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electronic stability control

6K views 12 replies 11 participants last post by  MB-SV 
#1 ·
Last week while my 1987 560 SEC was at the local dealer for repairs, they loaned me a 2006 C-class. I think it was a C320.

On the highway, in the left lane, driving the 06 C-class, the right rear tire blew. It sounded like a shotgun went off! I'm not sure what caused this, but what happened next was VERY dangerous.

The car began to slow down rapidly. I went from 70 to 40 in a matter of seconds. I needed to get to the right shoulder immediately, with the traffic on my right flying past at 70+ mph, I tried to give it a little gas so I could merge right. No dice. THE ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL TURNED THE GAS PEDAL OFF!!! As in, the gas pedal did nothing. I could not accelerate.

I was taught when I was learning to drive that the throttle is an important tool in accident avoidance. More than once, I have used the throttle to rotate the car and regain control - or to accelerate slightly to merge right when a tire blows, for example.

In the end, I caused a huge traffic jam and had to wait for an opening to get over to the right. Long story short, the ESC could have gotten me killed.

One more reason I still love my '87 560.

Brian
 
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#4 ·
Wow Brian what a ride. You were lucky you had the ESP on when you blew the rear tire at 70+ mph. Without it you should have ended up sideways on your roof. I cannot believe the other drivers would be passing you. If anyone blew a tire in front of me they would own the road. Personally, I would have put my right signal on and just moved over. :thumbsup:

ESP saved my life once too. I was traveling 70 mph on a two lane road at night. The xenon headlights lit up a big black fury animal just right of the center line. It wasn't moving so I figured I would pass it on the left using it as an autocross cone and just missing it. Then two glowing eyes looked up at me. I did an emergency lane change left then right at 70 MPH! The ESP light came on and stayed on for about 20 seconds as I continued down the road. I really believe that without the ESP system I would have rolled the SLK into the corn field and they wouldn't have found me until harvest time.

Regards, John
 
#5 ·
Did the car drive normally after the spare tire was mounted? There have been incidents where a massive blowout damaged the wiring to the wheel speed sensor causing weird problems like what you had. ESP should not have caused what happened to you if it was working normally.
 
#6 ·
ESP did exactly what it should have done in this situation. A blow out at 70mph is no joke and the ESP system could care less if you are able to get over to the right lane, it made sure you didnt end up broadside in the highway. Its unfortunate that other drivers were not courteous enough to let you over, but be assured that you would have had a much more difficult time controlling the vehicle with a flat tire at 70 mph without ESP.
 
#7 ·
Glad nobody was hurt.

Safety experts now believe stability control systems such as ESP are saving more lives than ABS brakes.

Sounds like something went wrong, not allowing any acceleration at all.
 
#8 ·
Electronic Stability (ETF Light) on 1998 ML320 similar to ETS?

My ETF light just went on, solid, not blinking as when slipping.

What is the diagnosis for this problem? Generally, is the Dealer, or my independent MB mechanic going to provide me a list of bad news? Any feedback from ML owners and this light is appreciated.

The car is 10 years old. Replacing anything more than a diagnosis cost, and 100 or 200 bucks may put the car on the for sale market. Hate to do it, but at it's age, it's approaching costing me more to run it monthly than an new C class, or a couple hundred extra, a new M or E wagon.

Any experience is appreciated before I go to the dealer, or preferably my MB mechanic.

Regards,

Torvalt
 
#9 ·
Three weeks ago, i was in my mate's 1987 Saab 900 Turbo. The right rear tyre blew. There was a 'whomp' sound, the followed by a 'whump whump whump' noise. We worked out the prob pretty quickly, and nursed the Saab to a road off the hard shoulder.

Blow-outs needn't be dramatic. Ten mins later, wheel replaced, we were back on the m-way.
 
#10 ·
What happened is simple. With that one wheel turning faster due to its smaller diameter, the ESP system thinks the wheel is spinning, pumping the brakes. When the system realizes that braking alone isn't working, it closes the throttle to eliminate the torque going to that wheel. Even with the ESP off, after a predetermined amount of wheel spin, it re-engages to stop the wheel from turning again. I became stuck in the snow a while back. With the ESP on, the wheels would hardly spin if at all. When I turned off the ESP, the wheel would spin for maybe five seconds, then the ESP would kick in. I had a bitch of a time becoming unstuck.

Another thing I noticed, and I am not sure if it is ESP related or not, but if you accelerate lightly and press the brakes lightly, the computer shuts off the throttle until you release the brake pedal.
 
#11 ·
Ed

Please note that there are serious issues in relation to the activation of ESP during normal driving conditions ie Engine output decrease & Auto Brake Application.There would appear to be problems associated with the installation of Nokia Car Phone kits activating EPS systems on certain stretches of road due to Electro Magnetic Radation, Phone Mast Radation & Burglar alarms fitted to Buissness premises near roadways.Dealers will replace engine Crank Shaft Sensors to no avail. ESP activation under normal driving conditions on motorways can Kill You !
 
#12 ·
I usually hear a lot of people complaining that their esp or abs systems was the cause of the accident, but I think these people should have had the accident without the esp or abs so that they can tell the difference. It is saving a lot of lives and people do not know it.

However, I do have one thing against esp systems in a car: Personally, I would drive the car to it's limits on a bend knowing that there is an esp system to account for my mistakes, and more often than not, it does bail me out! I believe this is very dangerous and that I shouldn't be playing with the outer boundaries of traction, but I am sure there are loads of people like me on this forum who just cannot help it :D
 
#13 ·
Intentionally driving at the limit on public roads is a bad practice, IMHO.

ESP and ABS pluses far exceed the minuses.
 
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