S600 - Random Rodeo Movement
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S600
S600 - Random Rodeo Movement
Just looking for some insight!
About a month ago I noticed when I stop at red lights occasionally the front struts would begin “dancing” a bit like a mini rodeo mode.
No codes or warnings
Its been happening so randomly so I haven’t been able to see any type of pattern and the beast drives perfectly.
This past weekend I flushed the system with 3 gallons of pentosin and changed the filter (2nd flush since 2021) and the fluid was slightly dirty but still pretty clear as it’s been only about 30K since last change.
It’s too soon to tell but I’m hoping the fluid change helps especially since I did put in a new accumulator a few months ago which ruptured and I’ve been meaning to change the fluid since I read it’s a good idea to do it once the gas from the accumulator contaminates the pentosin.
I also noticed on the highway the front end is at times overly sensitive to the road—kinda like when you’re driving in strong winds—a bit “swervy” (made up word but it feels right lol)
Any insight on this random rodeo thing would be greatly appreciated.
About a month ago I noticed when I stop at red lights occasionally the front struts would begin “dancing” a bit like a mini rodeo mode.
No codes or warnings
Its been happening so randomly so I haven’t been able to see any type of pattern and the beast drives perfectly.
This past weekend I flushed the system with 3 gallons of pentosin and changed the filter (2nd flush since 2021) and the fluid was slightly dirty but still pretty clear as it’s been only about 30K since last change.
It’s too soon to tell but I’m hoping the fluid change helps especially since I did put in a new accumulator a few months ago which ruptured and I’ve been meaning to change the fluid since I read it’s a good idea to do it once the gas from the accumulator contaminates the pentosin.
I also noticed on the highway the front end is at times overly sensitive to the road—kinda like when you’re driving in strong winds—a bit “swervy” (made up word but it feels right lol)
Any insight on this random rodeo thing would be greatly appreciated.
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2007 S600, 2007 Chrysler 300 SRT8, 2000 C5 Corvette, 2017 Mustang GT, 2023 300C, and a 2019 Lincoln
I also think a flush, filter, and refill of green pentocin should help. You mentioned changing an accumulator. There are more than just one. How old are the others? I might even flush and change the filter and refill (easy for me to spend your money) one more time just to make sure you have trapped the grime in the ABC system. Keeping it all clean is the key.
I change mine every two years and/or 20,000 miles. Accumulators, filters, and pentocin are all considered maintenance items on our S600. You can do the maintenance or suffer the cost of repair; but you have to choose.
I change mine every two years and/or 20,000 miles. Accumulators, filters, and pentocin are all considered maintenance items on our S600. You can do the maintenance or suffer the cost of repair; but you have to choose.
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S500
I know nothing about ABC - other than some random advice...
isn't there a rodeo calibration process within Xentry dealer tools ? If you swap components and swapped fluid I expect this is essential ?
ABC cars get a "cross wind compensation" thing that detects side winds and either plays with the suspension and or fiddles with the steering
isn't there a rodeo calibration process within Xentry dealer tools ? If you swap components and swapped fluid I expect this is essential ?
ABC cars get a "cross wind compensation" thing that detects side winds and either plays with the suspension and or fiddles with the steering
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S600
2 questions:
1) Did you get any ABC warning messages?
2) Do recall where you ended up sourcing the part and the time/labor cost to install?
Thanks so much!
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don't forget a 2003 Merc was designed to last 3 minutes, the 221 lasts a bit longer - but with more maint issue costs
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2003 S55 (SOLD) , 2012 S550
I did not have any errors and i sourced the computer from ebay (was pretty cheap) on my W220 no relearn/programming was needed but depending on the options you have it might be in your case.
Botus....
First....the Rodeo is NOT a calibration process....it gets the air out of the system, heats the system and you can monitor the pressure of the pump which tells you how good the pump still is.
Second.... i have Xentry /DAS and carried out the calibration (which is close to the same as the airmatic system) many times and it always passed before i replaced the computer
Hope this helps
Good Luck
Botus....
First....the Rodeo is NOT a calibration process....it gets the air out of the system, heats the system and you can monitor the pressure of the pump which tells you how good the pump still is.
Second.... i have Xentry /DAS and carried out the calibration (which is close to the same as the airmatic system) many times and it always passed before i replaced the computer
Hope this helps
Good Luck
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S600
I did not have any errors and i sourced the computer from ebay (was pretty cheap) on my W220 no relearn/programming was needed but depending on the options you have it might be in your case.
Botus....
