Fault light came on today

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Steve_Perry

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 3, 2002
Messages
3,241
Location
Wales, U.K.
Car
CLS350CDI Grand Edition
Well I was driving to work this morning, my intermittent aircon fault was in full effect so that the air was going full blast &amp; heat with the two aux fans &nbsp;infront of the rad going at full speed too. <img src="http://www.mbclub.co.uk/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':angry:'>

I was crawling in traffic going uphill, so holding the the car on the accelerator, when the BAS/ASR malfunction indicator lamp decides to light up <img src="http://www.mbclub.co.uk/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':('> My foot wasn't near the brake pedal when the lamp came on.

I drive for a couple of miles then stop behind some red lights, I took the opportunity to switch off and remove key for approx 30 seconds. Switch back on and the light remained off for the rest of the trip and never came on again for the rest of the day.

I remember reading in the hand book &quot;If the electrical voltage drops below 10 volts, the malfunction indicator lamp will also light up in the instrument cluster and the Brake Assist System (BAS) will be de-activated.&quot;

I'm guessing this was the cause of my light illuminating today given my a/c was like a jet in take-off and must have been taxing the battery but my question is will the car ECU keep a log of this particular fault? Also will it log the fault indefinitely until someone links up with diagnostic software?

Sorry for the long post.

Thanks,
S.
 
ah-ha, someone else has seen this too. &nbsp;I dunno what you do for a living Steve but congratulations for applying the &quot;microsoft fix&quot;...you power-cycled your electrical system and the failure light went out - just as I did - because I work in IT that's the first thing I try with any kind of fault, these days there is so much software in things that it sadly works more often than not!

I had the same thing happen about a week before the gtg in the Cotswolds. &nbsp;I asked my stealership about it and they said it is most likely a faulty sensor, the sensor is about £6 and it's about £100 to fit believe it or not! &nbsp;I have not had this fixed yet because it's not lit up since, and I know my BAS and ASR work fine (they get regular &quot;testing&quot; thanks to slippery corners and livestock on the road...) but be warned, if the light comes on BAS and ASR will not be working, so it's advisable to switch everything off (the 30 seconds was optional apparently) and fire it back up again and the light may go off.

If it happens again Steve I recommend you have the sensor checked at the stealership or an independent garage who know what they're doing, I know it's £100 (maybe less from independent) but it's a safety thing isn't it?
 
Hi Shude,

I'm a chemical engineer by training &amp; trade, but I work alot with computers (automation in industry). As you say, so much of stuff is computer driven these days that the equivalent of a 3 finger salute (ctrl+alt+del) or power-off/power-up usually does the trick. Works for my mobile and cable set top box too.

I did notice the ASR button had no effect while the malfunction light was illuminated.

I'll probably get George F. to do me a complete print out of the fault history from the ECU next time my car goes to him for a service/checkup. Hopefully this might indicate why the light came on, i.e. if there was a voltage drop or a faulty sensor, etc. Quote from George's add in Mercedes Enthusiast... &quot;Free Diagnostic Reports&quot; <img src="http://www.mbclub.co.uk/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'> &nbsp;Grrr I still need to get my a/c gremlin exterminated.

S.
 
STEVE PERRY -
              How did you get on with this problem ?

Mines been coming on about 40% of the time on start ups,mainly on cold engine/first start ups. When I start my car I have the foot/parking brake on, the gear selector in Park and my foot on the foot brake.
Does anyone think having my foot on the brake pedal when turning the key to start the engine may cause this problem ?

Like the other's here if I switch of the engine and re-start it stays off then !!
 
Today I thought i'm best seein' about gettin this problem fixed. So I went to my nearest Independant Mercedes garage which guys from work recommended/use.

Prestige Solutions
Maritime Business Park
Atlas Road
Bootle
Liverpool

The guy came out with his lap top kinda box, He plugged it into my car and said that my Right Front Brake sensor needs replacing and will cost £120  <img src="http://www.mbclub.co.uk/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':0'>

After reading here </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I had the same thing happen about a week before the gtg in the Cotswolds.  I asked my stealership about it and they said it is most likely a faulty sensor, the sensor is about £6 and it's about £100 to fit believe it or not!</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'> I thought this seemed expensive for a Independant.

So i phoned
The Mercedes Centre
Altcar Road
Formby

And he said he would do it for £100  <img src="http://www.mbclub.co.uk/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'>

So i finally phoned Road Range- Liverpool (Main Dealer) who said they would supply&amp; fit for £56 inc VAT  <img src="http://www.mbclub.co.uk/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>
So my car is booked in for Fri 11th, they said it will take about 1 hour and I can wait for it.
I explained how i knew what the fault/part was and had been quoted over double, the girl on the phone said they have what called a &quot;Classic Car Club&quot; for cars over 3 years old with reduced rates.

But it goes to show its always worth checking with the main dealer as there not as expensive as you may first think. just hope it goes OK on Fri now  <img src="http://www.mbclub.co.uk/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'>
 
Aletank,

Spooky, I had mine diagnosed today as a faulty front right hand sensor. Can we make it more spooky? it was at 3.30pm <img src="http://www.mbclub.co.uk/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>

Anyway, armed with a printout of your findings I should also get a good deal.

Thanks.
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Can we make it more spooky? it was at 3.30pm</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

Sorry but mine was about 1.30 pm &nbsp;<img src="http://www.mbclub.co.uk/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':('> &nbsp;But I was on the phone to Road Range at about 3.30 pm &nbsp;<img src="http://www.mbclub.co.uk/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'> &nbsp;LOL
 
Aletank,

Sorry I haven't replied sooner, I've been away in India on business for the past week.

To answer your question, I didn't do anything, it happened that one day and has never re-occurred since.

Looks like you have the problem well under control though. I've also read that a faulty brake-switch can also cause the BAS/ASR fault light to come on. Seems like sensor failures are doing the rounds these days though.

S.
 
I had mine fixed last friday, cost me £6 for the sensor and they did the work while changing my brake pads etc so the labour was loads less than I expected. &nbsp;Now I don't have to wear sunglasses when I drive at night because of the irritating warning light <img src="http://www.mbclub.co.uk/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>
 
I've just been to Road Range to have this fixed &nbsp;<img src="http://www.mbclub.co.uk/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':cool:'>

Here's what they charged

Brake Sensor/Sender Unit &nbsp;£1.32
Labour -------------------£46.50
VAT ---------------------£8.37
TOTAL ------------------£56.19
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom