E-Class (W210) 1995-2002: E 200, E 220D, E 240, E 290TD, E 300TD, E 200, E 240, E 280, E 320, E 420, E 430 (Wagon, Touring, 4Matic)

w210 limp home mode

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Old 06-25-2016, 07:04 PM
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w210 limp home mode

Hello, i have a 2001 E220 w210. I have an issue where the car sometimes (rare) gets stuck in second gear and wont shift up or down, a simple restart of the engine fixes this.

But, i have heard that a bad battery often can be the cause, so what im wondering is if and Amp and subwoofer (1600w rms) which do make the lights flicker and can feel the car lose power when the sub hits.

can this be the cause to why its going into limp home mode? it usually only happens when im out and have the sound system on full blast over a longer period of time
Old 06-25-2016, 11:36 PM
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Putting your stereo mods to the side.... the good news is you have no major tranny failure - grinding, etc - and that's a very good thing.

So you know the transmission is controlled electrically by a electronics board in the engine compartment - called Transmission Control Module - connected by a cable/harness down to the transmission where there is a connecting plug often call a Transmission Adapter Plug which connects the electrical signal to the Conductor Plate inside the transmission.

"Often" the type of Limp Home Mode failure you are talking about gets set off by bad/poor communication thats starts with that Adapter Plug leaking internally - fouling communication - which can also lead to tranny fluid "seeping" up thru the cable harness to contaminate the TCM board inside the engine compartment - these are the two things to address 1st:

1) Plan to replace that Tranny Adapter plug - use ONLY a genuine MB/MOPAR part which will cost you $14-$18 - and DON'T use China made knock off plug.

2) Plan to pull and clean the TCM board using 1/2 of a $9 spray can of MAF Cleaner which is a non-residue/non-ammonia cleaner - by pulling the board out - flood cleaning both sides of the both letting the MAF cleaner to drain off the board carrying off the offending oil/contamination - spray clean the connector inside the box you pull the board from - let everything air dry - no added heat.

This will result in clean communication - and your issue "often" will disappear.

Once this is done - and if the problem reappears - you will need to "read the codes" which are stored - and advise the forum of that code(s) #.

If you are planning to "keep" your W210 - and if the tranny has not been serviced with fresh fluid and fresh filter in the last 30K miles - then you plan/budget that tranny service.

At the same time as tranny service - depending on mileage and/or your still reoccurring code that indicates worn sensors on the Conductor plate - during that service you can choose to replace the conductor plate as well - the conductor plate OE is German - and there are China knockoff's that more recently have cropped up - with no real problems on that China knockoff reported yet that I know of.

Keep the beat !
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Old 06-25-2016, 11:52 PM
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Originally Posted by fabbrisd1
Putting your stereo mods to the side.... the good news is you have no major tranny failure - grinding, etc - and that's a very good thing.

So you know the transmission is controlled electrically by a electronics board in the engine compartment - called Transmission Control Module - connected by a cable/harness down to the transmission where there is a connecting plug often call a Transmission Adapter Plug which connects the electrical signal to the Conductor Plate inside the transmission.

"Often" the type of Limp Home Mode failure you are talking about gets set off by bad/poor communication thats starts with that Adapter Plug leaking internally - fouling communication - which can also lead to tranny fluid "seeping" up thru the cable harness to contaminate the TCM board inside the engine compartment - these are the two things to address 1st:

1) Plan to replace that Tranny Adapter plug - use ONLY a genuine MB/MOPAR part which will cost you $14-$18 - and DON'T use China made knock off plug.

2) Plan to pull and clean the TCM board using 1/2 of a $9 spray can of MAF Cleaner which is a non-residue/non-ammonia cleaner - by pulling the board out - flood cleaning both sides of the both letting the MAF cleaner to drain off the board carrying off the offending oil/contamination - spray clean the connector inside the box you pull the board from - let everything air dry - no added heat.

This will result in clean communication - and your issue "often" will disappear.

Once this is done - and if the problem reappears - you will need to "read the codes" which are stored - and advise the forum of that code(s) #.

If you are planning to "keep" your W210 - and if the tranny has not been serviced with fresh fluid and fresh filter in the last 30K miles - then you plan/budget that tranny service.

At the same time as tranny service - depending on mileage and/or your still reoccurring code that indicates worn sensors on the Conductor plate - during that service you can choose to replace the conductor plate as well - the conductor plate OE is German - and there are China knockoff's that more recently have cropped up - with no real problems on that China knockoff reported yet that I know of.

Keep the beat !
first off. thank you for such a good detailed answer, alot better then on the other forum.

And sorry for my English if not everything is understandable

I just bought this car about 1 month ago. it has 150k miles on it. full service book or w/e its called in english

but i dont know if any of the services contain ATF change. but however i am going to a shop tomorrow or something to get the fault codes checked, and just to check the fluid level / quality. but do you get a code for the adapter plug if the problem lies within that? either way my plan now is to
1. change adapter plug and clean ECM.
2. Change whatever else comes up as fault code
3.Delete fault codes and change ATF fluid and filter

And do i need ned Transmission oil when changing the plug?

Does this sound alright for starters? i will also quote you with the fault codes when i get that checked

Last edited by w210merc; 06-26-2016 at 07:13 AM.
Old 06-26-2016, 08:39 PM
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Yes - you have a sound strategy.

After you change change/Plug-clean-ECM - do a forum search for ECU/tranny reset - which will help.

On the stereo side - you might consider adding a "Stiffening Capacitor" 1.5-2.0 farad at the subwoofer amp - which will help isolate the car systems (incl headlights) from the amp - smooth out the car side - possibly might limit the boom-boom-boom a bit.

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