artim808

Hello guys,

My CEL is on and engine control unit is reporting following error: 146100 (P1461) Control deviation too large.
Does anyone know what this error is or how to fix it? I tried to reset the error, but it is coming back after several days.
I would appreciate any help.
Thank you!

artim808

Anyone who can help? Or give me direction what I can try?
Attached is more info from DAS about the error code.

konigstiger

MB 146100 (generic P0171) some insight: https://repairpal.com/obd-ii-code-p0171

artim808

konigstiger thank you so much, this is very helpful. I can confirm DAS is reporting 146100 and generic OBD reader is reporting P0171. I'll check all hoses, replace fuel and air filters and clean MAF. Hopefully the code will go away. Do you have any info about software update for ECU? Should I have to contact dealer as well about this issue?

konigstiger

Dealer or independent with MB diagnostics.

artim808

This error is driving me nuts. I replaced filters (fuel and air), checked hoses, cleaned intake, cleaned EGR, replaced two fuel injectors and this error is coming back. Can bad PCV valve cause this error? Or any suggestion what else I can try? Usually the error come back 2-3 days after reset.

Vit

Can someone please advise what it could be?

146100 control deviation is too large Mercedes S Class w221

engine management light comes in and sometimes the car does kangaroo moves (like someone pressing the stop and then accelerate)

Thank you



QUOTE=artim808;7723538]Hello guys,

My CEL is on and engine control unit is reporting following error: 146100 (P1461) Control deviation too large.
Does anyone know what this error is or how to fix it? I tried to reset the error, but it is coming back after several days.
I would appreciate any help.
Thank you![/QUOTE]

konigstiger

See attachment.

Vit

Thank you

artim808

This one is very tricky to troubleshoot. Information konigstiger provided are great but valid mostly for petrol engine. For example some variants of OM642 doesn't even have oxygen sensor.
Also there is some discrepancy between generic OBD code and xentry code.
For this issue the generic OBD code will always be P0171 (system too lean)
Xentry can report either 146100 (control deviation too large) or 186300 (the correction value of the fuel consumption is too high) depends what SW version you have on your ECU. It is same issue but xentry may report different code if you have newer software.
The discrepancy is that OBD is reporting system too lean which basically means too much air or too little fuel. Xentry is reporting exactly opposite - too much fuel or too little air. For this issue you can trust what xentry is saying and ignore generic obd code.

Now to troubleshoot this you want to do a boost pressure test. Don't do just a smoke test since there may be just very small leak which is present only if the intake is under pressure. Inspect the hoses which are coming to and from intercooler. Very common problem is that hose from intercooler to intake manifold develop crack over the years and leaking air there.
Also inspect connection from that silver tube which is connected to turbo to silencer. Sometimes the air can escape there.
If no air leak is found try to do a fuel injector leak down test. Leaking injector can trigger this code too. Also make sure you have new air filter and new fuel filter.
I hope this will help you to troubleshoot this problem.

Vit

Thank you, will ask my garage to do pressure test for me.

BOTUS

Vit - is it a tractor or a petrol engine ?

re both Konigstiger's doc and artim808's posts they both say about an ECU software update as a possible driver - might be a good place to start - so at least working from a known base

people seem to believe car's were built to this perfect spec and any software update is a crazed thing only a fool would attempt - this is the exact opposite of where the world is - they rushed out a mess and knew they could fix after the event and ideally charge additional money, then they start to play up under warranty and garages waste hours trying to resolve the impossible - eventually the factory works out why the garage and their support can't fix a bug and so both resolve some of the faults and add additional diagnostic capability in later software versions so their franchised garages aren't wasting time and upsetting customers

if you want to get into playing and fixing things correctly see posts from BenzNinja the ONLY guy offering a way to update Mercs at home - and with enough experience to help out when the car is fighting you - yes you can buy lots of other virus infected set ups of fake diagnostics on ebay - but it won't ever get you past the goal posts....

and be very wary of non Merc garages they can do almost nothing - german cars are designed to be difficult to work on without dealer spec diagnostics, and often need updates to cure known issues they like to cover up - and remember its highly likely less than 1 in 20 independent Mercedes specialist garages can actually update any software on ECU modules - the std fee for renting this kit from Mercedes is $12,000 a year. And note they'll all claim updates are either unnecessary and or a mistake... as they can't do it and want your work even though they may well know they can never fix it




.

Vit

it is a 3 litre diesel S350L.

i have changed my EGR valve recently and it doesn’t come up in diagnostic anymore but that fault code 146100 did come up and at the moment not sure what it is. I’ll be going to the garage Wednesday and see if there are any other fault codes there if is it the same. Will post an update after.

Why do you think I would need the software update when the car was running perfectly before that EGR issue?

the car is 2013 w221

thank you

BOTUS

ruining as well as it has in your ownership and as well as you expect - may not be the same as running to standard

any engine or gearbox ECU updates should always be grabbed ASAP, these are the most critical for the safety and well being of the engine and box - if they ever did a fix it was for a very good reason. As mentioned if there were gremlins making them do odd things its worth removing these before expecting the engine and or diagnostics to behave as expected.

