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CTEK "AGM" charge mode is used to equalize cells of deeply discharged battery.
This mode supplies battery with HIGHER VOLTAGE up to 15.1V as noted in the CTEK manual.
Only use that with battery disconnected out of circuit to prevent straining MB modules... "AUX Caps" may not tolerate elevated voltage.
H&K Sound amplifier caps are only rated SIXTEEN Volts!!
The long story short.... use CTEK NORMAL battery charging mode.
It's safe for car + battery even connected in circuit.
The unwritten story behind the voltage thingy is IMPEDANCE! When battery is in good shape it acts like a low impedance capacitor that smoothese out glitches and ripples. That's what we get with ALT-LIN out.
The stock ECU setup can not run engine well with voltage swing and oil pressure surges (solenoid + squirters). Preventing that enables normal driveability!
Last edited by CaliBenzDriver; Apr 29, 2025 at 05:41 PM.
2015 SL400 (M276 Turbo), 2014 C350 Sport (M276 NA), 2004 SL500 (M113), 2004 Audi TT225 (BEA)
A little off topic, but my KEYLESS-GO totally stopped working today and with @BenzNinja help, I fixed it with a simple KG module reboot. This goes along with Cali's chassis reboot argument. Here's my story: https://mbworld.org/forums/mercedes-...-suddenly.html
Keep in mind, modules that are always ON must be electrically rebooted by totally removing power.
A little off topic, but my KEYLESS-GO totally stopped working today and with @BenzNinja help, I fixed it with a simple KG module reboot. This goes along with Cali's chassis reboot argument.
Excellent advice!
Before spending money replacing stuff, do a reboot for electrical/computer problems.
What's funny is most of the chaos is kept under wraps fault free.
Some of us understand the complexity of features distributed across network.
We all appreciate quick solutions to get MB running well
-- The Keyless doors locks and start button
-- The Distronic plus: self steering + braking
-- The ESP safety enhancements by independent wheel braking
-- ILS active LED beams (I ordered static LED)
-- The Self-parking !!! (I don't have)
-- The smart damptronic struts (ordered but not received)
NONE of the solderless modules work well. They all worked far much better soldered! ESP intervention on wheel brakes is much smoother with soldered connections and ESP CAN-C affect TCU CAN-C delayed banging.... > Reboot is effective for couple days, less than 7 days mark.
One of these days I am going to record my latest idle huuuuum. It is remarkably even despite aged 5500.Mi Motul.
I'm amazed at how the GDI ECU keeps tuning up the maps of sealed cyls. without uncontrolled heat: fanless.
Last edited by CaliBenzDriver; May 1, 2025 at 04:08 AM.
I might have to do another Reboot. Since I need 1k rpm for the ALT to kick in I fear it may have brought it back to the way it was prior to the ALT-LIN mod. Shifts harsh again between 3 and 4 and kick downs from 6-7 down to 4th
If I try to do a short rev as soon as its on its seems to improve.
It's already been 7k miles since doing this and im approaching my 5k oil interval. Need to get an oil change going lol
You can not use another OBD2 device ( The Alpine new screen ) when Banks Gauge is in use.
They both will clash, when asking the same OBD2 message request.
One has to be a purely listerner and not both being a data request maker.
.
I already tried such test
Banks Gauge manual stated this fact..... No secondary OBD2 bi-etch when Banks Gauge installed. No polygamy only monogamy
I might have to do another Reboot.
Since I need 1k rpm for the ALT to kick in I fear it may have brought it back to the way it was prior to the ALT-LIN mod.
Shifts harsh again between 3 and 4 and kick downs from 6-7 down to 4th
If I try to do a short rev as soon as its on its seems to improve.
It's already been 7k miles since doing this and im approaching my 5k oil interval. Need to get an oil change going lol
I dont know about "the lazy ALT that need 1kRpm to wake up..." sounds like short brushes.
Without extreme Amp load, ALT should supply enough power to self-regulate 14.1VDC at idle.
(Main battery should never supply chassis power after starting).
Once you've witness how well your chassis runs after a reboot then it's up to you to figure the interval for your needs.
Typically about 2x /Mo I think is best.
The TCU works great but is on the receiving end of troubles. It bangs gears when CAN-C delays happen, likely due to ESP + ISM...
Go ahead and float AGM battery + reboot chassis power!
One easy tip, is don't gun your tranny clutch packs when the chassis is not in the mood to let tranny perform. It's common for engine to be weak on lean mixtures.
Recognize the poor shifts as your action call.
