I had a new Actros on Sunday and had a few issues… I suspect these are down to me being new to the vehicle but any “constructive” comments would be appreciated.
1, Keyless ignition.
Once I figured out that the key fob goes into the slot next to the “Start/Stop” button, and has to be the right way up I thought all would be well, but “Starter Inhibitor Active” came up on screen. How do I unactivate it? Key fob out, walk round unit swearing, get back in and try again, ignition comes on at first click, card in tacho, press and hold Start, and same warning comes up. Find another driver for help. Tells me to lock cab and wait a few minutes before trying again. Do this and it works. Trouble was that it happened a couple of times during the shift and I don’t understand what was causing the inhibitor to activate. Guessing it is a driver training issue, unfortunately I started at 2300 on a Saturday night so no one to show me, TM was no help!!! “Read the manual”, which I did but could find no reference to this.
Someone on here must be able to tell me what I was doing wrong
2, Air suspension.
Unit had no 5th wheel ramps, so use of air suspension was really important.
Dropped suspension and backed under, came to raise suspension and nothing happened
Hand unit was set in correct mode and had the red up arrow flashing, however nothing moved, air tanks were full and ignition on. Fellow driver (also hapless) suggested winding legs up on trailer and “it will sort itself out when you get moving”, did not sound like the best idea. Walked round now in the pouring rain, and went for a brew. Came back to the unit and hey presto it worked fine. So Please someone tell me wtf I was doing wrong this time.
Needles to say I am not totally impressed with this Merc! I understand now why the driver clocking on before me asked for a Volvo - As I said, I am sure this is down to me and not the unit
Come on now it’s electronic, why would it work when you press the right button? You are supposed to speak nicely to it and then recite its favourite witch’s spell. If it feels like it, it might work, but probably not. Possibly needs a wake up call with 14lb sledge hammer.
franklin:
I’m guessing the place you were working at had the units out front in the car park?
That’s where I had my first “experience” with them Sat night
The starting issue was a PITA until I worked out that it happened
If you let the vehicle idle and switch itself off when coupling up - so now I switch of on the button when I stop
If you sit for too long with the ignition on in position 2 (guages on) - switch to position one (Merc sign on the dash that changes to date and time) or switch off but then you get no radio
When putting the key in and trying to start immediately - Press button so ignition goes to position 2 (all guages light up) and let the self test run (needle sweep etc) then start the vehicle after the self test.
To get round the problem if it is active, I was told (by the shunter) to hold the foot brake in and release the hand break then re-apply but this only worked once or twice. The more reliable way was to take key out, lock lorry on remote (sitting in the drivers seat) and wait untill the dash went dark, unlock and then do the starting proceedure above
If you get into the habbit of turning off the engine when stopped and putting ignition to position 1 you should be OK.
I couldn’t work out the night heater though, regardless of ignition position or which button is used to switch the heater on it came on, ran for 20 seconds then turned itself off
Wasn’t impressed by the pulling power either, the old Merc’s pulled loads better I just hope when they loosen up a bit they will improve.
FarnboroughBoy11:
What a load of [zb], sounds like a right nightmare. Again needless electronic crap that makes the simplest things hassle.
Perfect Owner Driver lorry there then, who the hell is going to sort that rubbish out…apart from the main dealer…kerbloodyching…
Why would any company willingly buy into this ever more complicated electronic carp…its a working vehicle, its not an executives fancy company car that has to impress small boys or other impressionable executives as they are sometimes known.
franklin:
I’m guessing the place you were working at had the units out front in the car park?
That’s where I had my first “experience” with them Sat night
Yes, that was the place!
The starting issue was a PITA until I worked out that it happened
If you let the vehicle idle and switch itself off when coupling up - so now I switch of on the button when I stop
Figured that out whilst waiting for air to build up to get suspension working
If you sit for too long with the ignition on in position 2 (guages on) - switch to position one (Merc sign on the dash that changes to date and time) or switch off but then you get no radio
When putting the key in and trying to start immediately - Press button so ignition goes to position 2 (all guages light up) and let the self test run (needle sweep etc) then start the vehicle after the self test.
