jasonowens32

Car has been running solid lately. No problems. I drove the car last night without any problems. Woke up this morning to start my car and it will not crank. All the lights are bright and it appears the battery is fully charged. (Replaced Mercedes battery on Nov. 28 2008) The car will not even try to turn over. I tried to jump start it and had no luck. For everyone thinking it’s the CPS (Crank Position Sensor), I replaced that on June 19, 2007. Any suggestions before I get rapped again at the Dealership. Around here they show no love at the Dealership. See prior posts from me.

bobbyjo9

when you insert the key do you hear the column unlock? meaning does the key fob activate/deactivate the alarm? If not then try changing the battery in the key

jasonowens32

I tried to crank it up with another key and it didnt work. To answer your question the key does activate the alarm. It was worth a try though. Thanks.

bobbyjo9

Hmmm.. well Ive never had to look on the Benz, but I believe all cars should have some kind of a main ignition fuse. Try checking your relays and larger fuses. Worth a try

unlukky

Also, try electrical contact cleaner and clean the ignition switch and the end of the FOB.
Also, CPS can be bad from stock or faulty quite often, would not rule that out. However, when CPS ****s, itll normally 'try' and crank. Good luck.

Mika83

If the CPS is bad shouldn't it ALWAYS still crank the engine unless the battery is flat or near flat?

In my mind a bad CPS should just make the engine not fire up when cranked, or more difficult to fire up and run badly if it does fire up. The CPS should not make the engine not turn over at all.

Please correct me if i'm wrong.

MarcusF

Exactly right.

If the battery is good, I'd check the starter and the ignition switch.

jasonowens32

Just came back from Indy today. I had to watch my team Louisville loose. That sucked. But anyways, I started my car up this morning and it cranked right up. Crazy! But only one problem.... my gears would not let me shift. I drove it in second gear around the block and then took it back home. I turned the car off and started it back up. The gears worked perfectly fine. Then later on I couldn’t get the car into park. It would stay in drive or neutral. It’s like something is messed up with the gear shift. Very strange. The night before I started having all the problems I left my sunroof cracked a little bit. It rained that night and a little water got inside. Could this possibly be my problem?

MarcusF

Yes. And that's why the car wouldn't crank - it didn't get a signal stating the gear selector was in park or neutral. Following the traditional route, that's not going to be an inexpense fix.

jasonowens32

That doesnt sound good. I guess I need to take it to the Dealership. I'll keep everyone posted.

So Marcus do think when water got inside through the sunroof that it messed up something electrical? It really wasnt that bad when I started to dry everything. Water did leak into the gear shift. Guess we will see what happens.

viguera

Well I have practically the same exact problem, so I'm waiting to hear what you come up with.

The car had been acting up changing gears (P into D/R, etc) for a while, then one day it just didn't want to start.

Replaced the CPS, replaced the battery (just in case) and it's now sitting on my driveway waiting for me to figure out what else to try.

I love the car, but considering what it's worth, I hope it's not that expensive of a fix.

-- edit:

And yes, I checked all the fuses and even took out the passenger side carpet and checked the TCU as well. I was hoping it would be just an electrical short or moisture in the TCU, but it looks good as new.

bobbyjo9

A little water goes a long way in a "Drive by wire" car. Do a search on replacing the shift controller. This is a common problem that you MAAAAY be able to fix with spray electrical cleaner and a blow dryer. If not, the replacement is somewhat straight forward

viguera

If you have a part number that will go a long way... I'll just start replacing things until either it starts, or until I run out of things to replace.

MarcusF

I think it's a 2022670424, but that's just a guess. Your part number may be different. If this is the part, it's $450 retail, and $335 with the MBCA discount.



As an addendum, the last person I heard of to change their own TCM still needed a trip to the dealer. The codes are cleared with a STAR box.

viguera

Excellent... thanks for the help.

Yeah that's not that big of a deal... but if this is the problem is a relatively straight-forward fix. I've pulled apart the shifter assembly and center console in all of my cars and it doesn't take me 10 minutes now -- if that. We all know that the dealer would charge for 6 hours worth of labor for something like this, or something equally outrageous -- like a live goat or a golden chicken.