First....the Rodeo is NOT a calibration process....it gets the air out of the system, heats the system and you can monitor the pressure of the pump which tells you how good the pump still is.
Second.... i have Xentry /DAS and carried out the calibration (which is close to the same as the airmatic system) many times and it always passed before i replaced the computer
Hope this helps
Good Luck
Botus....
First....the Rodeo is NOT a calibration process....it gets the air out of the system, heats the system and you can monitor the pressure of the pump which tells you how good the pump still is.
Second.... i have Xentry /DAS and carried out the calibration (which is close to the same as the airmatic system) many times and it always passed before i replaced the computer
Hope this helps
Good Luck
Perfect! Thank you PillDrive for taking your valuable time to answer my very specific questions on this!
Best regards
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Joined: Dec 2006
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W222 AMG S63
Have you considered that the ride height sensors may need to be replaced?
I had a hard time calibrating my car's ride height recently. Things would be fine during calibration, then suddenly, they would go out of whack after the first drive. Like one or two corners would be one inch higher than calibrated. After many, many frustrating hours over several days of trying to get the calibration to save as expected, decided to replace the sensors. I believe that they were around $130 each from the dealer, cheaper for non-MB. I needed one for each corner.
They are easy to access. Just remove the wheel and it's right there. But, you may have to fight a bit to get the plug to release.
All 4 of my sensors had production dates of April 2007.
After I replaced them, everything calibration worked as expected.
I had a hard time calibrating my car's ride height recently. Things would be fine during calibration, then suddenly, they would go out of whack after the first drive. Like one or two corners would be one inch higher than calibrated. After many, many frustrating hours over several days of trying to get the calibration to save as expected, decided to replace the sensors. I believe that they were around $130 each from the dealer, cheaper for non-MB. I needed one for each corner.
They are easy to access. Just remove the wheel and it's right there. But, you may have to fight a bit to get the plug to release.
All 4 of my sensors had production dates of April 2007.
After I replaced them, everything calibration worked as expected.
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S600
Have you considered that the ride height sensors may need to be replaced?
I had a hard time calibrating my car's ride height recently. Things would be fine during calibration, then suddenly, they would go out of whack after the first drive. Like one or two corners would be one inch higher than calibrated. After many, many frustrating hours over several days of trying to get the calibration to save as expected, decided to replace the sensors. I believe that they were around $130 each from the dealer, cheaper for non-MB. I needed one for each corner.
They are easy to access. Just remove the wheel and it's right there. But, you may have to fight a bit to get the plug to release.
All 4 of my sensors had production dates of April 2007.
After I replaced them, everything calibration worked as expected.
I had a hard time calibrating my car's ride height recently. Things would be fine during calibration, then suddenly, they would go out of whack after the first drive. Like one or two corners would be one inch higher than calibrated. After many, many frustrating hours over several days of trying to get the calibration to save as expected, decided to replace the sensors. I believe that they were around $130 each from the dealer, cheaper for non-MB. I needed one for each corner.
They are easy to access. Just remove the wheel and it's right there. But, you may have to fight a bit to get the plug to release.
All 4 of my sensors had production dates of April 2007.
After I replaced them, everything calibration worked as expected.
As mentioned by PILLDRIVE in the message above, this weird random mini rodeo occurs without any ABC errors/warnings (this has been my experience too).
If I may ask:
1) Did you by any chance get any warnings/errors prior to the failed calibration attempts?
2) You mention “things would go out of whack after the first drive…” when you say ‘out of whack’ are you referring to:
A) a clearly visible drop/rise after returning and inspecting the space between wheel & body post test drive?
B) a subtle drop/rise detected by your calibration software/tool?
or
C) obvious movement (similar to those recreational low rider kits that folks install to make their cars bounce)?
Thanks in advance for your clarification!
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 972
Likes: 191
From: Atlanta
W222 AMG S63
CQHall, firstly—thank you for sharing. I hadn’t considered the ride height sensors but will definitely now!
As mentioned by PILLDRIVE in the message above, this weird random mini rodeo occurs without any ABC errors/warnings (this has been my experience too).
If I may ask:
1) Did you by any chance get any warnings/errors prior to the failed calibration attempts?
2) You mention “things would go out of whack after the first drive…” when you say ‘out of whack’ are you referring to:
A) a clearly visible drop/rise after returning and inspecting the space between wheel & body post test drive?
B) a subtle drop/rise detected by your calibration software/tool?
or
C) obvious movement (similar to those recreational low rider kits that folks install to make their cars bounce)?
