gear shift problem from water spill!!
 

Yesterday I had a horrid experience when we had a accidental water spill over from a water bottle (in the top cup holder). This happened when the car was at ~65 mph on the highway and it skidded and came to a screeching halt right away. Fortunately, it had already moved to the shoulder else there could have been a major accident!

The shift gear got locked up and after drying the shift gear area I was able to move it into the Drive gear but it did not show any numbers (1-4) or "D" in the electronic display indicating that the gear system got screwed up. I could drive the car at low speed of 20-25mph as it is probably not moving to a higher gear. The gear shifting makes a loud thud noise as well.

I have never heard of this problem with this model (2001 CLK320 cpe) or any others. I would appreciate if I can get some pointers on the following:

1) this seems like a security design lapse as it brought the car to a complete halt from 65 mph!! Does anyone have similar experience?
2) I have yet to take the car to a dealer / mechanic. Any particular advice on what may be the damage and how much it could cost?

Thanks in advance.

i actually have heard of this happeneing do a search on this forum and try benzworld dot org as well from what i remember your supposed to take the shifter plate off and clean it very well with windex and then its fine.

Bummer. You should visit your mechanic this is a fairly common (and expensive) problem. The shifter circiut board probably will have to be replaced. Cleaning the console with a liquid caused my problem and it cost $700.00 to fix at dealer. Thankfully warranty covered it.

There is no easy fix; you shorted the Transmission Range Recognition Switch (TRRS) circuit board, it’s an integral part of the gear shift mechanism. Since its Version coded to the vehicle a used one will not work, new from MB is the only fix. I have changed a lot of them

i've only owned my 99 CLK 320 for a little over 3 months, and i heard about this problem within the first week of reading these boards before i even bought the car. as a result, i don't let anyone sitting in front have open drinks because there's NO WAY i'm going to risk this happening!

i wonder if there's a way to put some kind of plastic seal over the circuit board to prevent this?

sucks man...if you end up being able to use an old one i have my complete shifter that i took off my 99 clk for sale cheap...pm me if u can use it!

Very interesting. This very thing has begun happening to me. Same symptoms except it happens to me if it's rained real hard. I suspected moisture in some part of the tranny was affecting the electronics, hence the inability of the car to leave 1st gear. Gear indicator on the dash, same thing as OP's .... blank. Another symptom of mine, when i turn the key, the car won't light up right away. You have to hold the key a second before it'll start to turn over. this action is the clue that the gear shift will get stuck for me. I then start and cut off the car a few times. This seems get the car going for me. My indy told me it was because of a seal in a transmission cable and that it needed to be replaced (or it would foul up this TRRS board that C32 mentions). Apparently, this seal (that goes bad) is not keeping moisture out of where it's supposed to.

Wow, i can't believe I stumbled up on this! (special thanks to C32)

Bummer for me....2001 CLK 320....I spilt a cup of coffee on my shifter, guess what happened? You know it, I'm screwed. aAnything I can do?

I took off that stupid claw out of my car, so now its just a big hole that can fit big gulps but put a hankey, plastic sandwhich bag and napkins on the bottom just to be safe.

coffee killed mine
 

I spilled coffee on my 99 e320 shifter. The trans goes to limp home mode. I was too far away to limp home, so I had the part shipped to me and I installed it. Unfortunately, as a previous poster stated, the unit / car needs to be reprogrammed. I needed a tow to a dealer who reset the code in about 1 minute.

So a used one can be bought, installed and then recoded?? This is good news and can save us quite a bit of money when it happens to more of us.

I am very careful with drinks in front but you never know if it might happen. Someone needs to come up with some type of easy mod to protect all of us from this. I might even tackle this sort of project and post up some good pics. All I would need is a thick clear plastic sheet (home depot) and then hot glue it to the steel shifter under the panel, then we can hot glue the rest of the sides to the inside of the console. This way any spills will be guided around the electronics!! Hmmmmmm....I just found my next project!!

had the same thing happen with a milkshake. take it to the dealer and it was about $700 bucks to replace the gear shift sensor

I use this on most Circuit boards I worked on that is exposed to the elements or water and it keeps them dry. Less than $10 at ACE...
http://www.k1cra.com/images/products/original/133.jpg

or the dip version

http://harryepstein.com/pics/plasticdip.jpg

worked for me..:y

WOW!!!! This sounds like a MUCH MUCH better idea than the one that I had!! Do you think it would be completely safe to use it in this scenario? I mean a circuit board is a circuit board so they should all be the same???? I need to be sure before I make an unecessary 700 dollar mistake LOL. :confused:

I had the same problem after a freak typhoon hit with the sunroof tilted open. After a while (a few hours) I got all shifting function back but took it to the dealer anyway to have it checked out. That's when I learned about the fatal flaw in our system. Dealer wanted $$$ to fix but what was there to fix? It had dried out and I haven' had a recurrence in 2.5 years! See if it dries out and works for you before you blindly pay the stealer for unnecessary work.

