Twice in the past week my VSC flashing light has come on along with ABS light... Computer starts telling me I have 3 malfunactions and need to get to service center ASAP. Both times I turn the car off and back on and everything is 'normal' with no malfunctions. FIrst time it happened was Monday.

The second time it happened was today at lunch. I was pulling out of a parking lot and get the same brake and VSC malfunctions, pull over & turn the key off and restart and voila, no more malfunctions. about 5 minutes later, I notice that while coasting to a stoplight from about 40 mph the RPM keeps steadily dropping to 1500 then increasing to 2000. I come to a complete stop and it settles back down to the 700 range. I kept driving past my office to see if I can replicate it, and sure enough it happened everytime I was coasting - nothing above 50 or below about 25 mph or when I have the accelreator depressed at all .......but between 25mph and 50 mph it was doing it very regularly. Think this is electrical (are my 2 issues are related) or transmission, mass air flow? I am looking for any and all suggestions?

Car is an '01 E320 with just under 80k. Was at the dealership last week - thought I had a cat going out - ended up I had a loose bracket that mounts on the transmission to the exhaust that was causing the rattling. I am sure they pulled the codes at the dealer to try and get some more money out of me and didnt say anything about anything else on the car needing attention.

 

Alternator brushes could be bad (just a guess).

 

your battery output,below a set voltage will trigger those warnings.
Any cel code,check for pending codes even if the light is not on.
Check your brake fluid level.
Keep us posted.

 

Started fine at work, didnt notice the RPM issue on the way home, other than the usal downshifting... but now that I am home the key wont turn in the tumbler (tried both keys). With the door closed its like it doesnt even recognize there is a key in the ignition, with the door open it says remove key as soon as its inserted. Could the battery being low cause this too?

 

Don't get excited in the least that they sometimes "go away."

The warning will continue until the problem is fixed or the car is programmed to not display the warning (in the case of tele aid malfunction).

 

change your k40 relay and brake switch