Put some wheels on and got some problems!!!!

[howie]

HLP...I've got some issues with my 01 CLK55AMG!!! I got my rims put on over the weekend and now I have a check engine light, an ABS light, and an Electronic Stabilizer light flashing after few minutes of driving. My transmission does not shift correctly once these lights come on and my brake pedal seems to smush all the way to the floor and I feel a grinding thru the pedal. The ABS and Elec Stab lights do however reset everytime I turn off the ignition. The check engine light stays on all the time. The rims are 20x8.5 225/35 front and 20x10 rear w/ 285/30s. Any ideas what causes this? Do I need to flash the cpu or something?!

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[howie]

anybody...

[Chappy]

I'd be guessing....but here goes.

A PLUS 3 fitment might be completely throwing the wheel sensors off....compare the stock rolling diameter (front and rear) to the setup you have now. Another suggestion is to pop an email off to Luke at Tirerack as I'm sure he has seen this situation on occasion. I'm sure you're not the first guy to squeeze 20s on a W208.

How are you fitting 285s in the rear?? Aren't you rubbing?

Have you tried going back to your old wheels to see if the issue goes away?

[howie]

well i put it on the odbII and it throws 2 speed sensor codes 0500 and 0700. So I have a tech (here at Nissan) looking at it now to see if the wires are still good. The fitment is pretty tight on the rear tires. The offset is a plus 40 so when in the air the tires are actually on the body of the car. They can't spin at all. But once you drop the car on the ground it clears by a hair...or at least it will clear clompletely once the little piece of rubber is rubbed off the body from the lip of the tire touching it...just barely. The front was my biggest problem. I went with 245s and they wouldn't fit b/c is hit the top joint. That sucks. I had to go with a skinny tire. I will most likely put a hubcentric spacer in there and go 245 next time I need tires. Looks good tho. Once I get all this bs worked out.

[vizionclk430]

pics please

[OJwerks]

damn...post pics, i need to see this..are you lowered ?

[TuneTime]

lugs too long? hitting the hub? or ripping the e brake cable out of the rear?

i ran 17's in front and 18's in the rear for 3 weeks i had no lights or anything out of the norm.... and i had 20's on my W202 C.. and also no lights....

Something is rubbing... or rubbed something the wrong way....

[howie]

Originally Posted by TuneTime

lugs too long? hitting the hub? or ripping the e brake cable out of the rear?

thats exactly what happened the 1st time they put the rims on..>The lugs were too long and when they test drove the car they said it was clicking from the lugs hitting something so they took the lugs back out and put shorter ones instead. Do you think that damaged something to cause the lights? What would it have damaged if anything?

I had never had any lights come on prior to this happening.

[howie]

spoke to a guy at Benz today and he suggested that the front right speed sensor may be bad since thats the one sending signal to the transmission control module. I have to go get it checked out after work (hopefully today)

[howie]

I read the codes and they came up for

0720 Speed sensor
0500 Vehicle Speed sensor

tried to reset them but it won't allow them to reset because there is a check engine light assc with these codes stating the speed sensor is not even there at all. So I changed the RF speed sensor just now...and still code, still problems. I am so tired of this. I just ordered the rear speed sensor will be here tuesday...

[Ausmbtech]

You've used different tyre rolling diameters between the front and rear. That's causing the ABS to log a fault.....the transmission uses the ABS as a speed reference (both rear sensors) but it's now won't shift bacause the speed signal is wrong.........the engine light is on because the transmission ECU told the engine ECU to turn it on

If you fit 245/35/20 on the front then they will be exactly the same rolling diameter......clear the codes, problem solved

[howie]

Originally Posted by Ausmbtech

You've used different tyre rolling diameters between the front and rear. That's causing the ABS to log a fault.....the transmission uses the ABS as a speed reference (both rear sensors) but it's now won't shift bacause the speed signal is wrong.........the engine light is on because the transmission ECU told the engine ECU to turn it on

If you fit 245/35/20 on the front then they will be exactly the same rolling diameter......clear the codes, problem solved

is that your final answer? b/c thats an expensive fix (if it doesn't work out)

[velvet fog]

Agree with AusMbTech. The rolling diameters of the front and rear tires are too far off. In non tech terms, your front tires are turning faster (more RPM)than the rears which your ABS computer interprets as a loss of traction. Because this continues for more than a few seconds your computer thinks something is wrong and tries to save you by throwing codes, lighting lights etc.

If 245 is too wide for the front, try a 235 front and 265 rear.

[howie]

yeah...the 245s wouldn't fit unless I use a hubcentric spacer...so now I'm stuck with a useless set of tires?!?!?