To get round the problem if it is active, I was told (by the shunter) to hold the foot brake in and release the hand break then re-apply but this only worked once or twice. The more reliable way was to take key out, lock lorry on remote (sitting in the drivers seat) and wait untill the dash went dark, unlock and then do the starting proceedure above
Shunter told me the second one, which worked once, but didn’t mention the first, though there was something in the manual that said something similar
If you get into the habbit of turning off the engine when stopped and putting ignition to position 1 you should be OK.
thats what I did eventually and it worked for most of the time, and then decided not to
I couldn’t work out the night heater though, regardless of ignition position or which button is used to switch the heater on it came on, ran for 20 seconds then turned itself off seemed OK for me, but did’t really use it!
Wasn’t impressed by the pulling power either, the old Merc’s pulled loads better I just hope when they loosen up a bit they will improve.
Agreed, I had a full load of juice on and it was simply embarrassing trying to accelerate , only way I could get it to increase speed was to keep pressing the cruise control + which did have a positive effect.
Also found the brakes were worryingly slow to take effect at slow speeds, OK when moving at a decent rate, but approaching roundabouts and trying to gently reduce speed it seemed to take an age to slow down!!
As you say, maybe its down to newness.
The suspension seemed to have a mind of its own, a twisted mind at that.
Do you have a mobile phone in your pocket ? Strange but my phone does not like mercs it messes with the immobilisers.
Now you mention it I have heard that somewhere before, Yes I had a phone and it was about a foot away from the key/switch, and had “location service” turned on so would be constantly chattering to the network. May be worth investigating further.
On some new actros they have different Auto gear box settings e.g. “A” = Auto or you can select “A Economy” = Auto with less accleration and no kick down facility, some have an option (not many) “A Power”. “A Economy” may account for the feeling of lack of power.
I guess it is one of the problems/joys of being an agency driver that you get to drive every type and variation of unit there is, but rarely have time to figure out how to sort out problems associated with a new variant. Sometimes it can be a steep learning curve, especially if there is no one to ask on site!!
On our new Actros’s (and we have about 50) they all come up with the Inhibitor message but if you press & hold the button it clears & they start.
Put fob in any way round it makes no difference but ensure it’s fully home; tap button once to activate accesories position (windows etc,radio works without key in anyway) 2nd push should initiate pre trip checks etc & then push a hold briefly to start (you can by-pass the trip check by pushing & holding the 2nd time).
As for the suspension I find it a bit hit & miss even after going through it with the book in my hand. Usually lower it,back under, return to drive position (green arrows) then activate it again to lift (it takes far longer to type/read than it actually does in practice) works for me every time that way. Of course as with any air suspension system if you don’t use the stop button then when the engine cuts out it has the same effect as turning off the ignition & the suspension will return to ride height.
The auto-box is far better than on our older Axxors, default postion is A (which is normal/power mode) 1st press on stalk gives A-economy (does what it says on the tin) & press & hold for manual & again to return to A. Manual & A modes give about another 3kms on the limiter too on ours (we’re set to 83 but get 86 in these modes). Ours are only 420’s but they out pull our 430 Axxors even in economy mode. I run through Mid Wales a lot nearly always at just shy of 44 tonnes & can’t say I’ve found anything to gripe about as yet.
I doubt if A/power mode has been disabled as our fleet manager asked Mercedes to this & they point blank refused!
Hope this may be of some help.
Many thanks, a really useful post. As I keep stating, I suspect the problems are down to me and not the unit but with this advice I will be better informed next time I have one of these Mercs
FLIP:
On our new Actros’s (and we have about 50) they all come up with the Inhibitor message but if you press & hold the button it clears & they start.
