mis3

I passed by a Petro-Can gas station and put in a tank of Ultra94 on Sundays (I usually use Shell V-power). The car felt great and has much better acceleration. However, while I was enjoying my car today, I felt a jerk and then the car would not shift at all. I tried to down-shift using the shifter and it would not down-shift, stayed in D all the time. I parked at the side of the road, restarted the car and everything went back to normal. I don't own a stick scanner so not sure if there is a code.

This never happened to me with this car (2004 CLK320). Should I reset the adaptive driving?

Glyn M Ruck

It went into limp mode. I would just continue driving it & monitor. That happened twice in the life of my C240. Just a little TCU reboot required by switching off & on again. Depending on stored codes you might be heading for a new conductor plate but I would not worry yet. Electronic brain fade episodes do happen. Make sure you have no sign of a fluid leak at the electrohydraulic bush. You replaced the bush didn't you?

mis3

If you are talking about the 13-pin pilot bushing, I did change it in Feb-2012 when I did the 2 pan flushes. It has been, maybe 20k miles since my last pan flush.

I will monitor in the next few days and report back. Resetting the adaptive driving will not help then.

Glyn M Ruck

Yes I'm talking about the 13 pin pilot bushing. I thought you had replaced it.

Resetting adaptive driving will do nothing for this condition.

mis3

I thought so. I did not reset the adaptive driving. N

I drove about 50 miles city driving today and all OK. I will see in the next few days. Thanks.

I did the 2 pan flushes 20k miles ago, I am wondering should I do another pan flush.

mis3

It's been 6 days and we car did not go to limp mode again.

I went to an indie for an oil change yesterday. Checked the 13-pin adapter, all dry. Checked ATF level with the dipstick, it's OK as well.

As usual after an oil change, the car was super smooth and I pushed the car hard. This monring I went into dyno mode to check the oil level. The oil level was 8.1L and decreaed as the oil circulated into the engine. There is no warning message of too much oil. Hope this is still OK.

I may breakdown one day to do a ATF pan flush. It has only been 20k miles. I am concerned about using Shell 134 because already 2 kinds of MBATF in my traslmsmom

mis3

My transmission went into limp mode again today. Funny is it went to limp mode in the same street, maybe a block away. I restarted the car and all OK.

So, it happened now twice in 8 days. I will go to my indie next week to scan for the code.

My question is if I leave it for a while, would it damage any other parts? Would it get worse, more frequent?

I can see from Autohausaz that a conductor plate is $152US. How many hours will the labor be?

Rudeney

The labor should be about an hour more than the price of a transmission fluid and filter change. Most dealers charge around $450 for the transmission service, so I'd say $550-$600 (plus the price of the conductor plate) to install it. Hopefully an indy would be less, maybe around $400. If you are able to get it to kick out of limp mode, and you are sure this is not due to low fluid, then I'd say it's OK to drive, though I would not drive it very far while in limp mode.

mis3

I will certainly pull over quickly when I get into this limp mode. I will scan the code next week and report back.

If the problem is with the conductor plate, how many liter of ATF would I need? Anything else do I need?

Rudeney

If all you do is drain the pan, then...oh, wait, you have a 3004 CLK320? That has the 722.6, so all you can do is drain the pan, so about 4-5 liters. And yours is much easier to fill and measure as it has a dipstick. You will also need a new pan gasket, pan bolts, and filter. But of course the first step is to pull the codes to see what is wrong.

mis3

I called a local dealership and the conductor plate is $450 CAN. Wow, this is so expensive compare to Autohausaz.

For engine and transmission parts, I would buy MB parts.

mis3

I have been reading up on this conductor plate. I read that after replacing the parts, it will need to be reprogrammed, something to do with adaptations, transferring the codes to the VGS, etc.

Now I am not sure my indie can handle the job. He works mostly with Sprinter and I'm not sure if he has a genuine SDS. I went to him for the pan flush because the Sprinters share the same 722.6 with my car.

