C36 AMG, C43 AMG (W202) 1995 - 2000

Traction Control acting odd

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Old Jul 23, 2010 | 02:07 AM
  #26  
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Originally Posted by johnhef
Maybe the falkens are waaay off, not all manufactures tires are same as the rest of the industry. I dunno, could be some electrical gremlin but if this happened right after putting the tires on id be inclined to suspect them. anyone else close by you can swap wheels with to test it out?
OOOOOOHHH Falken 452's BAD CHOICE..... I just trashed a set of 452's with easily 80% of the tread left, some of the worst tires I have EVER owned. Talk about TRAMLINING I was POSITIVE something was wrong with my alignment or suspension. Threw on the new TOYOS and BOOOOOOOOOOOM a whole new ride. I haven't had an alignment done either but just switching out the tires changed everything. I DO NOT RECOMMMEND FALKEN 452's TO ANYONE unless you are interested in ruining the experience of driving your car.
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Old Jul 23, 2010 | 04:39 AM
  #27  
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Good comment and hope that everyone reads it I havn't heard about this make of tyre, but would only go with what is recommended by MB or else with proven newer compounds.
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Old Jul 23, 2010 | 07:06 PM
  #28  
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nooo way! i thought they were good. but now, im thinking of switching.
i will also put my old wheels on and see if the problem persists
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Old Jul 23, 2010 | 07:21 PM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by Jasssc
nooo way! i thought they were good. but now, im thinking of switching.
i will also put my old wheels on and see if the problem persists
Trust me you thought wrong.... I let the tire pressure get a little low and it BUBBLED up the sidewalls BAD, traction in the rain was like driving on an oil slick and they tramlined like you wouldn't believe. Like I said before they were easily the worst tire I have ever owned and will NEVER make that mistake again.
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Old Jul 23, 2010 | 07:23 PM
  #30  
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hm well thank you!
i think you might have solved the question!! lets hope so
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Old Jul 23, 2010 | 07:28 PM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by Jasssc
hm well thank you!
i think you might have solved the question!! lets hope so
it wouldn't surprise me
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Old Jul 25, 2010 | 07:10 PM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by Jasssc
nooo way! i thought they were good. but now, im thinking of switching.
i will also put my old wheels on and see if the problem persists
Any news with the ASR lights acting when you put on the old wheels back?
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Old Jul 25, 2010 | 07:17 PM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by Jovsky
Any news with the ASR lights acting when you put on the old wheels back?
Yes please keep us updated, I am interested to find out if it was the CRAPPY Falkens
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Old Jul 25, 2010 | 08:43 PM
  #34  
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the wheels are in a different location so itll be the middle of the week before i can get them on
but i will for sure keep you updated

also, commenting on how crappy the falkens are, the tread is wearing significantly quicker than previous tires ive had. NEVER again
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Old Jul 27, 2010 | 05:30 AM
  #35  
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Ask Falken for the rolling circumference.
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Old Jul 31, 2010 | 04:57 PM
  #36  
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solved!
it was in fact the tires, i put my old wheels on the rear and tested it in the places ive noticed the most several times and nothing.
im getting new tires as soon as i get the money.

i dont know it was the tires for an absolute fact but everything that ive gone through just makes it the best assumption, so that is what im going with

recommendations?
need grip and long life


thanks for all the help 503C43!
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Old Jul 31, 2010 | 05:56 PM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by Jasssc
solved!
it was in fact the tires, i put my old wheels on the rear and tested it in the places ive noticed the most several times and nothing.
im getting new tires as soon as i get the money.

