cscordo

A strange occurence happened today and it is the 2nd time in 2 weeks that it has happened.

Turned on the car, backed out of parking spot, proceeded to drive and the car would not auto-shift out of 1st gear. The RPM just kept getting higher until I pulled the car over. Once I pulled the car over, (with the car on) I was unable to push the shift knob up to the (P)ark position. I had to shut off the car before the shift knob would move.

Once I restarted the car, it seemed to run without any problems.

Some other items of note while driving under these conditions:
-The digital display which typically shows "D" (or the gear # when in manual mode) was completley blank and did not show anyything.
-The car did not respond when I tried to use the "manual" gear shift (ie. tapping the stickshift from left to right).
-When I first turned the car on, it hesitated about 2 seconds longer than normal before the engine started. Just 2 moments of silence, then the engine fired up.

Any ideas?

King320

Sounds like an electronics problem, maybe ECU or other onboard computer systems, any check engine lights? I would take it to the dealership and have them run diagnostics (sorry if the information seems a bit common sense-ish, but thats what i'd do anyways)

3199cc

Valve body.

cscordo

No messages or lights showed up when this happened- After further searching, it appears that this may have been some kind of "Limp" mode which takes effect when there is a perceived engine issue.

I'll be taking it in soon to get more info-

lz_clk

I am currently having the exact same problem with mine and I thought it was something in the tranny and was scared to death. I took it into the dealer and they said the gear switch assembly's electronics or parts or something were messed up. So, they have ordered some parts and will have to take the shifter assembly out and repair it. Will cost about $500. I will let you know if that fixes it or not.

Did you try putting the car into "W" mode? I am driving with mine that way until I get it fixed. This starts the car out in 2nd, bypassing 1st, and it doesn't seem to be a problem as 1st was the only gear that was having trouble. Hope this helps

King320

Sounds reasonable, like i said, with stuff this dangerous i would just take it in to the stealer and bite the bullet on the price it might take to fix

cscordo

Does this happen to you every time you drive the car, or was it an isolated event?

The first time it happened, my GF was driving the car, and she mentioned putting it in "W" to bypass the problem. When it happened to me, it seemed to "reset" itself after turning the car off then on.

cscordo

Right- I need to find time this week to take it in for B-Service. I'll have them check it out then.

lz_clk

Doesn't happen everytime. Sometimes when I turn off/on it doesnt happed the next time. I've been keeping it in "W" until I get it fixed to avoid the problem cuz its probably not good for it. "W" is a smoother driver mode anyway

cscordo

Update: So I hooked up my ODBII Scanner to the car and out popped code P0705:Transmission Range Sensor Circuit Malfunction.

Of what I could find on it, this appears to be a faulty sensor which signals when to switch gears. If the car can't get a clean signal from it, it goes into fail mode to prevent any gear switching.

I'll know more after Thursday when I take the car in.

Hopefully that part is Starmarked...

benzinoben

Guys...if in doubt change the gear positioning sensor it is fairly cheap and might save your tranny....look at my thread. I am going to be out $4400 bucks. And get your tranny oil changed if you havent already

cscordo

I hear ya, Benzinoben-

I've been following your thread and I'm hoping that the problems I'm seeing aren't a precursor to a new tranny.

Best of luck with a fix-

khansmith

I had a 2001 CLK and had this VERY SAME ISSUE as quoted above. Mine got water in the electronics and it freaked exactly as you describe. Seems to be a fault that is common on these cars. I had to flatbed the car to the dealer to get it fixed which they did in a day. Worked awesome after that.

cscordo

Can you give an idea on the cost for the work? Thanks-

JohnAMG

My CLK55 had the same problem in April and it was determined the valve body was defective. It was repaired under the Starmark warranty and no problem with shifting since.

John

cscordo

I got the verdict last night on the gear shifting problem, and it makes sense considering the ODBII code I was getting on my reader.

The gear shift assembly is causing the problem and needs to be replaced. Apparently this happens frequently when liquid seeps through the gear shift console and can cause problems with the electrics underneath.

About a month ago some fool nearly rammed into me, and an entire water bottle spilled on the console, so it makes sense.

Called the dealer (as the diagnosis came from an indy Benz garage) and I was told it will be covered by StarMark. The indy Benz garage said the part was $300+ with *lots* of labor, coming to around $700, so I'm sure the dealer would double that.

We'll see what happens-