01 CLK320; Spill on shifter
 

......$735.00...... No more drinking for me. Dealer wanter $1200.00.:smash:

Any one else have luck with Plastic Dip??

Ok...if you really want to be safe and not cheap....

Info Link:
http://www.electronics-project-desig...alCoating.html

Product Link: ](contact them for price or search others on the web)
http://www.techspray.com/conformalcoatings.htm

PS...Remember… that area does get hot and you need a product that can withstand heat and water...and stay put and not deteriorate over time!! :zoom:

Spilled water over shifter. Car stuck in first gear. Limped to nearest gas station. Mechanic dried the circuit board. Reset "code". Car drives fine. $110 only.

you can easily code used parts with the right equipment

Is the damage caused when liquids enter via the shift lever or the cup holder area?

Electric floor shifter
 

I had the same symptoms with my SLK320, but with no liquid spilled, and 51K on the odometer. Stuck in limp home mode (2nd gear) no gear selector indication on the gauge cluster, the gear lever would shift from P to D with a med. clunk, but would not shift back from N to R or P with the brake pedal depressed. I had a trans. service with new connector/o-rings 1500 miles prior, so no ATF leakage, I checked th ATF level anyway with a MB 722.6 dip stick at operating temp. checked OK. My OBDII/CAN reader showed a P0705 DTC. "Trans range sensor circuit (PRNDL input)" I found a Diagnostic PDF file for Electric Transmission Control with a lot of troubleshooting info. the result was the gear range recognition switch S16/10 in the Floor shifter assy, or the connector or assoc. wiring, I disconnected the battery, gained access to replace the Electric Floor shifter, part no. 1702671124 and the end result was everything was back to normal. the part list price is $560. at the dealers, but I got mine at a MB dealers web store for $448 + $11 shpg. by UPS. also I would like to thank forum contributers for numerous valuable bits of info.

I'm a little confused by ths post. I'm having the same issues so I purchased a used gear shifter assembly with the TRRS and was told after install it would not work but after having it recoded by MB dealer it should work fine. Is this not true?

Electric floor shifter assy.
 

When my OBDII/CAN code reader gave me a P0705 code on my 2001 SLK320, and after troubleshooting, I purchaced a NEW floor shifter assy. 170 267 11 24 from a MB dealers web store. I had to give them my vin # to be sure that it was compatable with the specific car. List price was $560. @ local dealers, but saved $100. shopping the web. The floor shifter assy. has circuit boards inside that may be damaged with fluid spilled, mine did not have a fluid spill, but the gear range recognition switch (S16/10) inside on the rotational shaft has wiper plate contacts and this can go bad too. I DID NOT have to have my assy. recoded all I did was disconnect the battery, remove the aft console, radio & wood switch panel to access, replaced floor shifter and re-assembled. I connected the battery, sync. the ESP and reset the radio code. Then I put my code reader on the car and it indicated that there were no DTCs in memory. I performed test drives and the gear indicator on the odometer was good and the car shifted perfect and no CEL/MIL. I hope this helps, I think I have read some threads that say that a recode of a used floor shifter/TCU? is possible. I avoided this issue with a new vin specific assy.

Water spill over gear shift_damge controlled
 

:yHad similar experience. Car was probably(?) left overnight with sunroof ajar. Severe thunderstorm happened. Level of accumulated water: above the carpets. You know the rest... Could not operate windows and anything that had respective controls in gear shift area + starter did not work (even crank). Panic... Heard horror story regarding the associated costs of OEM repairs, board replacement, reprogramming and alike. Towing was arranged after the weekend. As a last ditch effort, I opened all the windows (thanks God for 4 sunny days), finger pushed up the cover plate around the gear stick (no tools necessary; easily accessed from inside of the cup holder compartment), blew the air, sprayed with electronic cleaner (NO WD4 or anything like that should be used I guess) and left it ventilating for those 4 days. The day of appointed towing, the car stared without any problems. No reprogramming, not even re-teaching of windows was needed. Took car for test drive around the block and on the highway;smooth. Towing cancelled. Appointment at MB cancelled. :)Lucky this time. Uff...