its the e-brake / parking brake

Ah thanks, I have to hold the wheel off center due to an allignment issue, I wonder if the steering angle sensor is causing it to freak out?

Aussie50 Worth checking isnt it :-)) My mates peugeot had the esp light on, it was the break switch, it was a double brake and esp switch, watching you put your brake on lol, not bloody esp :-)

zx8401ztv yeh my 7 series had the same issue, it would trigger the check control module if the button was not released at the right time (must have had a transducer somwhere else to detect brake clamping)

Awesome, I figured the battery was a bit small, its clamp has been butchered to try and clamp the smaller one, but it failed. I will be looking at a new battery soon, winter is slowly killing this one. you got yours for a steal too!, the facelifted ones are still around $7000 here, with higher mileage!. I've been test driving her all morning and love her!, very nice ride quality with the new oversize tyres on!. Interesting to hear yours is a manual too, I would have loved to find a manual one, but they are very rare, or expensive.

haha i love that joke. and only us people from the mornington peninsula get it.

Volvo's are a very nice car too!, I would have bought a V70XC if it was bigger (the XC90 is perfect, but still holding a pretty high value)

+Aussie50 I have a V70, you can fit two bikes in the back, done that before, the problem with those is the shit sensor on the throttle body, it wears out after a while, I had to replace it

I am not sure if the angle sensor is working, but the steering needs an allignment (have to hold the wheel way off straight to go straight. I wonder if the sensor is having a fit because of that

Aussie50 It makes sense to me that a poor alignment would throw off that sensor, though i'm not 100% positive on that. But i am positive however that the steering angle sensor being upset will upset the electronic aides. A quick ohm test with your multimeter will help you determine the health of the sensor, though that test is not definitive. You'd need an alignment before buying new tires anyway. Hopefully an alignment will fix your problem! Also if you replace the battery be sure to calibrate the sensor weather you replace it or not (turn the steering slowly lock to lock, drive slowly and repeat the procedure) i've had lots of older german cars and the sensors can cause all kinds of issues. when in doubt, suspect a sensor! Cheers

I dunno, apparently its a well known issue :(. wonder if there is a firmware patch?

***** obviously there might be a firmware patch i suggest googling the product number

I fixed it, fuse was borrowed for somthing else.

yep!, I found it under the drivers kick panel, or more importantly, did not find it, because it had been borrowed

Aussie50 Speaking of borrowed fuses, I had to do something similar years ago on my old 97 Golf. The front wipers suddenly quit on me just before I had to go visit someone so I had to take the fuse from the rear wiper so I could make the trip safely as it was pouring buckets of rain that evening.

yeh they still fetch a fair bit in good order, I should have this one done for under $5k

I do have a standard OBD port, but apparently Mercedes have some quirky software of their own in there making it hard for cheaper scanners to see all the codes.

Damn. No other way than the hard way then ;-)

nope, not in a common rail system.

Yeh its an interesting gamble, most issues are well documented thankfully, parts are pretty cheap here, but it can still add up, the set of tires will probably be the most expensive

just had a ECU scan done, 30 codes. mostly old ones, once cleared and retested, only 6 actually came up, mainly the ABS/Trac/BAS module, and the glow plug on No4 being open. thats it thankfully.

AWESOME .. thats good news man !!

ShawnMrFixit Lee yeh, these 400Nm Diesel engines are almost indestructable, its just the gremlines that drag these cars down :(. that and the occasional auto trans failure.. (BMW X5 is no better with their blown torque converters)

oh , I know .. That is way better than most of them .. You will get it fixed , Love yur vids man .. Keep us posted on that rig !!

feels great, no slip, faultless shifting (apart from the change in turbo whistle you would not know its shifting.)\ just need to factor in a service for it tho, I always service autos every 2 years, and I bet this one is way overdue.

Aussie50 i have just pulled one of these from the local wreckers (lol!) . If you look on the 'tube' there is a german vid showing a guy flushing the auto by actually running the engine with the trans pan off. These really need to be flushed to remove ALL contaminants . think of getting a Mercedes sump magnet for the trans too. it fits behind the filter. Any moisture contaminant in these trans is a killer as the glue used to bond the bands are water based.... Flush the power steer and use the Merc steering fluid not ATF because there aint no filter in there any more as in the older mercs.

Mercmad yeh I will be doing a full service on it Inc flush and, contact plate and connector block replacement. as far as sump magnets go, if it does not already have them. I just use HDD magnets. drop one or 2 in the lowest part and your golden.

It really is a shame they tried to make them in the US :(, I would love an Austrian made W163 but I do not even know how to identify one from a US built one. The engine really is a masterpiece!, 340,000km and still so strong!, only minor piston slap and other diesel wear, but far from out of service.

There are lots of them in germany with over 800.000 km on the clock. AFAIK, the austrian made W163 where only sold in germany and only in the first few weeks of production, because the US Factory wasn't up and running at 100%. It's a shame, that even after 15 Years of production you can easy identify where the car was made. You can identify them with the VIN: "WDC" = Daimler-Chrysler (while German made cars have "WDB" or "WDD" for Daimler-Benz or Daimler-Daimler) "163" = The internal model code and so on. If there is an "A" in the VIN, it's made in Tuscaloosa. If it is an "X" it's made in Austria. They also made a few C-Classes over there in tuscaloosa and i happend to test drive an imported one...it isn't as bad, as it used to be with the first few W163, but it still isn't great and no where near an C- or E-Class build here. (Yeah, i know, the W210 is a rust bucket per excellance, but at least after 15 Years it still feels rock solid with out any squeeks or rattles inside...personally i don't care about a little bit of rust ;) ) Everyone who asks me for advice on buying a Mercedes gets the same answers: Don't buy anything between 1995 and 2006 and you'll be fine :D

Hi, a question, i drive a 270 CDI and is a "WDC" but these did not make the american market as long as i know...so they were made in the USA and send to the rest of the world?

eh, S-Class dosn't really do it for me. maybe a G-Wagen? ;)

Aussie50 or a Unimog ;)

edgetechcompsys Yeah, I can see Ed driving an Unimog with all the bits and accessories attached to it, even the ditch trimmer!

its on a timer, goes out after 60 secs

Aussie50 oh ok. 60 seconds.... thats some long glowplug timer. Just check with the injector lines also. Being Commonrail as you know runs super high pressure. Most manufacturers like toyota recommend replacing the lines once used. All the Heavy Vehicles i work on EG cummins, the lines are a one use item.

yeh, fuel economy and hauling capacity, mind you Diesel is pretty expensive now, back in the day it was dirt cheap, just like LPG. but they jacked the price up to match everything else :(

It's not just at Australia. In Europe diesel cars are very common. As a matter of fact I think US apart for few other countries are pretty much the only "gasoline" countries. Torque, fuel economy and durability pretty are the usual reasons to buy diesels.

jothain Over in New Zealand, one has to pay for the distance you use while driving a Diesel,

jothain Diesel does seem to be gaining popularity in the US, probably because the US automakers are slowly vanishing, but that's a personal thing of mine so I won't go further on that. Jeep is coming out with a few models that have optional diesels, all SUVs, and I think a few diesel sedans are coming the States as well.

4E047RHH Out of curiosity. Does New Zealand have, sorry don't know exact word "annual/yearly tax" for gasoline and diesel vehicles? Or is all taxes by distance traveled?

looks like you know about this issue already lol little mercedes trick it to roll up the windows off the key you need to hold the lock button while pointing the key at the little window by the lock if it has it