Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | |||||
| 16M012 | 05/22/2001 | 621571 | Some vehicles may exhibit 1-2 second delay upon release of the brake pedal and / or application of the accelerator pedal until the actuator moves to the new accelerator pedal input position. this is a design characteristic incorporated in | 09/26/2001 | |
Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | ||||||
| PE10050 | MERCEDES-BENZ USA, LLC. | 12/21/2010 | 05/04/2011 | Brake lamp switch failure. | 11V208000 | |
| Odi opened the investigation based on reports that the subject vehicle brake lamp switch (switch) failure caused 1) inoperative brake lamps (stay on or fail to illuminate), and/or 2) shift interlock failure (shifter locked in park), and/or 3) the cruise control to fail to cancel with brake application.consumers also reported the illumination of a warning lamp on the instrument panel.the switch contains three sets of electrical contacts and a (normally extended) spring loaded plunger that actuates the contacts as it moves.as installed in the vehicle, the plunger contacts the brake pedal arm and is pushed into the switch; as the driver applies the pedal the plunger extends.one set of contacts (bls) operates the stop lamps, a second set (ewm) controls the shift interlock system, and a third set (bs) is used by an on-board diagnostic (obd) system to monitor switch operation.the cruise control monitors the bls signal to determine when the brake is applied, the primary way the system is disabled when set.the relative timing of contact actuation in response to plunger movement allows the obd system to detect a switch fault.when a fault is detected a malfunction indication lamp (mil) is illuminated (driver alert), a diagnostic trouble code (dtc) is stored (for the service technician), and cruise control operation is inhibited (as a failsafe).in its response to odi's january 2011 information request letter, mb explained its assessment of switch failures which was based primarily on evaluation of field return failures.mb identified both 1) electrical contact and 2) mechanical switch failure mechanisms.according to mb's analysis, electrical contact failure is the predominate failure type and the failure consequence depends on which contact fails.for instance mb claims that bls contact failures are momentary in nature and do not affect brake light operation but are nonetheless detected by the obd system, resulting in a dtc and subsequent replacement.electrical contact failures of the bs and ewm contacts result in a dtc also, and ewm contact failures result in the shifter being stuck in the park (which can be overridden by the consumer).accordingly mb maintains that electrical contact failures of the switch have no safety consequence since the brake lamps remain operational and the cruise control is always disabled.mb determined that mechanical failures of the switch, which are rare in their assessment, can result from internal wear and/or increased switch operating temperatures.high temperatures occur due to overheating of the bls contacts and can cause the internal plastic components to melt.in one scenario overheated bls contacts may melt to the extended plunger and are damaged when the brake pedal is released resulting in the brake lights staying on.in another scenario the increased temperatures and/or internal wear can cause the plunger to stick in the fully depressed position.in this case the cruise may not cancel when the brake is applied and the driver may have to use high brake pedal forces or other means (shifting to neutral or using the cruise master switch) to disengage the cruise.additionally the vacuum assist can be depleted if the driver pumps the brakes resulting in reduced braking effectiveness and even higher pedal forces.in its march 31, 2011 defect notification, mb stated that to remediate the potential need for excessive brake force it would conduct a safety recall (11v-208) to replace the switch with a more robustly designed component.the recall includes 136,751 model year 2000 - 2002 m-class and model year 2000 - 2004 m-class amg vehicles.owner notification letters will be mailed to consumers in september 2011.this action taken by mb is sufficient to resolve the issues raised by this investigation. | ||||||
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL - CRUISE CONTROL | ||||||
| PE10050 | MERCEDES-BENZ USA, LLC. | 12/21/2010 | 05/04/2011 | Brake lamp switch failure. | 11V208000 | |
| Odi opened the investigation based on reports that the subject vehicle brake lamp switch (switch) failure caused 1) inoperative brake lamps (stay on or fail to illuminate), and/or 2) shift interlock failure (shifter locked in park), and/or 3) the cruise control to fail to cancel with brake application.consumers also reported the illumination of a warning lamp on the instrument panel.the switch contains three sets of electrical contacts and a (normally extended) spring loaded plunger that actuates the contacts as it moves.as installed in the vehicle, the plunger contacts the brake pedal arm and is pushed into the switch; as the driver applies the pedal the plunger extends.one set of contacts (bls) operates the stop lamps, a second set (ewm) controls the shift interlock system, and a third set (bs) is used by an on-board diagnostic (obd) system to monitor switch operation.the cruise control monitors the bls signal to determine when the brake is applied, the primary way the system is disabled when set.the relative timing of contact actuation in response to plunger movement allows the obd system to detect a switch fault.when a fault is detected a malfunction indication lamp (mil) is illuminated (driver alert), a diagnostic trouble code (dtc) is stored (for the service technician), and cruise control operation is inhibited (as a failsafe).in its response to odi's january 2011 information request letter, mb explained its assessment of switch failures which was based