Thanks in advance for your clarification!
As mentioned by PILLDRIVE in the message above, this weird random mini rodeo occurs without any ABC errors/warnings (this has been my experience too).
If I may ask:
1) Did you by any chance get any warnings/errors prior to the failed calibration attempts?
2) You mention “things would go out of whack after the first drive…” when you say ‘out of whack’ are you referring to:
A) a clearly visible drop/rise after returning and inspecting the space between wheel & body post test drive?
B) a subtle drop/rise detected by your calibration software/tool?
or
C) obvious movement (similar to those recreational low rider kits that folks install to make their cars bounce)?
Thanks in advance for your clarification!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potentiometer
It's like having a vintage stereo system and you never turn the volume over "4". If you turn the volume to 5, 6, 7... you will hear crackling and static as you are rubbing places that haven't been rubbed in years.
So, the symptom I would have is that, after calibrating it to the desired "1-finger" gap at all 4 corners, I would return from a drive and the driver-rear and passenger-front would be 1" or more higher than expected. It was very obvious to the eye. This indicated that the sensor was giving incorrect values. It's a long story as to why those corners always were high.
There was never any bounce or rodeo.
However, there was one incident where I calibrated the car lower than it liked to be and at the first hump in the road the car resorted to "4x4 mode!" where all 4 corners were at max height. I mean, this thing was HIGH. Much higher than if you press the lift button on the dash.
Again, all of the above went away when I installed fresh sensors. And after that was all settled, I then installed a Renntech Lowering Module that gives me more flexibility without having to use my Autel.
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S600
Using my Autel (can't recall the model), I would calibrate the car (S63) to have a "1-finger" gap at all 4 corners. This was slightly lower than what my car had previously been set at since production. So, I think this was outside of the usual range of motion for the 16 year old sensors. So, when driving, the sensor is already in a slightly different place than usual, when I hit a hump the sensor would then go to a place that it has never been to. It should be able to respond accordingly, but that new area in the potentiometer is probably corroded.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potentiometer
It's like having a vintage stereo system and you never turn the volume over "4". If you turn the volume to 5, 6, 7... you will hear crackling and static as you are rubbing places that haven't been rubbed in years.
So, the symptom I would have is that, after calibrating it to the desired "1-finger" gap at all 4 corners, I would return from a drive and the driver-rear and passenger-front would be 1" or more higher than expected. It was very obvious to the eye. This indicated that the sensor was giving incorrect values. It's a long story as to why those corners always were high.
There was never any bounce or rodeo.
However, there was one incident where I calibrated the car lower than it liked to be and at the first hump in the road the car resorted to "4x4 mode!" where all 4 corners were at max height. I mean, this thing was HIGH. Much higher than if you press the lift button on the dash.
Again, all of the above went away when I installed fresh sensors. And after that was all settled, I then installed a Renntech Lowering Module that gives me more flexibility without having to use my Autel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potentiometer
It's like having a vintage stereo system and you never turn the volume over "4". If you turn the volume to 5, 6, 7... you will hear crackling and static as you are rubbing places that haven't been rubbed in years.
So, the symptom I would have is that, after calibrating it to the desired "1-finger" gap at all 4 corners, I would return from a drive and the driver-rear and passenger-front would be 1" or more higher than expected. It was very obvious to the eye. This indicated that the sensor was giving incorrect values. It's a long story as to why those corners always were high.
There was never any bounce or rodeo.
However, there was one incident where I calibrated the car lower than it liked to be and at the first hump in the road the car resorted to "4x4 mode!" where all 4 corners were at max height. I mean, this thing was HIGH. Much higher than if you press the lift button on the dash.
Again, all of the above went away when I installed fresh sensors. And after that was all settled, I then installed a Renntech Lowering Module that gives me more flexibility without having to use my Autel.
I was talking to gentleman today who has a modified S65 and he mentioned that he experienced something similar to you where all 4 corners lifted at one point and the culprit ended up being his wheel speed sensors malfunctioning.
He mentioned feeling that the problem seemed to initiate once he switched out his factory wheels for bigger aftermarket ones.
Again, you’re awesome man. Thanks for shedding some light on this. I’ll be sure to share the results once I resolve the issue!
thanks so much
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From: Atlanta
W222 AMG S63
Oh, and one last thing.
Recall when I said that the driver-rear and passenger-front corners would always go high? When I got my sensors from the dealership, they only had 3 in stock and I had to wait for the 4th. I went home and replaced both rear sensors, calibrated the suspension, and the problem went away on the driver-rear corner (using new sensor) and persisted in the passenger-front corner (sensor was not changed). This let me know that I was on the right track.
