My car won't move while in DRIVE. FML.
 

To make a long story short, I was picking up a friend to go to the movies, got out of the car for a minute to go inside and tell him to hurry up since we were running a bit late. (Car was left on since his sister was outside). When I came back outside literally 30 seconds later my car isn't there. So his sister decided to take it for a joy ride. 15 minutes later she comes back and she has trouble taking the key out of the ignition, so I go over to help her out. Were late already. So we stay inside for about 10 minutes then go back outside because we feel like going to get something to eat. When I get in the car and turn it on, everything was fine, but then I put the car in drive and accelerate, and all of a sudden my baby won't go. :eek: I tried turning it off and starting it all over again multiple times but no matter what it wouldn't go. Luckily enough my next door neighbor comes home (certified mechanic), and I go over, explain him the situation to get his input on what it could be. He said that from the sound of things it could be the shifter cable that either ripped/broke or got disconnected. Can anyone corroborate this? I mean I have faith in this mechanic but at the same time I trust the elder and wise from this forum. Please let me know what you think it could possibly be. School starts next week and I'm screwed without a car.

Please and Thank You.
-Edgar :confused:

You should ask the young lady exactly what she did when driving the car??? One of Benz "limp" modes (limp is a bad explanation in this sense) will not allow you to select anything until the TCU resets. I've achieved this once in my car by selecting reverse before the car had stopped running forward when I was in a hell of a hurry - this is done to protect the transmission. It came right about 10 minutes later after numerous reboots by restarting. I suspect the lady did something stupid with the selector or tried a burnout!!

If it does not come right - check the fluid level in the tranny - the cause of 99% of transmission problems is low fluid.

If you have no luck get it on a flat bed & take it to the dealer to get it on a STAR DAS - They can diagnose & reset the TCU.

Good luck - Apart from fluid level check & reboots this is not DIY.

I hope this is the problem & nothing is broken.

Another reason why no one but me drives my car...regardless of puppy eyes, offers for things which shall not be mentioned on here, etc...lol. No food allowed in my car either.

Sorry dude..Im sure this doesnt help.

Good luck in getting it fixed though.

I did ask her, but as you can probably guess, she said nothing. How do I check the fluid level in the transmission? And also I can move the shifter from D to R to N to D without having the foot on the brake. Is this normal for such a situation?

I learned that the hard way. My cousin borrowed my car one night and got drunk, went to go fill it up at the gas station and completely forgot how to turn the car on/off. Ended up twisting the ignition switch all the way around. Ended up costing me $1200. Such bull. But I would consider offers like the ones your mentioning :rolleyes: I guess the only thing I can do is keep the key in my pants. Literally. And thanks. I just hope Mr. Glyn is right and its nothing major.

When the brake is not stepped on, you will not be able to move the stick out of P. When going faster than 10km/h, you will not be able to move stick from D to R or R to D.

I'm with Glyn on thinking your friend's sister tried something stupid. The only time I ever threw error codes on my car was when I tried doing stupid like donuts in a parking lot. :naughty:

You can't move the shifter out of P without engaging the brake..
But you can shift from D -> N at any speeds without engaging the brake, I believe.
And you can shift from R -> N at any speeds without engaging the brake as well.

And when you're in N, I believe you can shift from R-N->D or D-N->R, but the D or R won't engage and you won't be able to actually Drive or Reverse, until the rpms of your engine go down to like... under 1.5 or 2krpms :nix:

I don't know if I'm being quite clear.
But sometimes when I accidentally shift into Neutral from Drive, and I'm at higher RPMS: 3k+
after engaging back into D
I won't be able to actually D, until the RPMs die back down
And I believe it's the same case when moving the shifter too fast, D-->R, and R-->D

You need a dealers dipstick for the 722.6 transmission. You can buy them from RMeuropean etc.

https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...oil-atf001.jpg

Regarding the interlock. This is where cars differ. On SA cars it's all electronic - on Ed,s early Coupe there is a cable that can be adjusted purely for the interlock & not selection. On cars I am accustomed to the EIS, TCU, Brake pedal & interlock are all tied together. It's possible that the interlock has been locked out of play by the TCU. It's a few years back & I can't remember exactly what happened on my car in this regard when I lost selection.

