AlexL

I am used to dealing with ABS problems but never experienced any other issues with my 05 CL600 which I had from new. So this was a shocker.

On the way to the airport, I had a front left tire puncture. The red tire pressure light turned on as expected. Drove another mile or so to get off the highway with no apparent damage to the rim. Changed the tire and started driving back to the highway. Within a minute or so a red " BRAKE fault, stop, call service" message turned on. I stopped, checked for obvious, leaks, brake fluid, etc. Everything looked OK, Started engine, no messages, started driving again, now within seconds, ESP off message flashed, followed by red " BRAKE fault, stop, call service" message again, also ABS yellow light, CHECK ENGINE yellow light, and speedo turned off. However, the brakes were OK and by this time I was seriously late so kept driving slowly and reached the airport parking. While manouvering around the airport I noticed the gear was suck in 3rd. in C mode. Sport mode switch was not working but it could go out to N and P. Didn't try reverse.

SO left the car at the airport and booked the trip to the dealer, but this is just too much to be caused by a flat tire. An ABS sensor might have failed or got disconnected but BRAKE fault, and being stuck in gear can't possibly be related. I thought it would be interesting to share this.

Alex

alexanderfoti

ABS sensor most likely.

Car needs to know its speed to change gear!

One of the 4 sensors drives the speedometer, its likely that one.

Geraldius

Brake fault and ABS error are probably linked to driving on the flat tire for a mile. That caused the wheel with the flat to spin at a different rate than the other wheels, which confused the ABS system into interpreting it as a braking malfunction. ABS works by sensing difference in wheel speeds. You can just clear those error codes now with your OBDII tool and it should be fine. Can't tell how this could be related to the 3rd gear problem though.

pmercury

iTrader: (2)

This looks like severe harness wire rupture
that can cause modules to freak out
What did you mean by "speedo turned off" ?

AlexL

Speedometer just went down to 0 and stayed there through the rest of the trip. I suspected some wire harness issue first but could not see any obvious damage around the wheel well. The tire didn't disintegrate, it just deflated and there were no pieces of rubber flying around. My bet right now is on ABS sensor being either damaged or disconnected. Don't have a clue why check engine light turned on . The engine runs perfectly and pulls away nicely even in 3 rd gear.

pmercury

iTrader: (2)

Then it is not a "severe" harness problem
When you said speedo went down, i was thinking the whole speedo

if not the sensor,
You might have what I had
it is nearly undetectable
the wire from one of the speedsensors

find the wires from sensor to ESP module driverside
cut them of, place fresh wires
done

pmercury

iTrader: (2)

as Geraldus said, it's confusing
the sensor can trigger a cascade of errors
ESP ABS ect ect

just focus on the sensor and wire to ESP¨module

AlexL

The mystery has been resolved by a sharp guy at the tire shop. He noticed that my spare tire which is standard thickness is slightly bigger (45 vs 35) than the tire that got punctured. Driving with 35 on one side and 45 on the other side confused the hell out of ESP which disconnected itself around 35mph. That was the first message: "ESP off" which also turned off speedometer and I believe disabled gear change. Than the ABS also signaled error and the threatening red "BRAKE fault, stop, call service" appeared. This was followed by "check engine" light.

With same thickness tires on both sides no more errors appeared and check engine light went off within a few cycles.

Nice. I can go now and blow the money I prepared for the dealer and buy some 19in wheels.

pmercury

iTrader: (2)

Sharp ?? yes maybe
because that is not something I would check as nobody can image that any Jackass would drive with a 35 one side and a 45 on the other side
maybe one day we will see someone with 3 or 4 different sizes
everything is possible in this world

pmercury

iTrader: (2)

you are aware that you have to go into Xentry Das Developper mode to set tire sizes if they are not OEM marked in the car's VIN Datacard yes ?