Thank you Val for the these tips. Once again awesome video and for my problem (as we discussed) the ASR light is not on in my R129. But this week it goes back to MB for them to fix. Thanks again for these tips here - very informative. Mark🙏
Much appreciated. It can be even more frustrating to have limp mode without any accompanying cluster lights on, as is your situation. Let us know what you find.
Great stuff Val! As you know this has been my demon on my 92 500sl! I ended up buying a used ETA on EBay ($300). That fixed my limp mode issue BUT the ASR light still comes on (but drives normal). I will open up my old one and see if anything looks out of place and play around with it. I have not messed with the potentiometer yet but it is on the list to look at. I will go through your list of fixes and see if any of them will turn the ASR light off. Maybe I'll get lucky 🤷♂. THANK YOU for this video AND all of your other SL content. I have used many of them!
Thanks for sharing your ASR experience and fix. I’m glad your 500SL is drivable now. I tried including all the ASR fixes I know into this video. Keep us updated.
Good Info as usual Val. I too...1992 500sl... had this issue. The indy that I took the car to FINALLY figured out it was a module...that was located where the OVP is located under that plastic piece.... that went bad...this was years ago and they wanted 1500 for the part only ...got one used for 300 sent it to them and they fixed it.
Interesting. It makes sense. Excellent score on the used part and kudos to the indy for figuring it out. I think a lot of 90s Mercedes owners give up on their car after experiencing the ASR limp mode, as it's frustrating because the car is not drivable and finding the fix always seems like a long and difficult journey. I hope this video and its comments can help others find their fix.
@@HandyVal You are correct in talking to the indy they had a very hard time figuring it out and it was only because they had another early 90's mbz in the shop at the time so they could swap out this module..I think it was the ECU...anyway after they did that it worked. Very hard issue to fix hope I do not have to go thru this again
I got the ASR ABS problem just after purchasing my car in march this year, a 1997 SL 280( m104), sometimes going in to limp mode sometimes not( by the way, on mine german version limp mode is 30kmh). Tried charging the battery, steering wheel trick, no go. Very frustrating. Then tried to pull and push back all the fuses and relays, as also did adjusted tire pressure as per specks( i had same pressure on all wheels which is not correct). After this, the warning lamps come on a bit later than usually, disappointed called it a day. Next morrning tested again, everything was fine, still all good :). I did had one limp mode incident( no warning lamps), it came on suddenly on the motorway, not very nice, its almost like as sudden braking.....cleaned the MAF sensor and never had it again. Now have done 3000 km, love every kilometer:)
Thanks for sharing your experience. I’m super happy that you now have it sorted out and are enjoying the R129 life. The cleaning of the MAF is surprising. I wonder if it was the cleaning and the combination of all the previous fixes that ultimately got the ASR ABS light out. It might be, but what is known is that the fixes for ASR are varied. Your ‘never quit’ attitude worked - amazing outcome!
@@bencosgrave3902 Yeah, possible. The problem is to find a reasonable priced device doing reading codes...They charge at the shop pretty ridiculous charges for reading codes on a 38 pin over here. This winter had a few incident of the ASR ABS light, but no limp mode any more. Think its the brake light switch that corrodes when not in use, as it appears only if the car is not in use for a few weeks, and goes away after more driving. There is no OBD 2 port on this car. only the 38 pin.
It can happen. First - check the fuse box under the hood for the instrument cluster fuse. Second, if unsuccessful it can be a poor connection to the instrument cluster…sometimes the connectors at the back of the cluster can become undone (especially if someone recently has removed the cluster). Third - the cluster is made up of a few capacitors that can go bad. The good thing is that they can be cheaply and easily replaced as DIY or anyone else who know a bit about electronics. Fourth - like the capacitors, there can be something that has literally fried in the cluster - you’ll need to open it and remove it and physically check for what has burnt. There’s a few good videos on UA-cam on how to remove the cluster properly and then how change capacitor (search R129 dash flash). I hope this helps. Keep me updated.
@@HandyVal well lets see as soon as the ASR light comes on the first half of the pedal is useless the acceleration is done only in the second half..No ABS light on.And thats kinda it nothing else happens beside the acceleration control..
Without the ABS light we can shorten the list of things to consider and look at, which is a good thing. I assume you tried some of the basic things in the video…battery is good, tried unplugging it and then turning the steering wheel? It seems like it can be related to your electronic throttle actuator or the accelerator cable. Try the accelerator cable first by tightening it a bit. I should have asked earlier, what year and model is it?
Thank u so much!
@@TheTurgy My pleasure. I hope the video can help you.
Thank you Val for the these tips. Once again awesome video and for my problem (as we discussed) the ASR light is not on in my R129. But this week it goes back to MB for them to fix. Thanks again for these tips here - very informative. Mark🙏
Much appreciated. It can be even more frustrating to have limp mode without any accompanying cluster lights on, as is your situation. Let us know what you find.
