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R171 AMG with lots of faults-> PROBLEM FINALLY FIXED!

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39K views 309 replies 24 participants last post by  Swedish Steven 
#1 ·
During a drive today I got the following errors/faults on the car.

1. Speedo stopped working
2. ABS warning light in dash
3. Speedtronic faulty
4. Display faulty
5. Warning for brake wear
6. Tire pressure monitoring out of order
7. No digital speedo
8. Driving computers just showing time and nothing else
9. Servo steering turned heavy

and the most peculiar of all - outside temp showing 0,0 deg C.

Tried to read the codes with a simple OBD-reader. Absolute nothing was shown. Did a battery reset and the codes where gone and I could get out of Park with gear shifter. 500 meters later the same issue. Restarting the car shows "No Malfunktion" for 3 seconds, then we are back to the same thing. Have to use the release button the get the car out of Park.

MB dealer said it's the battery, but thats not the issue. I would had to wait for 3 weeks before they could take a look at the car, so I took it to an Indy and they says it's the ESP control module - at least to 90% certainly.

They will change it later this week or beginning of next week. Let's see it that does it - othervise I would have blown 1.000.- USD + labour.

What do you think? All exept the outside temp reading points to things that involve monitoring of speed and managment of that. Or?
 
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#116 ·
So, I took the front SAM out to check if there was any water/corrosion/bad conectors on the underside. It wasen't, as far as I could see. Anyway, hoping for the best, I took the car for a spin and I could drive a full hour without fail. I was smiling - and the it failed. But OTOH is was much further than ever before.

Question to you clever guys: If I buy a used part (A1715450901 I presume) for a R171 - does it still need coding? Thinking of taking a chance....

Like this: Mercedes SLK R171 SAM Sicherungskasten Steuergerät Relais A1715450901 | eBay

I had no clue how many wires there are under the front SAM.


577940
577941
577942
 
#117 ·
According to EPC there are five generations of the front SAM and they all apply to each version of the R171. In order:
171 545 00 01
171 545 08 01
171 545 11 01
171 545 15 01
171 545 16 01

As you see the part number you are looking at is not included in this list so I don't know what to suggest on using this particular part. If it were me, and I wanted to replace the SAM with used one, I would try to find the latest version as obviously they made changes/improvements with each.

To answer the question as to coding - yes a replacement would need to be coded to your car. The coding is copied from your original SAM and input to the replacement unit.
 
#118 ·
Thank you, mchild! Does the lack of coding (from my side) make the car a "non starter"? Thinking about doing the swap myselfe and drive to my indy to do the coding. OTOH, swapping the front SAM is not a big deal for my indy (an hour?).

Once again, many thanks to all of you helping me out. Can't express how much it means to me.

According to EPC there are five generations of the front SAM and they all apply to each version of the R171. In order:
171 545 00 01
171 545 08 01
171 545 11 01
171 545 15 01
171 545 16 01

As you see the part number you are looking at is not included in this list so I don't know what to suggest on using this particular part. If it were me, and I wanted to replace the SAM with used one, I would try to find the latest version as obviously they made changes/improvements with each.

To answer the question as to coding - yes a replacement would need to be coded to your car. The coding is copied from your original SAM and input to the replacement unit.
 
#119 ·
I assume the car would run but I don't know for sure. Some, but not all, of the coding is to tell the SAM what options the car has and which engine and so on. If the replacement SAM came from a car with out the 5.5L engine there may be issues. But, I just don't know. I guess you could install it and see what happens. Switch back the old one if it won't run and drive.
 
#120 ·
I think it will run. But I would let your indy install it.
What is coded in the front SAM are mostly options like AAC or C-AAC, xenons or halogens, that kind of stuff. If you swap the SAM and then take it to your indy he has to code all the options by hand. If the old one is still in the car he can offload the contents of the old SAM to DAS and subsequently upload it to the new SAM. Just my 2 cents.
 
#123 ·
More of a problem, sort of. Drowe the car for several hours today with the hope to find how and when the fault pops up. I need to drive to the indy with an upcoming fault, so they can scan the car while on the road - and then scan the fault. Normally, that would not be a problem, as the car has gone into fail constantly and more so after it's been driven for a while.

But the car didn't fail, despite well over an hours drive.

I will desperately try tomorrow to reproduce the fault - needless to say I will have to floor it many, many times to check that😁
 
#125 ·
Well, I drove the car without fail a lot - until today. It then failed (after resetting) again and again. But for the first time, I got a fail while not driving. The car was idling in Park, with me outside the car. As soon as I was back in the driver seat and before I could get it out of Park, there it was. So, then we know that it's not any speed, steering or yaw sensors - right?

What remains then? Bad front SAM?

After the fails and the last reset, I drow it home (an hours drive) and no fail....... 🤪
 
#126 ·
Just thinking outside the box here. Been right thru all the post but I may have missed something. Apart from the steering going heavy (which mine does perhaps once or twice in a blue moon) and the roof not going up, what are the other physical manifestations? Seem to be a lot of faults, warnings and dash display issues. Could it be something in the dash and/or warning system causing false errors? I'm a bit old school and I always recall someone who rebuilt his engine because of overheating and it turned out to be the temp gauge. Like I said, just a crazy notion of mine in the quest to solve the thus far unsolvable!