i dont know it was the tires for an absolute fact but everything that ive gone through just makes it the best assumption, so that is what im going with

recommendations?
need grip and long life


thanks for all the help 503C43!
HAHAHA CRAPPY FALKENS STRIKE AGAIN....... I went from the Falkens to the Toyo proxes 4's and it was like night and day. They are a high performance tire but suited for all season. I live in the NW and we are prone to a little wet weather in the summer time so thats why I chose the all season Toyos. I love my new tires and the traction is unreal, truthfully I have trouble breaking the tires loose unless I am taking corners while hitting the throttle. The road noise is almost NIL and they have a little rim of rubber that sticks out just a bit that will protect your rims from curbing them. An all around good tire, I think I paid $1,100 for mine but that was mounted and balanced (I have 235/35/19 in the front and 265/30/19 in the rear).
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Old Aug 1, 2010 | 01:15 AM
  #38  
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thanks good to know
ill look into some toyos
i also like bridgestones
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Old Aug 12, 2010 | 07:21 AM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by DRBC43AMG
have you tried disconnecting the battery for a couple of hours? Could refresh ECU
my c36 has weird issues running when the ASR light comes on in a seemingly random fashion. It actually completely stalled out and refused to turn over on the freeway and I had to have it towed back to the house. The car's major issue is an ignition problem causing a cyl 2 misfire that I'm diagnosing right now, but it was throttling funny and the ASR light and blinking exclamation mark were coming on very frequently right before it stalled out.

I actually drained the battery so much trying to make it turn over while waiting for the tow truck (this was the middle of rush hour in Phoenix in summer so it was like 115F out, I was desperate) that I actually had to take the battery out of my old civic, which is brand new from a warranty exchange, and put it in there to give it enough juice to turn over fully. After the fuel system got running normally again (it had also ran out of gas right before the stall due to how much extra it was using from the misfire and the gunk from running out of fuel combined with the irregular throttle from the ASR-related error is what I think caused the complete stall) I managed to get it to turn over off its normal battery but now the CE light stayed off and it stopped flipping out and having the "disco light"ish problem for quite a while. Once it drove enough for the CE light to come back on due to the misfire the ASR and random buggy throttle problems came back too.

So yeah, resetting the ECU helped stop the buggy electrical system problems for a little bit, it's a pretty well driven car as its a theft recovery salvage title with about 214k miles on it, and besides the misfire which is probably either the spark plug or ignition coil, its issues all seem to be buggyness on along the harness. It has a couple other quirks that I can attest to some kind of short or other wiring issues like very rarely it will decide to not hit the ignition switch when you turn the key all the way for a while (almost had to call a tow recently over that, but then it magically worked again) and the driver's door keyhole doesn't work (have to use the trunk or passenger keyholes to lock/unlock).

Pretty much two of the main problems I see with the c36 on forums are either harness/wires related and transmission related problems and thats the vibe I get with this high mileage c36.
Oh and also related to this thread, one of the front tires has a slow leak in the stem somewhere, sometimes it leaks air sometimes not, but when it leaks a little and the tire pressure gets too low, that also makes the ASR error start to go nuts, so I can also definitely see the validity of the replys talking about the tire sizes and types.
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Old Aug 12, 2010 | 11:31 AM
  #40  
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Originally Posted by T-cles
So yeah, resetting the ECU helped stop the buggy electrical system problems for a little bit, it's a pretty well driven car as its a theft recovery salvage title with about 214k miles on it, and besides the misfire which is probably either the spark plug or ignition coil, its issues all seem to be buggyness on along the harness. It has a couple other quirks that I can attest to some kind of short or other wiring issues like very rarely it will decide to not hit the ignition switch when you turn the key all the way for a while (almost had to call a tow recently over that, but then it magically worked again) and the driver's door keyhole doesn't work (have to use the trunk or passenger keyholes to lock/unlock).
This may be a little off topic, and sorry for thread jacking, but I have had the same issues with my 2 cars (W124 300E & E36 318is) not being able to lock/unlock the door using the driver's door keyhole. I simply used a WD40 lubricant and I inserted the red straw (that came with it) in the keyhole and sprayed the lubricant inside. I let it stand overnight and then the mechanism finally worked again. Hope this helps!
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Old Aug 12, 2010 | 12:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Jovsky
This may be a little off topic, and sorry for thread jacking, but I have had the same issues with my 2 cars (W124 300E & E36 318is) not being able to lock/unlock the door using the driver's door keyhole. I simply used a WD40 lubricant and I inserted the red straw (that came with it) in the keyhole and sprayed the lubricant inside. I let it stand overnight and then the mechanism finally worked again. Hope this helps!
Hey thanks a lot for the advice even if it is off topic and gets us in trouble. I always figured that the keyhole didn't work as some kind of result from the original theft that earned it the salvage title I have it under now since the key inserts and turns fine, but with no resistance like the other keyholes that do work. Just kinda figured they used some kinda slim jim type of device that cut the connection, but that was just a guess to justify not completely disassembling the door trying to fix it. I will certainly attempt your fix and report back the results! There's also a problem with the pneumatic automatic lock system with an air leak for the drivers side lock which doesn't allow it the pressure to unlock the door (it does lock the door and when the door is partly taken apart you can hear the air escaping when the automatic locks try and unlock the car). If you know anything about that valve where the yellow air tube goes into the drivers side lock, share that knowledge as well. With both of those drivers side locking problems combined I have to unlock it at the trunk, then open the rear driver's side door and pull up the lock by hand to get in. I don't even lock the car half the time if I'm at a place where I'll stay nearby.