I replaced the front sensors about a week later when the part came in.
Good luck!
Recall when I said that the driver-rear and passenger-front corners would always go high? When I got my sensors from the dealership, they only had 3 in stock and I had to wait for the 4th. I went home and replaced both rear sensors, calibrated the suspension, and the problem went away on the driver-rear corner (using new sensor) and persisted in the passenger-front corner (sensor was not changed). This let me know that I was on the right track.
I replaced the front sensors about a week later when the part came in.
Good luck!
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S600
Oh, and one last thing.
Recall when I said that the driver-rear and passenger-front corners would always go high? When I got my sensors from the dealership, they only had 3 in stock and I had to wait for the 4th. I went home and replaced both rear sensors, calibrated the suspension, and the problem went away on the driver-rear corner (using new sensor) and persisted in the passenger-front corner (sensor was not changed). This let me know that I was on the right track.
I replaced the front sensors about a week later when the part came in.
Good luck!
Recall when I said that the driver-rear and passenger-front corners would always go high? When I got my sensors from the dealership, they only had 3 in stock and I had to wait for the 4th. I went home and replaced both rear sensors, calibrated the suspension, and the problem went away on the driver-rear corner (using new sensor) and persisted in the passenger-front corner (sensor was not changed). This let me know that I was on the right track.
I replaced the front sensors about a week later when the part came in.
Good luck!
Very helpful! Look forward to sharing updates soon!
Thanks again!
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Joined: Dec 2015
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From: Tampa Bay, FL
2014 E350 Wagon, 2009 SL550 no ABC
Random rodeo is usually due to Acceleration Suspension Vertical Sensor 0045423518 (291786049640). About $25 and about 5 minutes to replace - two bolts and one plug around the top of front shock tower.
Those are not ride height sensors. Ride height sensors are in the wheel wells. When they go bad or loose (worth checking the bolts) they typically create more of a single "jump" instead of a "rodeo".
Those are not ride height sensors. Ride height sensors are in the wheel wells. When they go bad or loose (worth checking the bolts) they typically create more of a single "jump" instead of a "rodeo".
Last edited by George993; Mar 31, 2023 at 07:16 PM.
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S600
Random rodeo is usually due to Acceleration Suspension Vertical Sensor 0045423518 (291786049640). About $25 and about 5 minutes to replace - two bolts and one plug around the top of front shock tower.
Those are not ride height sensors. Ride height sensors are in the wheel wells. When they go bad or loose (worth checking the bolts) they typically create more of a single "jump" instead of a "rodeo".
Those are not ride height sensors. Ride height sensors are in the wheel wells. When they go bad or loose (worth checking the bolts) they typically create more of a single "jump" instead of a "rodeo".
Would you recommend a seller if purchasing on a site like eBay/Amazon ($25-$48)? It’s almost $150 from the stealership.
Also, just to clarify is there’s one 1 acceleration suspension vertical sensor correct?
Thank you so much for your help!
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From: Tampa Bay, FL
2014 E350 Wagon, 2009 SL550 no ABC
There is one per side, so I would just invest $50 and replace both :-). I bought some units for $23.99 each, free shipping from "partscollect" on ebay a few years ago and they have been working fine. It should fix the problem, but even if not that's a good preventive maintenance to replace them at such cost anyway.
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S600
There is one per side, so I would just invest $50 and replace both :-). I bought some units for $23.99 each, free shipping from "partscollect" on ebay a few years ago and they have been working fine. It should fix the problem, but even if not that's a good preventive maintenance to replace them at such cost anyway.
Thanks again!
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S600
Thread Starter
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Joined: Jul 2021
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S600
There is one per side, so I would just invest $50 and replace both :-). I bought some units for $23.99 each, free shipping from "partscollect" on ebay a few years ago and they have been working fine. It should fix the problem, but even if not that's a good preventive maintenance to replace them at such cost anyway.
I went ahead and ordered a 3rd sensor (just in case) as I did a quick search and it seems there’s 3 of these vertical acceleration sensors but I only see 2 under the hood exactly where you said—do you have any idea where the 3rd one is?
Seems like an odd number so I may be mistaken but if there is indeed a 3rd I’d like to change them all at once.
Thanks
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S500
does that mean under the parcel self / speaker grille - as in on top of the right rear strut mount? as behind the passenger side backseat - in my world would mean behind a right rear seat back rest....
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