primarily on evaluation of field return failures.mb identified both 1) electrical contact and 2) mechanical switch failure mechanisms.according to mb's analysis, electrical contact failure is the predominate failure type and the failure consequence depends on which contact fails.for instance mb claims that bls contact failures are momentary in nature and do not affect brake light operation but are nonetheless detected by the obd system, resulting in a dtc and subsequent replacement.electrical contact failures of the bs and ewm contacts result in a dtc also, and ewm contact failures result in the shifter being stuck in the park (which can be overridden by the consumer).accordingly mb maintains that electrical contact failures of the switch have no safety consequence since the brake lamps remain operational and the cruise control is always disabled.mb determined that mechanical failures of the switch, which are rare in their assessment, can result from internal wear and/or increased switch operating temperatures.high temperatures occur due to overheating of the bls contacts and can cause the internal plastic components to melt.in one scenario overheated bls contacts may melt to the extended plunger and are damaged when the brake pedal is released resulting in the brake lights staying on.in another scenario the increased temperatures and/or internal wear can cause the plunger to stick in the fully depressed position.in this case the cruise may not cancel when the brake is applied and the driver may have to use high brake pedal forces or other means (shifting to neutral or using the cruise master switch) to disengage the cruise.additionally the vacuum assist can be depleted if the driver pumps the brakes resulting in reduced braking effectiveness and even higher pedal forces.in its march 31, 2011 defect notification, mb stated that to remediate the potential need for excessive brake force it would conduct a safety recall (11v-208) to replace the switch with a more robustly designed component.the recall includes 136,751 model year 2000 - 2002 m-class and model year 2000 - 2004 m-class amg vehicles.owner notification letters will be mailed to consumers in september 2011.this action taken by mb is sufficient to resolve the issues raised by this investigation. | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | |||
| 10/01/2012 | 215000 | 1 | |
| While driving on freeway in moderate traffic the car suddenly without any warning violently applied uneven power to different wheels, brake and sped up. originally i thought we were having an earthquake as i was trying to regain control over car. after about 15 seconds as i slowed car resumed normal operation. about 10 miles later the action repeated making me fear a crash or roll over as i was fighting to regain control and exit freeway. luckily i was able to exit and gain control. ended up having car towed 175 miles home. mechanic at dealership now says it was a defective yaw sensor designed to work in conjunction with the esp to prevent a roll over. however the defective sensor easily could have caused a roll over or a crash with a less experienced and physically strong driver. indeed, had my wife been driving i do not know whether she could have controlled the vehicle. had there been one of the many 18 wheelers immediately next to me i do not know whether i could have avoided a collision. after the fact in review on google i noted many very similar complaints for the same 2001 mbz ml320. i believe there should be a recall before there is death or serious injury. *tr | |||
| 07/02/2011 | 85000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2001 mercedes ml320. while driving approximately 65 mph the contact depressed the brakes and the cruise control would not disengage. the contact crashed into a ditch and was able to turn the ignition off. there was no mention of whether a police report was filed or if there were any injuries. the failure occurred intermittently. the vehicle was included in the recall under nhtsa campaign id number: 11v208000 (vehicle speed control:cruise control). the vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technicians were unable to provide assistance because they were unaware of the recall. the contact made several attempts to call the manufacturer and did not receive a call back with information about the recall repairs. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 85,000. | |||
| 07/02/2011 | 85000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2001 mercedes ml320. while driving approximately 65 mph the contact depressed the brakes and the cruise control would not disengage. the contact crashed into a ditch and was able to turn the ignition off. there was no mention of whether a police report was filed or if there were any injuries. the failure occurred intermittently. the vehicle was included in the recall under nhtsa campaign id number: 11v208000 (vehicle speed control:cruise control). the vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technicians were unable to provide assistance because they were unaware of the recall. the contact made several attempts to call the manufacturer and did not receive a call back with information about the recall repairs. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 85,000. rvk | |||
| 07/02/2011 | 85000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2001 mercedes ml320. while driving at approximately 65 mph the contact depressed the brakes and the cruise control would not disengage. the contact crashed into a ditch and was able to turn the ignition off. the failure occurred intermittently. the vehicle was included in the recall under nhtsa campaign id number: 11v208000 (vehicle speed control:cruise control). the vehicle was taken into the dealer. the technicians were unable to provide assistance or perform the recall repairs because they were unaware of the recall. the contact made several attempts to call the manufacturer and had not received a call back with information about the recall repairs. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 85,000. ds | |||