Great stuff Val! As you know this has been my demon on my 92 500sl! I ended up buying a used ETA on EBay ($300). That fixed my limp mode issue BUT the ASR light still comes on (but drives normal). I will open up my old one and see if anything looks out of place and play around with it. I have not messed with the potentiometer yet but it is on the list to look at. I will go through your list of fixes and see if any of them will turn the ASR light off. Maybe I'll get lucky 🤷♂. THANK YOU for this video AND all of your other SL content. I have used many of them!
Thanks for sharing your ASR experience and fix. I’m glad your 500SL is drivable now. I tried including all the ASR fixes I know into this video. Keep us updated.
Good Info as usual Val. I too...1992 500sl... had this issue. The indy that I took the car to FINALLY figured out it was a module...that was located where the OVP is located under that plastic piece.... that went bad...this was years ago and they wanted 1500 for the part only ...got one used for 300 sent it to them and they fixed it.
Interesting. It makes sense. Excellent score on the used part and kudos to the indy for figuring it out. I think a lot of 90s Mercedes owners give up on their car after experiencing the ASR limp mode, as it's frustrating because the car is not drivable and finding the fix always seems like a long and difficult journey. I hope this video and its comments can help others find their fix.
@@HandyVal You are correct in talking to the indy they had a very hard time figuring it out and it was only because they had another early 90's mbz in the shop at the time so they could swap out this module..I think it was the ECU...anyway after they did that it worked. Very hard issue to fix hope I do not have to go thru this again
I got the ASR ABS problem just after purchasing my car in march this year, a 1997 SL 280( m104), sometimes going in to limp mode sometimes not( by the way, on mine german version limp mode is 30kmh). Tried charging the battery, steering wheel trick, no go. Very frustrating. Then tried to pull and push back all the fuses and relays, as also did adjusted tire pressure as per specks( i had same pressure on all wheels which is not correct). After this, the warning lamps come on a bit later than usually, disappointed called it a day. Next morrning tested again, everything was fine, still all good :). I did had one limp mode incident( no warning lamps), it came on suddenly on the motorway, not very nice, its almost like as sudden braking.....cleaned the MAF sensor and never had it again. Now have done 3000 km, love every kilometer:)
Thanks for sharing your experience. I’m super happy that you now have it sorted out and are enjoying the R129 life. The cleaning of the MAF is surprising. I wonder if it was the cleaning and the combination of all the previous fixes that ultimately got the ASR ABS light out. It might be, but what is known is that the fixes for ASR are varied. Your ‘never quit’ attitude worked - amazing outcome!
@@HandyVal Thanks. Think cleaning of the MAF sensor only sorted out the one-of sudden limp mode that the car caused without any ABS /ASR alarms.
A 1997 car has the full OBD 38 pin so you can actually interrogate the ASR unlike the early KJet car as Val says.
@@bencosgrave3902 Yeah, possible. The problem is to find a reasonable priced device doing reading codes...They charge at the shop pretty ridiculous charges for reading codes on a 38 pin over here. This winter had a few incident of the ASR ABS light, but no limp mode any more. Think its the brake light switch that corrodes when not in use, as it appears only if the car is not in use for a few weeks, and goes away after more driving. There is no OBD 2 port on this car. only the 38 pin.
Do you have any suggestions why a cluster would just stop working please help
It can happen. First - check the fuse box under the hood for the instrument cluster fuse. Second, if unsuccessful it can be a poor connection to the instrument cluster…sometimes the connectors at the back of the cluster can become undone (especially if someone recently has removed the cluster). Third - the cluster is made up of a few capacitors that can go bad. The good thing is that they can be cheaply and easily replaced as DIY or anyone else who know a bit about electronics. Fourth - like the capacitors, there can be something that has literally fried in the cluster - you’ll need to open it and remove it and physically check for what has burnt. There’s a few good videos on UA-cam on how to remove the cluster properly and then how change capacitor (search R129 dash flash). I hope this helps. Keep me updated.
How did you get the 5 speed in North America?
Good question. The car in the video is 300SL and it came with a 5 speed automatic. The more powered early V8 SLs came with the 4 speed.
My problem is that the car is sitting and if i rev it on idle the ASR comes on...Any idea ?
Let’s try to fix it. Are there any performance issues when driving the car? And is the ABS light on too?
@@HandyVal well lets see as soon as the ASR light comes on the first half of the pedal is useless the acceleration is done only in the second half..No ABS light on.And thats kinda it nothing else happens beside the acceleration control..
Without the ABS light we can shorten the list of things to consider and look at, which is a good thing. I assume you tried some of the basic things in the video…battery is good, tried unplugging it and then turning the steering wheel? It seems like it can be related to your electronic throttle actuator or the accelerator cable. Try the accelerator cable first by tightening it a bit.
I should have asked earlier, what year and model is it?
My asr and abs lights are on also my brake lights come on when I start my car replaced brake light switch
Are the ASR and ABS light both off now that you replaced your brake light switch?
@@HandyVal no
Do you have any performance issues, with the lights on? Like poor acceleration?
@@HandyVal not yet