Rudeney

WIS always calls for an "adaptation" after any transmission work, but I don't think it's always necessary. The programming is in the TCU. The worst case scenario are that you get some odd shifts. If that happens, you can always go to the dealer and have it done. They will likely charge about 2 hours of labor.

mis3

Thanks, Rudeney for your insights.

2 hours labour would wipe out the saving going to an indie (dealership labor rate is $140 CAN per hour). I will check if my indie has a SDS. If not, I would perform the change in the dealership. I read that in the minimum, the TCM has to be reset and this needs a SDS.

Is there any software stored in the conductor plate? If so, I will have to make sure it has the latest version.

To save on cost, I may go with Shell ATF134 this time. Hope this ATF will work well with the 236.10 and 236.14 fluids currently in my transmission.

Questions:
1. I am going to the indie to scan the code. Should I ask hiim to clear the code as well?
2. I read that these tranny error codes have to be cleared for the car to drive normal. Since my car went into limp mode, it must have thrown a code. However,my car drives fine and I did not clear the code.

Glyn M Ruck

On the 5 speed 722.6 transmission the software is stored in the separate TCU inside the car under the passenger kick plate. On the 722.9 7 speed the TCU is integral with the conductor plate inside the transmission. Each valve body on a 7 speed is flow benched & the calibration is stored on the conductor plate/TCU unit. This requires to be cross flashed if you change a 7 speed conductor plate.

This does not apply to the 5 speed. On the 5 speed you just change the conductor plate.

Have you had any more limp problems with your transmission? If not I would not change the conductor plate. Only do so if limp episodes recur.

mis3

After 2 limp mode occurrences in 10 days, I went to my indie and pulled the codes:
P2203 The internal electrical of component Y3/6n3 (speed sensor 3) has filed.
P220A The speed comparison Y3/6n2 to Y3/6n3 is implausible.

Does it mean that I have to replace the conductor plate? The indie who is a Sprinter guy said that for a Sprinter (722.6), there is no need for reprogramming.

I called MB and of course they said this procedure would need reprogramming.

Not sure if this is psychological, after the guy cleared the codes, the car drove better. Is this possible?

Glyn M Ruck

Those are typical conductor plate codes. I would replace it.

Cancelling the codes will not affect driveability.

Benz always says that these procedures require readaption with Star but in reality this is seldom the case especially with the 722.6.

mis3

Not sure what exactly of this re-programming (adaptation) does. Obviously, both parties (Indiie and Dealership) would like the work and I am getting different information from them.

If adaptation is required and I don't do it, what would be the negative impacts? Will the TCU eventually "learn" of the new conductor plate?

Rudeney

The learning on the 722.6 is stored in the TCU, so no adaptation is necessary.

mis3

I will get both quotes and report back.

I can see that this connector plate is connected directly to the 13-pin pilot bushing. Even if this pilot bushing is not leaking, will a defective unit throw the same codes?

Glyn M Ruck

Yes ~ these are bad conductor plate codes.

mis3

I will have the quotes in the next few days. The limp mode did not returned in the past 6 days. If this is not fixed soon, would it damage other transmission parts? Would the limp mode occur more and more?

On top of the conductor plate, I will need the followings: 4 liter ATF, filter, pan gasket, 13-pin adapter, right?

Glyn M Ruck

It won't damage other transmission parts. The limp mode is there to protect the transmission.

Those are the parts you will need plus the conductor plate unless they find a broken solenoid spring etc. once the box is open.

mis3

Good to know. Thanks.

So, I may wait a bit. So far, my car went into limp mode twice in 15 days. Hope this does not get worse (more frequently).

mis3

My car went went into limp mode again. It seems like it would go into limo mode once a week. No malfunction and I had to restart the car to shift properly.

I went to the dealership today and talked to a SA. He said that they would have to do a proper diagnosis before proceding. He said to change the conductor plate, I will have to replace the valve body as well. Something to do with the old valve body would not code with the new conductor plate. This will get expensive.