The code u have surprises me I'd expect two characters then 4 digits - anyway might as well spread some info

Glow plugs - these are little pencil shaped heaters that reach into each combustion chamber to heat up the air so the tractor fuel might actually burn. In the old days these just helped it start on a cold day, but way before the 221 these are on and off all the time trying to get it to behave at low revs low temps. These are service items and need swapping out every 60 k miles or so and you should also replace the Glow Plug control unit, this actually has software and a logic inside informing the engine ECU of combustion temps and conditions (bit like a knock sensor I believe). If you look over the years the hardware and software of the control unit was continually upgraded. If replacing glow plugs - use lots of Plus Gas for a week beforehand and get the engine to high operating temps and use a torque wrench when undoing them - they like to snap off an irritate. If you do, don't stress lots of specialists about who will come and extract them on a home call out basis.

Inlet port shut off motor - this is what the rest of the world call swirl flaps - the idea to stimulate turbulence at low RPM to mix air and fuel for a better burn thus lower emissions and allegedly more go - these motors burn out under the strain of the soot and filth tractors build up in the inlet ports from using the EGR. You can just fit a small resistor to the middle two of the four wires and ignore, as it basically does nothing useful and the car will drive the same, the resistor just turn of the nag in diagnostics

The EGR - this does two things, makes it behave better in low temps thus reducing emissions, but most it make the engine run hot enough it doesn't damages itself and makes the heater work.

Exhaust back pressure senor - the most incompetent name going for a boost pressure sensor. This controls the actuator for the VTG turbo to mange boost pressure - its a $50 sensor that pops its diaphragm at 100k mile / 10 year mark and is easily sorted from the top (sits near the EGR valve at the back right near the turbo)

Tractors need regular fuel filter changes and on this its likely got the water sensor and a heater making it a pain and more costly but you must never ignore. Water and dirt in modern tractor injectors = big money and they need some insane coding set up after fitment to get them to behave and the engine to run right .

DPF - the euro 221 always got a DPF even way back in 2006. It was an option for all other models back then. These send extra fuel in to the mix to set fire to the DPF at regular intervals to refresh (aka regen the DPF) by burning some of the soot that gives cancer and heart disease coming out the back of any tractor engine. The more you drive slow round town the more it needs to regen. On all other Mercs this feature never really worked from new and many fill the engine sump with fuel as the burn never gets going - so it throws more and more in till the high oil level light comes in. People drain some out and do this for 2 years and end up running on Diesel instead of engine oil. NICE. Even 5 years back Merc were on their 7 iteration trying to create a temp sensor for the DPF that worked. Its supposed to go with a software update I believe.

Ad-blu - (dont think your car would have this - but if it does - the real fun starts). Here we get to the madness of deliberate customer rip off and illegal cars from the point of sale. As of 20 years ago we all knew that basically no tractor engine should ever be allowed to be cranked into life as they are so dangerous to health they should be banned forever. But the euro fools kept going, eventually realising if you fit enough emission control equipment we can make them only 10 times more deadly than a cuddly petrol engine So now they all **** in the exhaust to reduce some of the filth using uric acid (aka Ad-blu). But by the time they fitted these they were all on the page of lying and cheating before they even sold them.

VAG worked out the safest way to do it was to analyse the vehicle usage, and if its not being driven on a road, run the legal map, if its on a road, use one that drives properly so its safe and drivable. But GM and Merc hadn't thought of something that sensible - they just decided that the testing lab ran a fixed temperature, so if it sees this temp run the legal map, otherwise always run the illegal one by pretending to the car it thinks the ambient temps are colder than they are using a temp offset in the temp data sent to the engine ECU.

Anyway before anyone knew about the illegality of emissions from the factory, to scam additional money from customers they not only had rnad software, creating all sorts of fun, the emission system for ad- blu was a joke. The first scam was a faulty $20 sensor on the ad-blu tank that could only be swapped by replacing the entire tank at $1500, oddly it tended to come in to play just after the warranty ran out. Then the NOx sensors all magically went wrong at 4 years of age. The fix was $900 Mk2 senors and a software update - but it didn't fix anything - the idea was just to push the problem on to the next owner. But some had hung on and got upset - then the emission scandal hit and Merc had to go and create a set up that actually functioned.

Thus we got Mk 3 NOx sensors and even here they tried to pull a scam. You only know mk3 sensors exist if the car has been updated by Mercedes to change the parts drawing for your car to the current spec. And as another main Dealer rip off idea these sensors only work with two other updates - the engine has yet another update and the SCR (the bit that controls the ad-blu) also get a big update - and suddenly the car actually meets it homologated emission standards and the DPF starts to work correctly - leaving only 6 dead school children as it goes by everyday instead of the 15 it used to get





.