I used to be underwelmed by 3rd-world shifts until I realized that A-1 seemless shifts are disabled by stock built-in chaos. Tranny is the absolute smartest module on this chassis. Let it survive until your engine can run well.
Last edited by CaliBenzDriver; May 4, 2025 at 11:28 PM.
Than you JR for this brilliant selection - This is advanced knowledge about CAN chaos!
This is extremely interesting because the master tech is really knowledgeable about this topic.
He is getting engine timing codes generated by overloaded CAN-Bus.
To most ppl this makes absolutely no sense what soever.
To me it's prime evidence that ECU does not have enough bandwidth abailable to publish live data while doing real time computations.
Tech directly noted that new Alpine OBD radio caused engine to run rough... crappy TIMINGS!
This serves as evidence that bandwith is limited.
Not only Banks and Alpine are bad news, I personally evidenced that stock CAN-bus is precisely built to suck buckets with carefully chosen solderless modules.
--- let me watch 2nd half of video ---
++++ Tech guesses firmware tune jacked up 2009 ECU.
For me it's weird there is Cam sensor without VVT gear !!!
+++ Alpine is a brand of Mitsubishi that makes MB NTG
+++ Tech clears ECU faults with engine idling
+++ Tech evidence CAN congestion with 2x Banks + 1x Alpine.
My testing showed me stock CAN is already bottlenecked without extra Modules.: courtesy of solderless retransmits. Reboot helps momentarily.
Last edited by CaliBenzDriver; May 5, 2025 at 02:44 AM.
You can not use another OBD2 device ( The Alpine new screen ) when Banks Gauge is in use.
They both will clash, when asking the same OBD2 message request.
One has to be a purely listerner and not both being a data request maker.
.
I already tried such test
Banks Gauge manual stated this fact..... No secondary OBD2 bi-etch when Banks Gauge installed. No polygamy only monogamy
IC Display is already pulling ECU data I believe through CGW not directly CAN-C.
Stock bandwidth is purposely derated by a few solderless modules.
Remember I asked about fish-bites misfires when scanning....
Disrupted timing is what delays Xfer between ECU--TCU = banging shifts out of time. (no code!!)
I've heard my own ECU stumble just by scanning chassis (not clearing any modules) at engine idle.
Its becoming pretty clear what's causing incremental performance loss.
At the very root it's variations of precise spark timing.
Last edited by CaliBenzDriver; May 5, 2025 at 03:44 AM.
2015 SL400 (M276 Turbo), 2014 C350 Sport (M276 NA), 2004 SL500 (M113), 2004 Audi TT225 (BEA)
I'm realizing that the engine should NOT be running while scanning, only turned ON.
In my 2004 SL500, there was a warning NOT to drive and run a scan at the same time. There was a risk of losing braking when the SBC module was being diagnosed.
I'd hate to be driving and have the EIS or ESL disable/lock up while driving.
I'm realizing that the engine should NOT be running while scanning, only turned ON.
In my 2004 SL500, there was a warning NOT to drive and run a scan at the same time. There was a risk of losing braking when the SBC module was being diagnosed.
Even W204 when engine is running and car is moving...and then we go into ABS/ESP module with Xentry, the ESP/ABS will produce DTC and stop working.
I once wanted to see ABS/ESP parameters with car moving on my friend's W204 ......... thus I knew
IC Display is already pulling ECU data I believe through CGW not directly CAN-C.
Stock bandwidth is purposely derated by a few solderless modules.
Remember I asked about fish-bites misfires when scanning....
Disrupted timing is what delays Xfer between ECU--TCU = banging shifts out of time. (no code!!)
I've heard my own ECU stumble just by scanning chassis (not clearing any modules) at engine idle.
Its becoming pretty clear what's causing incremental performance loss.
At the very root it's variations of precise spark timing.
I do not know about that Alpine display on that US truck tapping which CAN BUS, but it will be like any other OBD2 gauge method.
The Banks Tuner kit https://bankspower.com/collections/c...uners-monitors on that truck is not only using the Banks Display as OBD2 gauge, but also for the tuner module thus it does not
want any other alien OBD2 device being nosy.
Don't worry about our ECM being slowed down by OBD2 gauge, it wont happen if the gauge is a good one, where it stay within proper protocol.
Also the ECM data request has higher priority than any OBD2 gauge data request.
I am logging at 5Hz..... for years now already, no issue, no such thing as fish bite misfire on my car ever or tranny being dumb.
Nothing of unpleasant experience you had. Maybe my ECM is newer and a bit faster...I don't know.