Thanks again

Sick_Made

IM HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM I TURN THE KEY AND I ONLY HEAR A CLICK NOISE ITS NOT THE BATTERY, I THOUGHT IT WAS THE STARTER BUT IM GOING TO REPLACE THE STARTER RELAY FIRST, MAYBE YOU SHOULD TRY THAT TOO OR WAIT AND IL LET YOU KNOW IF IT WORKS...

jasonowens32

UPDATE:

I let the car sit for a couple of days. I started up later on and it work just fine. I have been driving it for about a week now and not one problem. I guess it was wet somewhere and it dried out. It's running solid now so we will see what happens in the future. I refuse to take it to dealer if everything is running right.

Whodat

Just reading this thread.
I have had this issue as well (no fluid/rain got in my car tho). Somebody else posted a while back (Dec?) about coffee being spilled in the cupholder compartment and exhibiting similar issues.

I first noticed it happen to me when i got in (after an overnight sit) and I attempt to crank it, especially after a good rain. There would be a slight delay before the engine actually turned over. This delay would tip me off that the transmission 'issues' would surface. Meaning, I could put the car in park, it would drive in 1st GEAR ONLY. It would NOT shift into second. Then, it also would NOT go back into park without turning the car off, putting it in park and trying again. After a few of times of cut off and back on, the car would then shift into gear ok (also, the shift indicator in my dash would stay blank...never indicating 'D' or 'P').

Then I was in the shop for something minor and my indy mechanic told me about some kind of shift linkage he wanted to change for me. This linkage connects to the transmission and that water/moisture had a tendency to get in there and wreak havoc on elecrical systems related to the transmission if not sealed properly (sound familiar?). I scoffed at first. Thought he was trying to get me to do some useless repair when it hit me....I hadn't even told him about my tranny issue! So we talked about it and I had him change this linkage/seal out (about $200). I have not had a problem with the trans not going out of gear since then.

I'll call him and see what that part name/# was.

jasonowens32

wow... that sounds exactly like the issues I was having.

Please let me know the part number when you get it.

Whodat

Jason: Talked to my guy and did a little research. The part he changed is listed under the following 'names':
Wiring plug housing (from the MB website)
Transmission adapter plug
Transmission cable adapter plug

Here is a picture: http://www.autohausaz.com/search/pro...ber=2035400253

The part number is 2035400253

The way my indy explained it to me, the connectors O-rings can fail and allow moisture to seep into the electrical section of the part, causing weird problems related to the trans.

Again, I have to stress this SEEMS to have fixed the issue for me but I don't drive my CLK everyday plus the symptoms can pop up so sporadically (did it rain the day/night before you had your issues?). I can say the problem has not occurred since the part has been changed tho. The part is only like $15, a rather cheap way to 'find out' I'd say. Also, this doesn't account for the accidents of coffee being spilled in the center console *lol*. Good luck and let me know how yer comin on it. I'd like to hear what happens for you.

Whodat

Jason, I forgot to mention...my indy also needed part 001 540 9981...a 'plug socket' (another inexpensive part) along with the trans cable adapter thingy. Unable to find a picture of it tho...sorry.

bdgdl08

That sounds a bit like the "limp home mode" where the car will only work in a restricted reverse and in second gear. Although the transmission in my CLK was always a bit odd. It would stick in 1st from time to time, then buck and SLAM into second, or, when going slow, would stay in second, but while maintaining speed, slam into first. And other weird stuff like that. Then again I did have it for 232,000 miles!

jasonowens32

For that price I think Ill just change both parts out. I'll have to do some research on how hard the installation is. The car still to this day has no problems.

iveiga

I took the car to get the cover valves gasket changed.
After the gasket changes, the mechanic scanned using MB Star. There is one EGS 135 fault Sporadically fault in CAN communication with: Motor electronics.
He removed the electrical connector and got a little transmission fluid leak on plugs.
It can cause that error? changing the 2 connector can fix it? P/N I think are; A2035400253 and A0015409981.
Thanks for any help.