ESP malfunction, now car won’t crank
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2019
Posts: 34
Likes: 0
2005 Mercedes E55 AMG
ESP malfunction, now car won’t crank
So I’ve done some searching to try and figure out what this issue is, but I don’t have a clue. Just now I got an “ESP Malfunction”, and it won’t crank. Before that happened there was some sort of almost grinding sound (like maybe what you’d hear with worn out brake pads, but it was constant while the car was on), and then almost a pop and the car shut off (that’s when the dash showed ESP Malfunction). There’s also a weird smell coming from it that I just can’t place. I haven’t tried pulling any codes (I have a crappy Bluetooth scanner). I’m wondering if the starter motor got stuck on? I heard the sound, was able to turn the car off and back on. After sitting for a couple minutes is when the failure happened.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2019
Posts: 34
Likes: 0
2005 Mercedes E55 AMG
I’ve tried to do some diagnostic stuff with no luck. The starter fuse looked to be good, and I changed it anyway, but that didn’t work. I swapped the starter relay in the SAM with the one for the fan/horn, and that didn’t work either. I’ve ready about the ECU going bad causing similar symptoms, but everyone with that seemed to have their fans running full blast as well. My car doesn’t do that. The fuel pump primes, and it acts like everything is fine, but just won’t crank over. I let it set overnight and it’s still giving me trouble (so I doubt it’s the crank position sensor). The battery is pretty new, and it’s not showing any other symptoms of a bad battery. I’m thinking it is the starter, but I want to be sure before I replace that. I don’t hear the starter solenoid click at all. I have keyless hope so I tried the key and the button and the both do the same thing.
Any help is SUPER appreciated!
Any help is SUPER appreciated!
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 496
Likes: 42
From: Sweden
W211 e500 (Sold), w204 c180, w203 c180, w201 190e, W219 CLS 55
Can you retrieve fault codes? If you don't have a fault code reader and need a good one on the cheap I recommend icarsoft mbII
https://www.ebay.com/itm/iCarsoft-MB...AAAOSwZPVecTEK
https://www.ebay.com/itm/iCarsoft-MB...AAAOSwZPVecTEK
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2019
Posts: 34
Likes: 0
2005 Mercedes E55 AMG
I have an OBD2 adapter that connects to my phone, and used an app to pull codes. It didn’t come up with anything. It just had some codes stored for the airmatic system (I just replaced a bad strut) and codes for a coil pack from when a wire came loose from a plug.