------------
Xentry scanning is different from OBD2 , OBD2 can only do limited data request as per OBD2 standard,
Xentry is a diagnostic tool , I am sure it can be as invasive as it needed to be when required.
However, I spent afew hours using Benz Ninja Xentry to log ECM live data and VVT while on the road, it never interrupted any engine or tranny performance.
I think your re-soldering on the ABS/ESP actually also cleaned the connectors male and female pins too, thus you get what you deemed as improved response.
Like how my fan cooled interior temp sensor at overhead , no more goes banana simply by me inspecting it on my work table and therefore cleaning all the contacts too.
.
I really like the tons of data you were able to extract from your engine. The amount of data can be overwhelming at times to gain insight.
There are tons of things we don't know about OBDII extensions by Alpine + Banks gauges... besides they are pluged in the DLC connector, all they have access to is the CAN-D.
Any data they pull comes through a gateway, likely the CGW because it's a universal feature.
The stock chassis is built to be already challenged from factory. I don't see how more load flys better. The youtube video shows that system overload interaction cause visible bus issues.
This all boils down to timings jitter both inside the ECU and outside on the CAN-C to TCU and CGW.
The progress towards enhanced normal I've able to make is by bringing stability factors. This to me is fair evidence that bus and module instabilities are used to derate basic performance.
A few selected solderless modules are used to bottleneck network performance.
It's not hard to understand that high speed data is time sensitive. When ECU calls for gear shift the back and forth handshake needs to be quick else delay bangs clutches.
This whole CAN-C timing is built with shades of grey such that less than perfect shifts can still get done.
There is a world of difference between lean TRIMs and hard throttle, between seemless shifts and sloppy shifts.
Stock uses selected tricks to derate normal performance based on timings.
Choices 'R us.
+++ spreadsheets don't show important jitter relationships. This causes lean maps and poor shifts not to mention delays with ESP work and whole CAN-B Modules.
+++ I can write an interesting piece about the ESP work under DistronicPlus supervision.
Smooth vs. bangy brakes.
Last edited by CaliBenzDriver; May 5, 2025 at 01:58 PM.
I'm realizing that the engine should NOT be running while scanning, only turned ON.
In my 2004 SL500, there was a warning NOT to drive and run a scan at the same time. There was a risk of losing braking when the SBC module was being diagnosed.
I'd hate to be driving and have the EIS or ESL disable/lock up while driving.
At least we are not graced by "steer by wire" like the Tesla cyber-truck
Lowering available bandwidth directly drops performance!
Additional data load is taxing our CAN built to showcase challenged conditions.
The best solderless modules to fix are those closest to where you want normal performance.
Without solderless MB works as well Lexus.
I can't consider derated stock as being "normal". Less than normal is the definition of sub-standard.
Lucky us... we still have direct input to control our brake master-cylinder and our electric steering rack.
Imagine Tesla repair cost for "steering by wire".
Every owner pays up to have a working steering.
> REWORK HOW -TO...
Survey whole bus strings for what you're interested in.
Select known bad modules by ease of repair vs. performance yield vs. your skills/time.
With that being said EIS/SCM, ISM/ESP are great modules to sanitize purely for performance.
Solderless slow CAN-B modules are built to drain battery while parked with hanging slow security polling.
That includes fun simple AAC soldering.
Last edited by CaliBenzDriver; May 5, 2025 at 03:48 PM.
I don't think it has anything to do with unplugging the ALT-LIN but first summer since unplug and um, no A/C : ( it wasn't too bad but still pretty warm, 25-27.5C today with no a/c : (
I don't think it has anything to do with unplugging the ALT-LIN but first summer since unplug and um, no A/C : ( it wasn't too bad but still pretty warm, 25-27.5C today with no a/c : (
Can you hook up your scanner and read your solderless AAC module: pressure reads how much?
There's a chance you have a wet connection around A/C compressor (clutch/PWM Valve) or pressure sensor on condenser coil or minimal pressure that's keeping system off.
Leak will show PAG oily mess.
Last edited by CaliBenzDriver; May 7, 2025 at 05:33 PM.
Can you hook up your scanner and read your solderless AAC module: pressure reads how much?
There's a chance you have a wet connection around A/C compressor (clutch/PWM Valve) or pressure sensor on condenser coil or minimal pressure that's keeping system off.
Leak will show PAG oily mess.
Thanks forum member CaliBenzDriver
Don't see any leak, first thing I checked but the pressures aren't good:
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