MercvsBoat

Newbie here, please help. Bought an 07 ml 280 cdi with 50000 kms two and a half years ago and has run like dream, always serviced at MB and had no problems untill last week. Was doing a quick errand close to home at slow speed and the car felt sluggish, went to accelerate to a higher speed and it wouldnt shift up a gear, then the engine shut down and i coasted it to the side of the road. Turned key off scratched head and it restarted fine till i put it into drive and nothing, engine revved but no drive, luckily in a small town so someone towed me home. Now have it up on stands in the driveway and done some trouble shooting. Electronic shift module works, brake switch is fine, have had cover off the bottom of tranny and the shift mechanism in there looks fine and moves through the full range of motion, and no warnings on the dash inside. My nearest MB dealer is over 200 km away and the car is only 6 months out of premium used car warranty. Any points tricks or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

06e320cdi

It sounds like its in "limp home" mode. Even if there are no check engine lights, dealer may be able to pull the codes.

MercvsBoat

Thanks 06e320cdi, are you saying that it may have been in limp mode when it shut down or now? Because if it was before it broke it was only for a very short period maybe several minutes. Now that i have drained the trans oil to take the cover off and check the shift shaft it says drive to dealer without changing gears. Wish i could.

06e320cdi

My issue was when the EGR valve would get stuck, it would be in limp mode, IE not over 2500 RPMS, very sluggish, would not downshift. If I turned the car off, most of the time it would reset and I would be fine until it happened again. However, rereading yours, it appears to be transmission related, as your engine will rev, but not accelerate. If there is a transmission issue, it too will have codes related to the problem, but not necessarily have a check engine light. Good luck.