garden_t00l

So I bought a 97 E320 that was in limp home mode. Guy told me that he was told it was the speed sensors and decided just to buy another vehicle for his wife or whoever and called it a day. So from my observations it was the classic limp home mode. Showed check engine electrics on dash, loud clank when shifting into gear etca. Took it to one of the local better transmission shops for a free estimate, told them what I knew and they looked at it in between higher priority jobs for 4 days or so. They called me and said they dropped the pan to take a look inside and it needed a new or rebuilt tranny because second gear is gone. I think there quote was around $3k. I figured right off the bat they got stuck and decided there done troubleshooting. Went and picked it up and loaded it on the trailer, took it home and drove it around the block. So here's my new observations. I'm pretty positive they reset the tcm as it now longer has the check engine light, no hard shifting into gear, etca. It however does not get out of first gear now. So here's my question, does anyone know if the conductor plate is bad and it has been reset, will it do this and not pop a code if it was driven just enough for a test and parked. Would this point to a different issue, or do I need to rebuild or replace the tranny? Car has 163k miles and tranny dip stick cap had been pulled before but don't know why or what for. Otherwise the car is in really good shape and runs good.

Plutoe

Before you decide anything you have to determine what's wrong--why limp mode?? To do that you have to find someone in your area with factory software called DAS Xentry or DAS or STAR or something very compatable to read the transmission module.

Once that is done you can develope a repair plan

mufc

I will put my money on a conductor plate. Mine had the same symptom's. If you drive it more I am sure the check engine light will come on again. The conductor plate is around $150 on Amazon and pretty easy to change. I used Shell AFT 134 to replace the trans oil and it never shifted better.

garden_t00l

Thanks, that is what I was thinking. I seen the all MB kit with the conductor plate, pan gasket filter and plug for 165 shipped on amazon. So I'll get that ordered and post the update when I get a chance to try it.

garden_t00l

Just thought I would post an update. So before I ordered anything I decided to pull the valve body. First thing when I pulled the electrical plug, fluid just poured out of the plug. Went ahead and pulled the valve body. The speed sensor had the famous cracked plastic over it. I ended up buying the parts off of eBay and changed the fluid while I was at it. I just used vavoline max life transmission fluid. So far it runs and drives great.