Put fob in any way round it makes no difference but ensure it’s fully home; tap button once to activate accesories position (windows etc,radio works without key in anyway) 2nd push should initiate pre trip checks etc & then push a hold briefly to start (you can by-pass the trip check by pushing & holding the 2nd time).
As for the suspension I find it a bit hit & miss even after going through it with the book in my hand. Usually lower it,back under, return to drive position (green arrows) then activate it again to lift (it takes far longer to type/read than it actually does in practice) works for me every time that way. Of course as with any air suspension system if you don’t use the stop button then when the engine cuts out it has the same effect as turning off the ignition & the suspension will return to ride height.
The auto-box is far better than on our older Axxors, default postion is A (which is normal/power mode) 1st press on stalk gives A-economy (does what it says on the tin) & press & hold for manual & again to return to A. Manual & A modes give about another 3kms on the limiter too on ours (we’re set to 83 but get 86 in these modes). Ours are only 420’s but they out pull our 430 Axxors even in economy mode. I run through Mid Wales a lot nearly always at just shy of 44 tonnes & can’t say I’ve found anything to gripe about as yet.
I doubt if A/power mode has been disabled as our fleet manager asked Mercedes to this & they point blank refused!
Hope this may be of some help.
Cheers for the tip about holding the start button in, I’ll try that next time
The A mode on them did give it more go and increased speed on the limiter etc compared to the eco mode but it still wasn’t as good at pulling as the previous batch of Actros’s they had or the new Fh’s in the yard but that goes without saying.
We had one on demo for a fortnight.
Far too complicated. Two experienced drivers had a week each in it and neither could get the night heater to run for more than the 20 seconds mentioned in the earlier post. Even after reading the manual they still had no joy. I even asked the dealer to try and sort it out for us but He just said read the manual.
When you put the lights on main beam the radio muted WTF! As soon as you went back to dipped beam it went loud again.
We had a 510 put it did not pull as well as our FH13 500`s. To be fair it was still fairly tight so may get better with a few miles on the clock.
Cab was a nice workplace and very comfortable but in my opinion there is so much complicated stuff on their that you need a driver induction to explain it all before you are let loose in it.
some interesting post’s there,of course Mercedes could have saved alot of €€€€€ by simply investing in some much needed gaerbox technology,by that i mean a reliable manual box but hey they made it this far without ever doing that.
3ducks:
We have a Merc and the suspension won’t do anything unless you drop the midlift and raise it again. Then the suspension will work just fine.
Its all “smoke and mirrors”, I am somewhat relieved that it is not just me that has had a few issues.
It seems daft that when the majority of trucks are getting (generally) easier to drive, the complexity of the electronics and computer system are bringing in a whole new set of problems.
When I started driving, the fitters had big hammers, now they have laptops…
Next it will be compulsory driver training on any new unit
Being fair, I get a lot of the same issues in the Renault Premium. I put it down to French wiring.
The way around it for us is to lock the truck on the fob, then lock it again which isolates the vehicle electrically. When you unlock it again everything works like new, which is to say not quite as ■■■■ as before.
I thought all would be well, but “Starter Inhibitor Active” came up on screen. How do I unactivate it? Key fob out, walk round unit swearing, get back in and try again, ignition comes on at first click, card in tacho, press and hold Start, and same warning comes up. Find another driver for help. Tells me to lock cab and wait a few minutes before trying again. Do this and it works. Trouble was that it happened a couple of times during the shift and I don’t understand what was causing the inhibitor to activate. Guessing it is a driver training issue, unfortunately I started at 2300 on a Saturday night so no one to show me, TM was no help!!! “Read the manual”, which I did but could find no reference to this.
, only way I could get it to increase speed was to keep pressing the cruise control + which did have a positive effect.
some interesting post’s there,of course Mercedes could have saved alot of €€€€€ by simply investing in some much needed gaerbox technology,by that i mean a reliable manual box but hey they made it this far without ever doing that. 