samaritrey

My car as well as matts the first time I put them on star had many errors that were stored. I guess the dealer does not clear them when they fix an issue. I would clear everything as recomended so that way you don't have to wonder when that error was since it could be yesterday or 5 years ago.

Glyn M Ruck

+1

jestes

Cape Town... You don't work at Itron by chance do you?

SunnyRayToronto

Holly crap,.... 58 lbs (minimum) for a car battery?

Even these gigantic OEM Mercedes-Benz batteries are only 50 lbs!,.... and its usually the largest car battery at any auto part store,.... Wow, this Braille battery make the Mercedes-Benz battery look like light-weights! And at 1115 ColdCrankingAmps,.... our OEM Mercedes batteries only have 760 CCA,... but that's more than plenty for most.

SunnyRayToronto

BTW,... 2003 car,... your battery is already 9 years old (depending on when the car was manufactured).

For future reference,.... You could have read battery voltage via your instrument cluster,.... go into dyno mode:
- key in
- on main screen find milage
- press reset button 3 times
Now you're in dyno mode - navigate to battery voltage display if it's not already displayed

Record voltage:
- before turning on engine
- idle speed
- at 1800 RPM

jestes

I've already replaced the battery. But I can't seem to get the dyno mode to work. I followed this video tutorial and it does not work! I presss the button 3 times and no beep.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9e8CFssJPg

jestes

I called the dealer this afternoon. The lady at the counter thought they cleared the codes and they came right back after starting the car. I'm stopping in the morning to talk with the mechanic and have him clear the codes, just to make sure. I'm guessing if he really did clear the codes, the 4 page report is from before clearing them and I would like to get a new report with only the current codes anyway.

jestes

Anyone know where I can get either of these units? Where they are located in the car and how difficult they are to replace? I've done a little searching online and come up with very little so far.

The fact that I can't get the car into ESP Dyno Mode scares me a little and I would really like to know what I'm looking at here if they really are bad. The dealer said, "My gut tells me this is not a cheap fix." But how much is not cheap?

N15/3 (ETC [EGS] control unit)
N47-5 (ESP and BAS control module)

SunnyRayToronto

Did you take the key out,... wait like 5 seconds,.... then put the key in,..... then follow procedure to go into dyno mode.

jestes

I tried it again just after my last post and it worked.

Off=12.5V
Idle=14.0V
1800=14.3V

SunnyRayToronto

Those voltage numbers are ok,..... but I would think they should be a bit higher with a new battery. Anyone else?

Glyn M Ruck

No - I'm a retired oilco exec. See profile.

LILBENZ230

Nope, his numbers are close to perfect. If anything, the 14.3V reading is on the high side. My car with new battery reads 12.6, 13.6, and 14.2V. My alternator is showing a little age on the idle number.

tommy

Yeah, I'd agree - pretty much spot on.

Glyn M Ruck

My C240 with 8 year old battery always gave

12.3V
14.2V
14.3V

jestes

I just swung by the dealer and was told they can't clear the codes. Because of all the communication problems being reported, they were not able to do it.

So back to the question I posted earlier:
Where are these modules located in the car? How hard are they to R&R? How much is it going to cost to rebuild/replace them?

SunnyRayToronto

Jestes,.... just wondering,... do you have any mods on your car? Or is it purely stock?

Any aftermarket wheels?
Condition of wheels - perfectly round or slight bend
Condition of tires - thread life left or balding
Rotors?
K&N (oil based) air filter?

What's the very first error thrown? BAS, ESP or ABS?

jestes

All stock.
The wheels are factory Mercedes wheels, but they are from an older E class. They are 15" with nearly brand new Blizzaks. No bends in the tires or wheels. Just had an alignment about a month ago.

Rotors have no signs of warping and have no goves to speak of.

Factory air filter. Not sure when it was last changed since I just bought the car 6 months ago.

Seems to me the first code is ABS, but I'll have to verify that tomorrow.

Glyn M Ruck

jestes

So is it just unplug the old one and plug a new one in or is there more to it than that? Is there a way to test this one before I go an buy a new one or have this one rebuilt? Will the car run and drive with this one pulled out?

MBtech1098

This is the location of the ESP control unit, it is bolted onto the hydraulic unit, and is replaceable separately.



In the picture below from Glyn, you see the Yaw rate sensor and Tele-Aid control unit.



The trans control unit is located on the R/S (L/H drive vehicle) behind the carpeting on the kick plate. There are three 10mm plastic nut that hold the plate on, and two 8-10mm screws attaching the ETC to the plate.

With replacing these control units, you will have to perform initial startup and coding with SDS. I can tell you that the guided diagnosis for those two fault codes is to replace the control units, however it is quite interesting that both units are showing faulty. Are we certain there are no other faults relating to CAN communication issues? Have you checked the current output of the alternator, and not just voltage? It does not seem like a power supply problem however, because if it was you would have under voltage or over voltage faults stored in other control units. ESP and ETC do exchange a lot of information via CAN C, though usually if the signal was not getting from one to the other, there would be a fault stating "No CAN message received from ESP" or vise versa.

Don't always rely on the DTC's to point you in the right direction...majority of the time they will, but there are some strange cases that sometimes take a bit of detective work. If you covered all the basics, then it looks like you have two faulty control units.

Glyn M Ruck

And remember the Steering Angle Sensor on the column. Just turn lock to lock 5 times to reset.

Excuse my cryptic messages. In my experience the codes you are seeing are frequently in fact triggered by crap from the Yaw sensor & not the "ESP" module itself.

TCU if required

jestes

I took it to an independent shop today. They were able to clear the codes and 2 returned. The ESP Control Module Failure (209 545 25 32) and one about a controller in the steering column. They say to replace the ESP module first and see if the other one clears up on it's own. The dealer is telling me the ESP and BAS modules are sold as a unit for $975! Anyone got an ESP controller laying around I can buy used? Everything I'm finding online is both together, but MBTech1098, you say it can be replaced separately?

MBtech1098

On your car ESP and BAS are incorporated into one unit. The ESP control unit can be replaced seperately or as a whole with the hydraulic unit.

jestes

How much work is it to replace just the ESP module? Are there any special tools required or can a weekend mechanic do it?

I found one on ebay for $110 but the part numbers are slightly different. My car has 209 545 25 32 the one online is 209 545 28 32. Where can I find out if they are interchangeable?