Maya~Taptalk
 
#127 ·
osi, here you go:

1. Speedo stopped working
2. ABS warning light in dash
3. Speedtronic faulty (message)
4. Display faulty (message)
5. Warning for brake wear (message)
6. Tire pressure monitoring out of order (not avaliable)
7. No digital speedo
8. Driving computers just showing time and nothing else
9. Servo steering turned heavy
On top of that, I can't close the roof and the gear box is locked in "P".

ESP module is changed (USD 2.500.-) but it didn't do the trick.
 
#128 ·
osi, here you go:



On top of that, I can't close the roof and the gear box is locked in "P".

ESP module is changed (USD 2.500.-) but it didn't do the trick.
No, I got it! In fact I had already read again thru the entire stream of discussions. What I'm saying is that apart from the roof, heavy steering and stuck in P which may be a result of the system throwing misleading fault messages, all the fault messages have lead nowhere, so what I'm suggesting, ridiculous as it may sound, is that you have an intermittent connection issue, perhaps in the loom behind the dash or somewhere along the line that is throwing these messages.

It brings me back to my first comment way back in this thread whereby when I lost all dash display (but car ran fine) it turned out to be an intermittent power connection to one of the ancillary leads to the battery.

Maya~Taptalk
 
#129 ·
osi, sorry I missed that you been thru all my posts. I am with you, but I can get out of the fault mode by simply disconnect the connector from front SAM at the ESP module. To me, this would indicate that the error was at the ESP module (which is exchanged to a new one), the loom from front SAM to ESP module - or finally the front SAM.

I am tending to lean on a bad front SAM. Otherwise I am totally lost.

Now I have a really intermittent fault - which is the worst case scenario. Can't leave the car to a workshop and ask them to drive it until it fails (with DAS connected). It can take 3 minutes or 5 hours.
 
#130 ·
So, I have asked the indy for a qoute on exchanging the front SAM. I know that it's a (big) risk, but if some one else have a better solution, I would happily take that.

I need to be able to drive the car with confidence - at the moment it's not possible.

Please chime in, you clever people. I need your assistance.
 
#131 · (Edited)
I have an old front SAM lying around here gathering dust. It came from my previous 2007 R171 280 that suffered from the infamous intermittent A/C problem. Otherwise it had no fault,in any case nothing like what yours is suffering from. The car it came from had pretty much every option so you could do a straight swap to see if the SAM is the culprit.
If you pay me the shipping costs it is yours. Just let me know.
FYI: partnr A171 545 11 01 SW 2306 Shipping costs would be €9 (<2kg) or €19,50 (2-5 kg).
 
#133 ·
To the best of my knowledge,no. But I might be wrong. I think you could just swap it and see if the problem is solved. But if one of the knowledgable lot here has better info, I gladly be corrected. Ofcourse should you decide to repair the A/C issue and keep it in the car then I would code it. But just for testing if it solves your problem then no,I don't think coding is necessary. But I gladly be corrected.
 
#137 ·
0VCD_Lastwegschaltung01
0VCD_AbbiegelichtDF 28 50 FF 07 02 00 5A 00 28 01 01 B4 64 02 02 28 FA 50
0VCD_Klemmenschaltung_15_15R02
0VCD_Konfiguration_Waehlhebelbeleuchtung0F 14 FA 0C
0VCD_Rueckwaertsgang03 02
0VCD_SoftwarekonfigurationB4
0VCD_Softwarekonfiguration_200

This is my coding for the front sam, can you check yours? I am sure is different.
If he has access to das, he can save his coding and then he can swap his sam with yours and code it.
 
#138 ·
No I can't. No access to DAS. Sorry. But all these settings seem to be related to options of the car. Like Abbiegelicht ,Cornering Lights in English.
If I understand Steven correct he just wants to be more sure that the problem is in the SAM. So he could just swap and accept that certain options might not work. But he could test if his problem is with the SAM powering his ESP module as he suspects.
Anyway,I leave it up to him. The offer stands.
As said,it is lying here around and will no doubt eventually end among other dumped electronics at the local scrapyard when I have time to clean out my garage.
So Steven,just let me know if you want it.
 
#140 ·
Pete, I have sent you a PM.

No I can't. No access to DAS. Sorry. But all these settings seem to be related to options of the car. Like Abbiegelicht ,Cornering Lights in English.
If I understand Steven correct he just wants to be more sure that the problem is in the SAM. So he could just swap and accept that certain options might not work. But he could test if his problem is with the SAM powering his ESP module as he suspects.
Anyway,I leave it up to him. The offer stands.
As said,it is lying here around and will no doubt eventually end among other dumped electronics at the local scrapyard when I have time to clean out my garage.
So Steven,just let me know if you want it.
 
#141 ·
Then I found this...: "Long story short. My SLK suffered intermittent AC failure when I bought it. Year later (October 2017) I got all esp, abs, bas, speedtronic, servotronic, ect errors while driving home. Without any further investigations I ordered right away brand new latest version front SAM from Bald. I towed my car to local dealer to install & scn codeing. They did the job but nothing changed. Alternator was pushing allmost 18 volts and systems shut down because of that. They wanted to sell me brand new alt but I delivered them just a new voltage regulator and after that everything has worked like it should."

This tread: DIY Fix for A/C not working or intermittent, windows...

But my reading on the dash in service mode is 13.4 volts steady.
 
#148 ·
From him
"Are okay , so far i have no errors , im driving the car today and going many places so really hope there is no fault , its hot today and normally the error came on"

"
[11:50, 08/06/2020] Can he enter the esp module when happens?
[11:52, 08/06/2020] no
[11:52, 08/06/2020] Same is mine did
 
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