BJaltima

So the car was shifting kinda strange the other day. Then all of a sudden it stopped shifting and went into "limp mode" I guess, where it won't shift out of first gear. Pulled it over and put it in park. Then went to put it into drive and it slammed into gear.....still won't shift passed 1st gear. ANy ideas? TCM? Car had 200,222 miles when this happened....I guess 2 is not my lucky number, lol.

big_mike1979

No idea bro.. could be transmission is slipping and u are funny with what u said LOL..i guess number 2 is bad number and not shifting out of 1.
good luck, im sure the rest will pitch in

BJaltima

Thanks. :p I'm gonna take it to school and pull the tranny on Monday. Ironically, I'm taking an auto transmission course this semester, as well as an auto-electrical course that proved helpful in fixing a short on my 400e.

I just hope some people may have some insight on this exact issue so I know what to possibly look for when I pull it.

rolaes62

BJaltima,

Wow 200K+! If you can find out what the OBDII readings are that would be helpful in helping diagnose your issue.

I had the same problem on my 99 CLK320 it ended up being the RPM sensor1 going bad on the conductor plate/ electric kit in the transmission. I did the work myself and it ran me around $300 to fix (I purchased a multiplexer to perform the EGS & ME adaptation).

A few things you can check before diving into the transmission:

Did any liquid spill on the shifter (i.e. coffee, water, soda) if so pull the bezzel (sp) off and throughly dry off the shifter assembly (you might have to disassemble the unit to dry off the electrical module in it.

Pull the carpet back on the passenger side (I think 01's TCM is in the same location as my 99 or it might be on the firewall pasenger side some one chime in and correct me if I'm wrong) and see if any fluid has wicked into the TCM module on the floor board. If so your adapter plug from the transmission will need to be replaced. If you disconnect the battery unplug the TCM wipe down & dry the connector and pins (use a blow dry if necessary) replug the module and reconnect the battery that might get you going until you by another adapter plug (~$10 fix).

Check your trasmission fluid level.

Just brainstroming.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Rusty

BJaltima

I will be pulling the codes on Monday as well. I don't think anything spilled on the console ( I wasn't driving). I'll check the TCM tomorrow. Thanks.

rjlawlor646

my car did the same thing when i first got it. Ended up just being low on fluid.

BJaltima

Well, I found tranny fluid in the tcm where the connector pins are. So if it's my adapter plug, where is it located and where can I purchase it for the $10 you mentioned. Thank you.

acb3nz

Sounds like transmission gears are stuck, maybe you should followed some of the advice giving to you in the previous post.

BJaltima

I did follow the advice in the previous post....I took out the passenger footwell, found the tcm and found oil on it and the connector......After having the battery disconnected for 24 hours, it didn't clear anything like I had hoped. And it's still clunking into drive. Having it towed to school tomorrow. I hope it's just the adapter plug, but if it's something else, at least I know the adapter plug may need replacing as well.

BJaltima

.....and as far as checking the fluid, mine doesn't have a dipstick...may or may not get one from the stealership.

rolaes62

Hi again BJaltima,

I've attached a picture of the adapter plug.

YOu can get it from alot of different places. I got mine from KO performance.

Part number: 2035400253 options include...
Item # < 1 > Qty
Part #: 2035400253-22
KO Price: $7.66
Shipping: *Ship Group Qualified Part - (Ship Group?)
Stock Status: In Stock - Ready to Ship!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Book #: 203 540 02 53
Description: Adapter Plug For Cable Harness to Conductor Plate. Applications: SLK230 Trans 722.616- 170.449. See below for more applications!
Applications: CLK320 Trans 722.607- 208.365
Manufacturer: GENUINE MERCEDES



If you are looking at the transmission from underneath, it would be on the top left hand corner.( You will have to drain out your transmission fluid form the valve body or when you pull the plug out you'll have a big mess on your hand) You should see a electrical cable going into the valve housing. You will have to turn the outer clip a 1/4 turn counterclockwise, remove the plug there is a 8mm (i think) nut inside the plug. Unscrew that then the adpater should come out with some wiggling. You might have to undo the O2 sensor to get better access to the plug. Make sure you dry off the pins on the conductor plate/ electrical kit, insert the new adapter plug, screw in the nut careful not to over torque. wipe down connector (blow pins with air gun if necessary) reconnect and then try it out.
If it still doens't work, then you will have to get someone with a STAR Diagnostics or Carsoft 7.4 program/multiplexer to perform the ME/EGS adaptation (Resets TCM).
Like I stated earlier I had to replace the conductor plate, adapter plug and purchased the Carsoft 7.4 with multiplexer.

