Mercedes w169 ESP light after tracking?

[targatopp]

Hi I have had a w169 2005 A170 auto for 7 years. The ESP light came on and by switching off the car it reset. This happened a few times over 4 months and when ESP light on it goes into limp which is dangerous. I noticed that the steering wheel was off centre by 26 degrees..probably caused by newer bottom ball joints? which were fitted a year ago.

Yesterday I asked my local mot station to laser track the front wheels which were perfectly in track but steering was 26 degrees out, no tyre wear etc,

They centered steering and then adjusted both track ends whilst I watched and all appeared ok on their machine.
however driving away in less than 100 yds ESP light straight back on. whilst it will reset it keeps coming back on.

my isoft computer tells me steering wheel is centred ok and when I rotate the steering wheel if shows the movement in degrees so is the sensor ok?

a friends star machine shows historic data fault 5C2E inspect wheel and toe and camber we rest all fault codes and it still lights up after 100 yds.

Help!!

should I get the tracking checked elsewhere and also the camber ?

does the steering wheel sensor need to recalibrated by driving but its dangerous at 30 mph in limp?
as far as i know there is no disable ESP button on this carr

is anyone in High Wycombe area that can be recommended or can help?

many thanks

Paul

 

[exvolvoman]

Had a similar problem on my C180K after replacing track rod ends, steering wheel was off center and confused the steering angle sensor.
Has the steering wheel been removed previously? Was the rack centralised before refitting?
Maybe worth another alignment check, making sure that both ends of the steering rack are equal.
Quick check is to see if you have the same number of turns (steering wheel) on both left to right turns.

 

[mersum1es]

steering wheel is NEVER re-adjusted, all work must be done on rods etc. If someone has been playing with wheel, you need to have a good code reader to read live data of the steering angle sensor, plus perhaps readjust clock spring...

 

[targatopp]

Had a similar problem on my C180K after replacing track rod ends, steering wheel was off center and confused the steering angle sensor.
Has the steering wheel been removed previously? Was the rack centralised before refitting?
Maybe worth another alignment check, making sure that both ends of the steering rack are equal.
Quick check is to see if you have the same number of turns (steering wheel) on both left to right turns.

Thank you for advice. Steering wheel has never been off and my icar soft scanner initially showed the steering wheel at 25 degrees off centre when wheels were straight ( before the tracking was adjusted). After some head scratching why the steering wheel was off centre I put it down to lower ball joints being replaced about a year ago. with the 3 bolts probably not in the same position as the old ones as the camber I guess is adjusted by them?

I am wondering with a steering wheel off by 26 degrees why EPS didn't trigger a year or so ago after the lower ball joints were replaced?

When the tracking was done a few days ago the steering wheel was centred and both track ends adjusted equally.
I watched them do it and saw the laser computer screen

I have just done a lock to lock test and the steering wheel rotates equal amounts and the icarsoft steering wheel sensor reads between o/3 degrees with wheels straight ahead which is within the plus/minus 6 degrees allowable.

The EPF fault came on virtually straight away when driving off after the tracking adjustment.

I suspect the camber may be out could the car detect this?

I disconnected the battery to try and clear fault codes but this hasn't helped the EPS fault

this is a pain and driving the car is impossible at 30 mph in limp

 

[targatopp]

steering wheel is NEVER re-adjusted, all work must be done on rods etc. If someone has been playing with wheel, you need to have a good code reader to read live data of the steering angle sensor, plus perhaps readjust clock spring...

thank you steering wheel wasnt removed it was set to 0 degrees and track rod ends adjusted equally.
clock spring when wheel centered shows the same degees on each lock as shown by my icarsoft reader

 

[mersum1es]

I mean previous owner has been playing there... next step is SDS session, where DAS guides what to do next...