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Car decides on "C" mode?!

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Old Dec 2, 2009 | 05:03 AM
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Car decides on "C" mode?!

I know I'm not crazy. This has been happening to my car lately and I've been brushing it off as "I must've done that on accident" but not anymore, too many offenses.

I will look in the gauges and find my car is in "C" mode rather than "S", even though I have always driven in "S" and never press the button. It's happened probably a dozen times lately. I press the button and put it back in "S" mode until sometime later I notice it is again in "C". WTF!

Has this happened to anyone before? Any ideas?

Edit: Car runs fine, shifts fine, has no stored codes, and is @ 67,400 miles.
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Old Dec 2, 2009 | 05:08 AM
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
TCU brain fart as Mu would put it.
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Old Dec 2, 2009 | 05:12 AM
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Interesting.. I hope it stops having such frequent episodes. It's not a big deal as I typically don't notice it driving any differently, I just didn't want it to be a sign of something to come. I never have a problem with the BMW's transmission.. oh wait, it's a 6-speed manual. I kick myself for not going 6MT in the C230.
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Old Dec 2, 2009 | 05:18 AM
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
Matt - just check that it's not the dreaded TCU plug leaking O ring in the front of the 722.6 gearbox. I've just bought a spare for mine expecting it to let go one day. I hope with a $8.50 spare lying around it won't happen. I'm coming up for my 60,000Km transmission oil flush & change.

Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Dec 2, 2009 at 05:21 AM.
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Old Dec 2, 2009 | 05:31 AM
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My car did have this, but it was repaired under warranty. Chance it has gone again?
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Old Dec 2, 2009 | 05:49 AM
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
It's been a trouble spot with many redesigns. Could be. How many miles since it was replaced?
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Old Dec 2, 2009 | 05:51 AM
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About 20,000 miles since replacement.
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Old Dec 2, 2009 | 06:01 AM
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
Did they fit the new one with black O rings?
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Old Dec 2, 2009 | 06:06 AM
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
Like this

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Old Dec 2, 2009 | 06:09 AM
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It says on work order "replaced with updated parts"..

Hrm. I'm not mechanically inclined enough to check this myself. I will say that when the car had the problem, it never did the "C" thing.
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Old Dec 2, 2009 | 06:44 AM
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
Just stick your head under the car on the passenger side & see if the plug is wet - front diagonal of tranny. If you previously had this problem we don't know how well they dried out the TCU harness. Check passenger footwell footplate area where the TCU is mounted for oil.
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Old Dec 2, 2009 | 10:39 AM
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2007 C230SS; 2014 ML350 BT
Glyn, other than the TCU plug issue, is it possible the switch has an intermittent short, that causes the TCU to switch modes?

I had the hood switch intermittently short causing the "hood open" message on the MFD a dozen or so times since my car was new. Hasn't done it in quite a while, though.

Last edited by johnand; Dec 2, 2009 at 10:42 AM.
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Old Dec 5, 2009 | 05:56 PM
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1999 CLK320 (sold), 2007 C230 SS (gone), 2000 Grand Marquis, 2011 CR-Z, stay tuned...
I want to say that I have noticed this a couple times too. Not enough to make an impression, but something that I do remember. It hasn't happened in soooo long though.
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Old Dec 5, 2009 | 11:44 PM
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Thanks.. At least I know I'm not alone. Damn I wish I had bought a 6MT.
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Old Dec 5, 2009 | 11:56 PM
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1999 CLK320 (sold), 2007 C230 SS (gone), 2000 Grand Marquis, 2011 CR-Z, stay tuned...
I wish I had one too. So much more fun!
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Old Dec 6, 2009 | 07:15 AM
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Maybe your car is tired of being sporty and whats to be comfy so it changed! Cars like variety to!

<--- 6 MT and wouldn't own a car any other way, autos are weak sauce!
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Old Dec 6, 2009 | 06:02 PM
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Meh, I would love for my C230 to be a 6MT.. but then it would be a non-weak sauce transmission in a generally weak sauce car. My 135i is a 6MT and I wouldn't have IT any other way. Twin turbo FTW!
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Old Dec 6, 2009 | 06:47 PM
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2007 C230 Sport
What a weird problem... And I thought my famous hvac system turning it's self was odd at first!!

Manual transmissions are by far the best, but I agree - in a 200hp benz, not totally necessary!
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Old Dec 6, 2009 | 06:50 PM
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Originally Posted by 07 Benz
What a weird problem... And I thought my famous hvac system turning it's self was odd at first!!
It's funny you bring that up. My car did that like 3 times in one day, but that was months ago and it hasn't happened since. But it's happened to other people, too.
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Old Dec 6, 2009 | 10:26 PM
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Yea, it happened to me with increasing frequency for about a month. Took it to the dealer, got my compressor changed and it hasn't happened since.

No clue man...
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