[howie]

Originally Posted by OJwerks

damn...post pics, i need to see this..are you lowered ?

http://www.mbworld.org/forums/showth...17#post2792217

[raymond g-]

sorry you had to learn the hard way, Howie, but as the others have said, your
selection of tires was flawed. the rolling circumference differential between
front and rear tires is waaay off....5 inches per revolution (!). velvet fog is
spot on in his prognosis.

[ohlord]

tires are a full 1/2 inch taller than the fronts and travel 15 fewer revs per mile. BTW who ever figured you could use a 10 inch rim with a 40et?
Bet your cruise control doesn't work either.
If I am correct your oem tire size was a 245/40/17 on the rear so its diameter was 24.71 inches,your new rear tires are 26.73 inches in diameter that 2 inches difference in diameter equals 65 fewer revs per mile from your stock tires effectively changing your gear ratio to an 8 percent taller gear,throwing your speedometer way off and hurting overall performance off the line,and causing the havoc with all the sensors and warnings and transmission problems.
So not only are they off in diameter front and rear causing problems,they are 2 inches greater in diameter then your oem tires and therein lies your greatest problem.
Long story short all 4 tires need to go,ask Luke to match a set of 20's to stock diameter and then all you will have to worry about is the increased braking distance you will suffer.
ohlord
a 235/35/19 front and a 265/30/19 would have been the correct set up.Both within 20 revs per mile from stock and well within the acceptable margin of error of under 3 percent,but since that is a pricey mistake the best you can hope for now is to try and find the 20's that come close to oem diameter if you can

[howie]

^^^ thanks guys I can see all of your points. I was planning on doing 19s in the first place but I saw quite a few clks with 20 inch rims on cardomain so I figured I'd give it a shot. And like Ronald Reagan used to say - "Well..." now I'm stuck. I rather figure out the matching rear tire size to make it work. I can live with (like I have a choice) selling my barely used rear tires and getting another pair i.e 265/25...if that works!?! Will I have the same problem still because the diameters are so much bigger than OE diameters?


BTW my original front tire size was 245/35 but they hit the knuckle so the tire guy picked this drastic change of size. Otherwise I think I would have been OK

Originally Posted by ohlord

who ever figured you could use a 10 inch rim with a 40et?

let's just say I wouldn't recommend anyone try this at home...it's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too close. The wheels are touching the body when the car is in the air. Not until the car is on the ground do they clear by a few hairs

[velvet fog]

There are two considerations when changing the rim/tire combo. 1 is making sure the front/rear tire diameters are close; 2 keeping the tire diameter close to stock. Going to a different tire diameter on all four corners won't confuse your ABS or throw codes, but your speedometer will be wrong.

[howie]

Originally Posted by velvet fog

There are two considerations when changing the rim/tire combo. 1 is making sure the front/rear tire diameters are close; 2 keeping the tire diameter close to stock. Going to a different tire diameter on all four corners won't confuse your ABS or throw codes, but your speedometer will be wrong.

thats the answer I've been looking for. I can live with the speedo being off a bit, that's normal with the bigger wheel, but I can't have the check engine light, abs light, and esp lights flashing resulting in a non-operational speedo & tranny.

[ohlord]

265/30/20 is dead on diameter with the fronts.That is if you don't mind the speedometer being off by 6%.So that should solve the issues.All but the harsh ride quality,the increased braking distance and the speedometer accuracy and the dealer may be able to adjust that with the star machine.

Funny how small a world it is
Ray,velvet,and I all chiming in and all within 40 miles of eachother

[howie]

Originally Posted by ohlord

265/30/20 is dead on diameter with the fronts.That is if you don't mind the speedometer being off by 6%.So that should solve the issues.All but the harsh ride quality,the increased braking distance and the speedometer accuracy and the dealer may be able to adjust that with the star machine.

Funny how small a world it is
Ray,velvet,and I all chiming in and all within 40 miles of eachother

alright...lemme get to work on that. Thanks guys really...this has been killing me. I have another speed sensor on order that I need to cancel now thanks to all the local techs guessing at the issues. I would have thrown hundreds of dollars at this problem to no avail!!!

BTW I have a pair of good as new 285/35/20 tires for sale

[raymond g-]

howie - for future ref....

tire/wheel fitment
my favorite...
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

good one showing side fits...
http://www.1010tires.com/WheelOffsetCalculator.asp

another good one..for MBs, showing reasonable fitments...
http://www.alloywheelsdirect.net/inf.../mercedes-benz

[howie]

^^^^ thanks bro, but the problem with those tire fitment websites for me was that none of them recommended 20s for my car as an option and I just had to be "different."

those websites are crazy!!! Great info there

based on the MB site I guess I should have done 235 35 & 265 30

[raymond g-]

you have a point....and I did as well: they calculate rolling distance, which
would have red flagged the problem between front and rear tires