2016 C450 all of a sudden won’t go into DRIVE or REVERSE?
#1
Super Member
Thread Starter
2016 C450 all of a sudden won’t go into DRIVE or REVERSE?
Backstory… rock solid car, but hasn’t seen more than about 1000 miles in the past 4-5 years. 22.5K miles.
Been doing a bit more driving lately, but today just parked it in a garage and it would NOT DRIVE or REVERSE.. it seemed to go into R or D in the display, and felt like the transmission was engaging.. Gas made the car at least move VERY slightly rewards or forwards, but then nothing.. felt like BRAKES on, but car not moving.
No tranny issues present up to this moment. Car has been solid, and maintained, although last head to toe service was 4 years and 1200 miles ago. (I was going with a bit more mileage than years as the yardstick).
Garaged always in FLAT garage, but only difference in the past two months has been parking on a driveway that has a small slope. So, MORE engaging of parking brake than normal.
I could get the car into N for towing. Tried putting it into P and rocking, E brake on, E brake OFF - makes noise like full dis-engagement, and of course in N it rolls fine.
VERY odd, but where should one start to look for random failures that can lead to this?
Been doing a bit more driving lately, but today just parked it in a garage and it would NOT DRIVE or REVERSE.. it seemed to go into R or D in the display, and felt like the transmission was engaging.. Gas made the car at least move VERY slightly rewards or forwards, but then nothing.. felt like BRAKES on, but car not moving.
No tranny issues present up to this moment. Car has been solid, and maintained, although last head to toe service was 4 years and 1200 miles ago. (I was going with a bit more mileage than years as the yardstick).
Garaged always in FLAT garage, but only difference in the past two months has been parking on a driveway that has a small slope. So, MORE engaging of parking brake than normal.
I could get the car into N for towing. Tried putting it into P and rocking, E brake on, E brake OFF - makes noise like full dis-engagement, and of course in N it rolls fine.
VERY odd, but where should one start to look for random failures that can lead to this?
Last edited by tivoboy; Yesterday at 07:18 PM.
#2
Out Of Control!!
Join Date: Dec 2019
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PFL205.064 with M276.823 (Oil pump solenoid defeated)
Backstory… rock solid car, but hasn’t seen more than about 1000 miles in the past 4-5 years. 22.5K miles.
Been doing a bit more driving lately, but today just parked it in a garage and it would NOT DRIVE or REVERSE.. it seemed to go into R or D in the display, and felt like the transmission was engaging.. Gas made the car at least move VERY slightly rewards or forwards, but then nothing.. felt like BRAKES on, but car not moving.
No tranny issues present up to this moment. Car has been solid, and maintained, although last head to toe service was 4 years and 1200 miles ago. (I was going with a bit more mileage than years as the yardstick).
Garaged always in FLAT garage, but only difference in the past two months has been parking on a driveway that has a small slope. So, MORE engaging of parking brake than normal.
I could get the car into N for towing. Tried putting it into P and rocking, E brake on, E brake OFF - makes noise like full dis-engagement, and of course in N it rolls fine.
VERY odd, but where should one start to look for random failures that can lead to this?
Been doing a bit more driving lately, but today just parked it in a garage and it would NOT DRIVE or REVERSE.. it seemed to go into R or D in the display, and felt like the transmission was engaging.. Gas made the car at least move VERY slightly rewards or forwards, but then nothing.. felt like BRAKES on, but car not moving.
No tranny issues present up to this moment. Car has been solid, and maintained, although last head to toe service was 4 years and 1200 miles ago. (I was going with a bit more mileage than years as the yardstick).
Garaged always in FLAT garage, but only difference in the past two months has been parking on a driveway that has a small slope. So, MORE engaging of parking brake than normal.
I could get the car into N for towing. Tried putting it into P and rocking, E brake on, E brake OFF - makes noise like full dis-engagement, and of course in N it rolls fine.
VERY odd, but where should one start to look for random failures that can lead to this?
#3
Super Member
Thread Starter
Haven’t gotten scanner codes back from local Benz stealership.. My favorite local shop apparently closed two years ago.. ;-(.. I hoping that the $310 diagnostic charge will yield some insight of course, but can’t figure out what the stack rank of probabilities is for something to go from seemingly fully functioning to catastrophic failure in a heartbeat.
#4
Out Of Control!!
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: Yours to Discover
Posts: 13,958
Received 2,665 Likes
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PFL205.064 with M276.823 (Oil pump solenoid defeated)
Thanks… I did transmission fluid changes about 5 years ago just before he pandemic… car was still under warranty (7 year) at the time, but figured I’d do that when I did B service..
Haven’t gotten scanner codes back from local Benz stealership.. My favorite local shop apparently closed two years ago.. ;-(.. I hoping that the $310 diagnostic charge will yield some insight of course, but can’t figure out what the stack rank of probabilities is for something to go from seemingly fully functioning to catastrophic failure in a heartbeat.
Haven’t gotten scanner codes back from local Benz stealership.. My favorite local shop apparently closed two years ago.. ;-(.. I hoping that the $310 diagnostic charge will yield some insight of course, but can’t figure out what the stack rank of probabilities is for something to go from seemingly fully functioning to catastrophic failure in a heartbeat.
Might be the aux battery, check the starter battery as well, how old is it? MBs are very sensitive to voltage changes so a weak battery could cause issues like this. If you don't want to pay for diagnostic charge, you could get a scanner, forum members here are recommending Launch CReader Elite Benz V2.0. it is cheaper than one diagnostic charge at a shop.
Especially if you plan on keeping the vehicle for a while, it is worth having a scanner.
Last edited by W205C43PFL; Yesterday at 08:36 PM.