Help! Serious problem with dropping to idle instead of accelerating!

[dzieman]

So, brought the car in yesterday to have the throttle body replaced, took it out, and it started doing it again! But this time, FINALLY!, I was able to grab the mechanic and bring him with me as it was doing it!! Yay!

He jumped in the car, plugged in the ODB code reader, and while I drove, he read codes....and lots of them!

Finally, we returned to the dealership, where he informed the service manager of his findings, and indicated to the manager that the car was not safe to drive. They promptly set us up with another rental, and are proceeding to try to make sense out of what the heck is going on. The mechanic is trying to figure it out, and is theorizing that it may be the main computer, or worse, the wiring harness, which would mean essentially taking the car apart...sigh.

Canada does not have lemon laws, but they do have an arbitration process availabe between consumers and manufacturers that would be about the equivalent.

We will see how it goes this time around, and decide if we have to pursue this process once we have further word.

Another odd thing we discovered...the odometer and the trip meter do not match. The odometer is adding two tenths of a km for every km. This means that at the end of our 80,000km warranty, we would be owed an additional 16,000km. Not sure what we are going to do about this yet. Anyone else have an issue like this?

Starting to feel pretty jaded at this point.

Will keep you posted!

[ernest125]

Several months ago, my Passion started giving me problems when I accelerated. It happened from a standing stop, and also from a slow speed, but almost always when I needed the power the most, (changing lanes with someone barreling down on me). While trying to diagnose the issue, I tried both manual & automatic with the same results, (all bad). I left for a trip, and while my wife was taking the car for a quick run downtown, the transmission went stupid, and the 3 dash came up on the shift indicator. The cars next trip was on the flat deck of a wrecker. The dealer reset the computer, and all was well for the next 4000 miles. Last week the problems started again and while I have tried to not get into the same situation (always worse in a hard acceleration), it is still happening. I almost got hit last Friday while trying to pull out into traffic when she moved just far enough to get into the traffic lane befor she just stopped accelerating. Fortunatly I was able to cost off the road before I was hit. I waited for traffic to pass, and tried a slower throttle application, with positive results.

I have dropped the car with the dealer again, but I am not convinced that they know what the problem really is.

I love the car, but I need to be sure that when I punch it, that i will actually go. We'll see what the dealer comes up with.

[jimvw57]

Sounds like 4 different cars have the same problem. Hope we are not seeing a trend here

[jwight]

Found this on a Canadian Legal FAQ site:

Do lemon laws exist in Canada?

No, at least not in the specific way that they do in the United States. In Canada, each province has legislation that is intended to protect consumers when they purchase goods or services. There are laws relating to fair trading and laws relating to defective goods.

In particular industries, there may be arbitration schemes that you can use once you have a problem with an item. For example, the Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan can help consumers resolve problems with vehicle manufacturers.

When you purchase a warranty for a consumer item, it is worthwhile to consider whether the warranty limits your rights under the general law.

A search for information about consumer products and consumer services in your area can be conducted on the Canadian Consumer Information Gateway website.

I seem to remember the UK having something like a Trades Description Act (product must perform as described); don't know if Canada has something similar. Anyway, the behavior described certainly qualifies as "defective" IMHO, not to mention being a safety issue the NHTSA (and Canadian equivalent) need to know about.

[dzieman]

Well, our smart has essentially been at the dealership since January 7. The last call we got on Thursday was to tell us that the manufacturer had sent a software download for the computer, which was installed. The mechanic is going to drive it for the weekend to see what happens, and then we have to pick it up on Tuesday. I really am struggling with the fact that every time I get behind the wheel, I am afraid for my life, and those around me if this happens again. Sigh. We have just finished the last of the necessary steps before we can initiate this arbitration process. We are awaiting some kind of reply from Mercedes Benz Canada. Quite frankly, I am very disappointed in their behaviour. For a company that prides itself on customer service, they seem to have dropped the ball here. Wish us luck! Again, many thanks for all of the input.

[chieftmc]

Didn't some of the "first" 09's have this problem and it was traced to the "throttle body"?

[jimvw57]

I believe the computer upgrade is for the transmission shifting

[tbranca]

Originally Posted by JPaul

You may call me stupid, but what about the key? You remember, the few members who had touched the key inadvertently...

I have bumped my key when making a turn and that has happen to me.

[dzieman]

Okay, latest update.
Picked up the car today. The mechanic informs me that they sent him an upgrade for the computer. He had to wipe clean the computer, and install this new software, which is an update for all systems, engine and transmission included. He drove it all weekend (the dealership has put more km on it than I have almost!) and the problem did not recur. This is not surprising to me, as it has always been a sporadic problem. I dread it, but am going to have to continue to drive it to see if it happens again.

In the meantime, as much as my wife and I enjoyed the first few weeks of driving this fun little machine, my faith in it is totally shaken. We are both terrified of the outcome if it happens again in the future. I was lucky, 2 or 3 times already, nearly rear-ended two times, and can't help but dread when it might happen next!

[ernest125]

Mine is still in the shop, with only one call from the service manager, and of course he could not duplicate the problem. No call for the last two days. I'll follow up tomorrow, and see if he has figured it out yet. I'm ready to try the computer upgrade, because I am also worried about future problems. More to follow...