| 10/20/2009 | 92000 | ||
| Tl - the contact owns a 2001 mercedes ml320. the contact stated that while driving 65 mph on a curb using the cruise control, she tried to disengaged the cruise control but it would not stop. she also mentioned that in order to stop the vehicle she had to turned the vehicle completely off, as a result the vehicle ran off the road. the dealer was contacted who advised her to bring in the vehicle to run a diagnostic test. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure who did not offered any assistance. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 92,000 and current mileage was 93,000. pm | |||
| 06/15/2010 | 95000 | ||
| Mercedes benz has a serious design and quality control problem. while driving the brake switch fails causing the cruise control to accelerate. the mercedes benz service manager and lead mechanic both acknowledged and explained this problem to me noting that cueent models could suffer from the same design and they've been having problems with their vendor providing faulty brake switches. i was driving my 2001 ml320 with cruise control at 60 mph. i tapped the brake to disengage the cruise control as i was exiting the freeway. the car began to accelerate. i braked harder and the car increased acceleration to the point of almost over powering my efforts to brake. i was panicked so i stepped on the parking brake, put the car in neutral, the engine raced harder and harder, as i pulled off the road and pushed the gear shift into neutral and turned off the car. the service manager and mechanic explained that by design if the brake switch fails then the cruise control won't turn off as it's supposed to when you apply the brake pedal. furthermore the cruise control senses that the car is slowing down because i was braking so it increases the acceleration to get the car back up to the cruise control set speed. the more you brake the more the cruise control will force the car to accelerate. the mechanic said the solution was to manually turn off the cruise control, but i was so panicked that thought never occurred to me. if it was my wife or 16 year old son driving they would have crashed the car. the service manager acknowledged that mercedes benz is aware of the problem. they fixed my brake switch for free after hearing my scary story. i told them i thought they should have a recall to fix this design problem. the design should include a secondary brake switch or some type of automatic cruise control turn off function. | |||
| 01/03/2007 | 55438 | 1 | |
| I lightly tapped my accelerator to edge my car up the curb to drive onto our driveway and in a fraction of a second my 4 wheel drive was in full throttle. i quickly stomped on my brakes and was able to stop the car but it was like holding back a crew of horses. i had to brake all the way to the floor and thank goodness i have strong legs and quick reflexes. it accelerated so fast i could not have done it that fast even if i had pushed the accelerator myself. it left multiple 4' to 5' black scratch marks on our driveway and the skidding of tires (take off) was heard inside our house. probably traveled 10' or so before i could stop it. no injuries but just shaken up. i called our dealer to inquire if there were any other incidences and they said no. i looked on the web and could not find any other incidences. took to dealer the next day and they acknowledged some type of error notice from their computer related to my accelerator and did a fix of some type. *tr | |||
| 11/18/2005 | 15000 | 100 | 04/26/2001 |
| I own a mercedes benz 2001 ml320 and the lateral acceleration sensor failed around 15,000 miles and was replaced at my own expense. the bas/esp (break assist/electronic stability program) warning light comes on during each short or long trips and goes away after the vehicle sits for a while and restart of the engine and this started to occur after the warranty expired. the first replacement did not work because the wrong parts was used (so the dealer says) and the problem came right back but was corrected with the correct parts the second time (sometimes i feel the esp kicks in and breaking but that might just be my feeling). this could be a safety related issue and should be a recall item since customers that are used to these safety features may have wrong sense of feeling when the sensor fails unexpectedly at a time when this feature can avoid an accident. *jb | |||
| 1 | |||
| Mechanical failure believed to be result of accident.*mr the consumer believed the accident was caused by unintended acceleration. *ts *jb | |||
| 01/13/2003 | 2 | ||
| The vehicle experienced sudden acceleration. the consumer tried to stop the vehicle and the brakes did not work. the consumer shifted and the suv stopped. the steering wheel failed to turn, and the dealer stated a gasket had to be replaced, and the sudden acceleration and the steering problem were not related. scc *jb | |||
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL - ACCELERATOR PEDAL | |||
| 09/27/2002 | |||
| While driving vehicles' speed will decrease intermittently to 20 mph without brakes being applied. vehicle will stay at 20 mph for 10-15 seconds, then speed will increase. problem has worsened as time progressed. once when speed decreased sos malfunctioned, and there was a loud noise.*ak | |||
| 03/12/2002 | 20 | 02/01/2001 | |
| This is my second ml 320 and both cars developed the same problem at about the same time. the first one was a 1999 ml320 and the current one is a 2001 ml320. when driving on trips of over 150 miles, the car stops responding to the accelerator. it begins by jerking and then fails to respond to any pressing of the accelerator pedal at times, the response returns after several jerks, other times, the car slows and fails to respond.*ak | |||