Edit: oh yeah and I found out the local university library has the chiltons for the c36, I'm gonna try and make some photocopies of the wiring harness diagrams and try and see if I can locate the wiring issues that are causing all the erratic behavior. For now I switch the ASR off with the switch on the dash after I start the car and that seems to help.

Last edited by T-cles; Aug 12, 2010 at 12:42 PM. Reason: mo to add
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Old Aug 15, 2010 | 02:08 AM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by T-cles
Hey thanks a lot for the advice even if it is off topic and gets us in trouble. I always figured that the keyhole didn't work as some kind of result from the original theft that earned it the salvage title I have it under now since the key inserts and turns fine, but with no resistance like the other keyholes that do work. Just kinda figured they used some kinda slim jim type of device that cut the connection, but that was just a guess to justify not completely disassembling the door trying to fix it. I will certainly attempt your fix and report back the results! There's also a problem with the pneumatic automatic lock system with an air leak for the drivers side lock which doesn't allow it the pressure to unlock the door (it does lock the door and when the door is partly taken apart you can hear the air escaping when the automatic locks try and unlock the car). If you know anything about that valve where the yellow air tube goes into the drivers side lock, share that knowledge as well. With both of those drivers side locking problems combined I have to unlock it at the trunk, then open the rear driver's side door and pull up the lock by hand to get in. I don't even lock the car half the time if I'm at a place where I'll stay nearby.

Edit: oh yeah and I found out the local university library has the chiltons for the c36, I'm gonna try and make some photocopies of the wiring harness diagrams and try and see if I can locate the wiring issues that are causing all the erratic behavior. For now I switch the ASR off with the switch on the dash after I start the car and that seems to help.
Odd that it locks the door but will not unlock..... If you can hear the air escaping you should take the door skin off and check out the line. I had a similar problem (mine wouldn't lock or unlock and I could hear the "hiss" of the air) I pulled the door skin off and saw the yellow line had been severed in 2 pieces. I super glued it back together and used some heat shrink to ensure the connection was air tight and BOOM, my door locks and unlocks with the keyless entry. I suggest you take off the door skin and listen where the air is leaking from, it should at least point you in the right direction.
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Old Aug 20, 2010 | 05:32 PM
  #43  
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Originally Posted by 503C43 ////AMG
Odd that it locks the door but will not unlock..... If you can hear the air escaping you should take the door skin off and check out the line. I had a similar problem (mine wouldn't lock or unlock and I could hear the "hiss" of the air) I pulled the door skin off and saw the yellow line had been severed in 2 pieces. I super glued it back together and used some heat shrink to ensure the connection was air tight and BOOM, my door locks and unlocks with the keyless entry. I suggest you take off the door skin and listen where the air is leaking from, it should at least point you in the right direction.
A thread on this exact topic *poof* popped up out of nowhere. Thanks to that thread I have figured out that this locking problem is my actuator and I just gotta get it closed up so there is no air leakage, then it should be able to build up the pressure to push the lock up and unlock the door.
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