Hi guys!

Just found this forum and hope I can get some info here.
I just bought me a 2001 Mercedes A 160 Automatic with Tiptronic. Millage is right at 75000 miles. After driving all sorts of Asian cars I finally wanted to get me that car since I always liked it.
Now, I got it really cheap, so I knew there will be a few fixes I have to get done, but I am wondering if you can point me into the right direction. First let me tell you that the car just passed the road worthiness test in my country and everything was fine... They test the likes of brakes, alignment, emission, etc...

Now here are my issues and symptoms... The ones that worry me most on top and the further down we go the less I'm worried about :-)

1. The engine light came on like a month after I bought it. The error code is P0170. Everybody says it is most likely the AMF which is build in the ECU. Do you agree? The car starts fine, drives fine no power loss or anything... The only thing is that the engine sometimes sounds like it's sucking for air... So it doesn't sound really smooth. Do you think cleaning the ECU will do it? Or do I have to get it repaired... A new one is too expensive but there are quite a few companies that can repair the ECU by now.

2. The steering feels kind of weird. If going straight the steering wheel is slightly to the left (it's on about 11 o clock), so seems like an alignment problem. When I go about 60-70 mph the steering wheel vibrates. Also, when I slow down on a rough road the steering wheels sometimes pulls to the left right before I come to a stop. What could that be? Easy fix = cheap fix or am in for the big spending here?

3. I love that car but can't afford to spend a fortune to get everything fixed... If you have any suggestions, advice or ideas please let me know. Please don't write things like that car is total rubbish, you shouldn't have bought an A Class... I know some people feel that way but I like that car... It's something personal.

Hope to hear from ya'll soon!

 

The shaking when you do 60-70mph sounds like your ball joints need changed. I had exact same problem and after I changed the ball joints no more shaking