Ed's car was stuck in gear - interlock jammed - If you have the cable you might want to check it

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ght=stuck+gear

Take a look at the brake switch pdf. posted by Johnand & have a look at post #30 where he lists all the interlock & cable pdf.s

Good luck!

My guess might be the opposite of Glyn's....R and then drop to D for the burn-out attempt. I've seen some kids try that. You are not having good luck with your car and friends!!!

Regardless, I hope it is an easy fix for you.

Noob question, but where would the dipstick go? And is it really 50+ bucks?!


All I know is that she did something wrong for a fact. You know us teenagers these days have such ideas. :X

And thank you so much.
And I could use some luck at this point, and if its not that, then money!

i bought one on ebay for 20 bucks or so. search 722.6 dipstick and you'll find some.

You remove the red pin & this cap to access the dipstick tube - left rear of engine looking from front.

https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...tube-cover.jpg

https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...fluid-atf3.jpg

https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...ded-a629_1.jpg

https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...26atflevel.jpg

https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...org-forums.pdf

Thank you so much! I ordered the part off ebay and should be here sometime near the end of the week. I hope this is it. I appreciate everybody. And I will keep everyone posted.

Enjoy your weekend people :)
Last weekend before college!

It may sound like a noob question, but how exactly do I measure the transmission fluid in a Mercedes?

See the end of splinters post #9 here: Make sure to take it's temperature

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w203/228327-diy-w203-radiator-r-r.html

See this pdf as well

https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...org-forums.pdf

I hate joy riders, unleash hell on that girl for being irresponsible with other peoples property...............seriously.....WTF...goodluc k with the fix man, I hope and wish that it is not somthing serious..........

You should have had that joy-rider charged with auto-theft. She did after all play Grand Theft Auto with your car. Then have your Mercedes dealership fix your car and send her the bill. She pays the bill to fix your car, then charges are dropped,... she doesn't then charges stay.

Maybe he likes said lady:naughty:

edgarinho10, why don't you remove the battery negative cable for couple of minutes and reconnect. It won't cost you anything to try that.

You can do that - Just be careful - no clumsy sparking etc or you can blow a SAM. You will need to resynch everything. You should really disconnect the battery with a quiescent power source but then you will not hard reboot the TCU.

Do NOT disconnect the battery with the key in the ignition!

I have hard time to remove red pin. Any tricks? :nix:

You are supposed to break it & replace it. Costs about 50 cents. I have never taken one out intact. Maybe there is a trick. I've never tried - always replaced.

Thanks!

Lol. She's my best friend's sister, and at the same time kinda like my sister considering I spend alot of time at their house. They only live 3 houses down and I'm always over there watching soccer games. (I don't have cable :nix:)

I will have to try that, but first give me your input on the pictures that are to follow....

Ouch! - your fluid level is below the 25 Deg C mark. Very low. Should be up between the top markings at 80 Deg C. You had better go & get some fluid from the dealer & top up.

See splinter's pics in the link above.

BTW - engine temp is not a good indication of transmission temp.

Not that I've ever tried it,.... but see how that little RED ATF Tube Lock Pin has a little notch on it close to the bottom end. That notch looks like it notches onto the outer edge of the openning of the transmission dipstick tube hole. So I'm thinking if you use one of those small electronic flat-head screwdriver or even a u-shaped wire clothes hanger to un-notch that little RED ATF Tube Lock Pin from underneath the black cap,... that should do the trick.

It might save yourself 50 cents,... yeah, I'm a cheap-skate,... who drives a Mercedes. :rolf:

And if it works,... it'll save you a trip to the dealer.