C230 Mulac

Just checking back in here, glad to see your problem has been resolved. mine has been running mostly okay and had the limp mode happen once or twice until a couple weeks ago it started more frequently. yesterday it did it s couple times during the day, turning the car off and back on would fix it so I could drive again. but then last night after our meet, I turned the car on and immediate errors nd it wouldn't let me shift out of park. turned car off and on about 5 times or so still every time the warnings were there and I couldn't get home. had a friend drive me to advance and got a wrench to disconnect battery for a few minutes and reconnect to reset ECU and I was able to get home.


Today I diagnosed with STAR and had a stored fault for the actual esp module being defective. No faults from the transmission. Really annoyed right now. Reading other threads its possible it could be the voltage regulator causing voltage issues, or I'm thinking it could be that connector Amgen was talking about. I did also have a few events logged regarding low voltage at terminals 30 and 87. I can't imagine the module can be already going bad but who knows? I have a voltage regulator so I'm going to just replace it and see what happens and clear the codes.

raphman

Fack man, sorry to hear yours is till acting up. From what the shop told me, mine started up more and more frequently. Sometimes it would cause the malfunction after running idle (no driving) for 20 or so minutes after being left alone overnight. Good luck with the issue and keep us posted

C230 Mulac

Yeah that's what mine would do as well, if I disconnect the battery and reconnect to reset the ECU, and then let it sit and idle for maybe 30 mins it would then come back and I wouldn't be able to shift out of park. The only reason I don't think mine is the throttle position sensor like yours is because I don't have the code for it. Can you ask your mechanic what code they pulled? My buddy who works at the dealership as a tech told me to check the electrical connection at the ESP module for corrosion and stuff, and clean it with contact cleaner. Hopefully it's a cheap fix like that....

Rahulio1975280C

For what it is worth, when I took over the maintenance of my 1989 300E from my father, one of the first things I read in the PeachParts (was MercedesShop) forums was to twist each of the fuses in the fuse box by rotating them CCW and CW in a effort to cut through any corrosion that had built up on the spades of the fuse box and the ends of each of the fuses. It actually cleared up some issues with flickering lights and erratic behavior of the windshield wiper arm.

I know the quality of the connectors used between a W124 and W203 is quite different, but maybe it is worth just giving a few of the big ones in the W203 a wiggle (i.e. disconnect and reconnect) to see if that may clear up oxidation issues, if there are any. Always start with the simple things!

BTW, can STAR give you a real time view of the charging output from the alternator?

raphman

From what I understood of my issue, it wasn't that the gas pedal assembly/SAM was loosing contact with the system, but that voltage would randomly drop and thus cause things to go haywire. As such, I don't think it threw a relevant code. Also, I'm not talking about the TPS directly - it was the actual switch at the pedal itself and corresponding communications unit.

C230 Mulac

That's interesting...I talked to my trusted mechanic buddy and he told me that sometimes if the alternator/voltage regulator is starting to go bad these cars are sensitive to voltage and it can cause these types of warnings to go off. I may just go ahead and replace the regulator since it's a common issue on these cars anyway and I have one in my spare parts stock.

raphman

Yeah, wouldn't hurt to go ahead and change it out. Have it and see what happens. Good luck mang

C230 Mulac

Thanks man...just praying it's not the ESP module itself cuz that is $$$$ and a PITA to replace

raphman

Sure bro, and it sure effing is!! BTW, if you're offered a refurb ESP module, don't take it! Apparently the refurbs only have a 50% success rate (my shop found that out the hard way).

C230 Mulac

After multiple attempts to diagnose myself I gave up and took it to an Indy. I have a race on 5/2 and can't wait anymore, car has to be running!

So it was a bad ESP module. He can get one separate from the ABS pump and replace it, then here's what really sucks....

The module has to have some "SCN coding" done, and ONLY the dealer can do that, so he can replace the module and then take it to the dealer for the coding, and everything parts and labor is going to be $2,168

I just said f*** it and fix it. I've invested so much into this car already, what's another $2k. I need it running for the race and this summer's driving season.

husqvarna

You can always buy the electronic module from ebay for lets say 100$ and find some fella with STAR/DAS and code it.
Nothing more, you don't need connection to MB server to code the new unit
There is a simple option: "read coding and transfer to new control unit"

C230 Mulac

I have a STAR but so does my indy and he said the "SBC coding" thing the dealer has to do and even he can't do it. I don't think I can just use any ESP module from ebay...

husqvarna

If you have STAR then you can do the swap! You can check the SCN codings from your old module and transfer it manually to the newer. But after that you need to do initial startup of the module/functions.
With the option i mentioned in the previous post you can do this very vast and automatically.
But you need STAR with developer mode, but almost every pirat STAR i saw is with developer.

You can see in EPC which part numbers are compatible with your car and buy one of them from a wrecked car, or from ebay.
For example, acording EPC for my C32 there is 4 different numbers, all of them compatible