheel sensors

 

[jaymanek]

You cant guess at these things, get it to a decent independent with a Star Machine for a diagnosis.

 

[mudza8]

Something else just came to light , I kerbed the near side front wheel a few weeks ago and took the tyre out , the ESP light came up about 3 days after getting the new tyre fitted , someone has advised that the tracking maybe out and hence the ESP alarm activated as the steering isn,t lined up.I have the car booked in tomorrow for a check on the tracking and will update on the outcome.

 

[mudza8]

Update - Its the injectors - had the system checked through and injector 3 is faulty and injector 2 is iffy so have arranged with an independant to replace these and set up the fuel system

 

[mersum1es]

Update - Its the injectors - had the system checked through and injector 3 is faulty and injector 2 is iffy so have arranged with an independant to replace these and set up the fuel system

That should have nothing to do with ESP... (I'm not saying they are not faulty, often some wearing is found)

Didn't they read the fault codes???

 

[andy27168]

As above, the injectors will have absolutly nothing at all to do with the ESP warning light.
I suggest you get the car to someone that understands them and has the proper MB diagnostic equipment.

 

[Benza750]

You may well have an injector problem. If there out of range this will show up on a star diagnostic machine when they go into actual values and check the smooth running of the injectors any that are + or - 5 our out if range and should be replaced. It may only be 1 injector faulty as the other may be compensating for the faulty 1.
However this will not bring you ESP warning light on.
Faulty wheel speed sensor
Faulty stop lamp switch
Faulty contact spiral
Dirty contacts at connection to ESP control unit
Faulty gearbox speed sensor
Are just a few if the ESP is your main concern get an Indy that know what they are doing with Star to check it out & I would advise getting that sorted before your injectors if they are not causing you a problem yet.
£2400 to replace all 4 injectors is well over priced even with genuine injectors frin the dealer

 

[MrG81]

Hi Mudza8

I seem to be having the same issue as you. 1 garage told me it could be the injectors. another said i need to change the fuel rail. not sure the link to the esp system though.

have you had the same problem since changing the injectors?

 

[Doodle]

Given that the OP hasn't visited the forum for nearly 2 years, I wouldn't hold much hope of a response.

 

[MrG81]

i didnt check that...new to the forum so still figuring it out . thanks for the update

 

[finthedin]

If you find that your cruise control is not functioning then you have the same issue I did.

I fixed this by replacing the ABS reluctor rings on the rear wheels. These rings are used in conjunction to detect the speed at each wheel. They often fail with the ring breaking down and no longer giving a proper reading.

To work out if this is the problem then you will need to hook up the car to diagnostics (I could do it with the iCarsoft i980) and drive the car. If theres any wheels not showing a correct speed, or not speed at all then there's a high chance its the reluctor ring.

If the computer can't detect the speed on all four wheels then it will refuse to engage cruise control for safety reasons as it needs to know if a wheel is skidding so that it can cancel the cruise control. This is also why the ESP throws a whitey as it no longer knows how to help stabilise the car.

I had both reluctor rings fitted at a local garage and it cost me £200 in labour and £20 for parts off eBay.

Hope this helps and good luck