E-Class (W211) 2003-2009

ESP inoperative in cold weather?

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Old 12-29-2017, 01:45 AM
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2012 E350 4Matic
ESP inoperative in cold weather?

Twice in the past month when I first drove off after the car had sat for a couple days, an error message was displayed on the cluster display saying "ESP Inoperative" and "Run-Flat indicator Inoperative". Both times when it happened, it was below -25c outside. I did not notice any driveability issues while the error was displayed, aside from the ESP not working. Both times, the error message was only displayed on the first trip of the day, after shutting the car off the error did not reappear on subsequent starts, regardless of whether the car was still hot or had completely cooled off. It almost sounds like a wheel sensor is freezing after sitting for a couple days in the cold and isn't reading properly on that first trip of the day?

I've also noticed that the Keyless GO is flaky in this weather, if I've been outside for a while and the key is cold the car doesn't detect it and I get the message :"Key Not Detected" when trying to start the car with the button.
Old 12-29-2017, 11:09 AM
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1922 Ford Model T / no OBD
-25C is cold. Where do you live?
I grew up in 4-season Poland and never seen such temperatures there. Suppose the city of Suwalki - close to former Soviet border gets that cold, but never been there in winter.
Coming to cold weather, the electronics can take low temperatures, or you would not drive the car. Could be that some ice build up on reluctor rings fooled the system?
With TPMS, cold affects the batteries. I have it in my house where 120V smoke detectors have battery back-up. On cold mornings they chirp.

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