Hopefully this works for you,

PM me if you have any further questions.

Rusty

BJaltima

Thank you very much for that detailed post. I towed the car to school. Checked the codes and, other than the oil sensor codes that I knew about, I found code P0715 (Turbine/Input Shaft Speed Sensor A-Circuit). Could this code be thrown by that plug as well?

I'm going to drain the fluid, pull the valve body, and check the speed sensor on Monday (next class).

MarcusF

Pancho has a pictoral "how to" for this.

rolaes62

BJaltima,

I believe the P0715 is related to the RPM sensor 1 & 2 issue. When you pull the valve body down make sure you remove the bolts/screws carefully and have pan ready to catch the rest of the fluid. (believe me I know, sucks having to clean up tranmission fluid off the garage floor.)

I remember reading on one of the threads (don't know which forum)from a master mechanic stating that the sensors get clogged and not allow the sensors to read correctly and suggested to clean out / blow out the sensors throughly, then reassemble the unit and fill tansmission with new fluid, perform the adaptation.

I read this after I replaced my conductor plate and didn't get a chance to try this. If this works for you it will same you a few hundred dollars, but with your car having 200K+ mileage it probably wouldn't hurt to just replace the unit if it is indeed your conductor plate.

I would still replace the adapter plug, from what I've read about the plug they are know to get stress cracks and allow the fluid to leach/wick onto the cable and travel up to the TCM also the O-ring breaks down.

Good luck,

Rusty

BJaltima

Aye, are there 2 sensors in there?

99frc

Ok, sorry to be such a newb, but who is Pancho and how do I get my hands on this pictorial how to?

Thanks!

rolaes62

Pancho has given alot of info on the DIY section, go to the How to's link on the W208 front page and search there.

Welcome to the forum, you'll find out a lot of info here. I've saved a ton of money listening to these guys especially MarcusF.

rolaes62

Yes,

The first picture is the conductor plate.

The second picture is of the sensors.

99frc

Thanks!

BJaltima

Thanks rolaes62.

BJaltima

Well, I wanted to thank you all again for your assistance....finally started working on the car tonight on the lift......replaced the adapter plug (definitely needed it because it had a lot of fluid on it) and hopefully that didn't damage the TCU. Also replaced the conductor plate above the valve body in the tranny. Didn't get to finish it all and clear the codes to check and see if it worked because I can't get the male part of the plug to fit properly into the female part and I ran out of time. So, this will be continued Monday.

My mechanic assured me that I wouldn't need the special STAR software stuff and that the simple OBDII scanner would clear it just fine. He says he's worked on the CLK trannys a lot and never needed the special software. He also mentioned that I should only use MB fluid and hooked me up with some for almost free. So new gasket/filter/fluid/conductor plate/adapter plug came out to about $225. Not bad in my opinion.

rolaes62

Glad to hear you got everything install and for only $225, Thats great! If your indie can reset the errors that's even better, but if you need to perform the adaptation and want to do it yourself you can order the carsoft 7.4 multiplexer from deal extreem. I only paid $105 plus free shipping. It's also useful to diagnose other issues you might encur in the future.

BJaltima

That was just for the parts and fluid.....I still have to install it. I installed the new conductor plate....I just need to torque everything down and get that damn plug to fit correctly and I'll be set. My "indie" told me that I won't need the carsoft multiplexer and that a regular obdII scanner can reset it. He said he's never had to use anything else on other clk's. Well, I'll find out tomorrow.

rolaes62

I found that if you take out the O2 sensor you can access the plug better and get the socket it there to tightend it down. Good to hear you're almost done.

BJaltima

Yeah, we finally did that when trying to fit the male plug into the female. Didn't get to it today because of finals but hopefully Wednesday I can finish it up. The problem is, now that we finally got that female piece in and screwed on, the male piece won't go in nicely. Might have been because we were all tired....so hopefully it will just all work perfectly on Wednesday.