DC-IT

2013 E350 BT (82,000 KM/51,000 Miles)

Last Friday, as I was exiting off the Highway, the NAV/Command screen went black as well as the centre of the speedometer.
Then a Red warning flashed on the centre of the speedometer:
"Do NOT change gear. Transmission Service Required. Contact Dealer immediately"
The warning lasted for 2~3 seconds so I wasn't able to take a picture.

All the while the engine operated smoothly, and was able to slow down and stop as I exit the highway and carry on like nothing happened. The car didn't stall or shudder and gear changes were smooth and no loss of power!
Also this happened once before a few weeks ago but I thought nothing of it.

I called my dealer and was given an appointment for today so I dropped of my car first thing this morning and was given a 2015 C300 loaner.
The dealer called late this afternoon and said there was no error code found when they scanned the engine and the car seems to be operating just fine.
They think it could be an electrical glitch.

The SA said the shop foreman would like to drive the car home for the night and see if the warning message can be duplicated tomorrow.

FYI, I had the transmission service done in June, 2014 @55,000 KM.

Any thoughts on what could be the problem?

Raymond Lee

Please keep us posted with follow up story.

DC-IT

Dealer could not find anything wrong with the car.
I picked it up at noon today.


I had quite a fun time driving the loaner car for over 250 miles!
That 4 cylinder engine is quite peppy and I was able to get an average of 29.4 MPG / 8L/100KM!

Trancebolt

Sure do. Did you possibly have that tranny svc done at the same place you repaired it at? I think possibly since the warning light flashed on for 3 seconds and "couldnt take a pciture" it was intermittent. I once was messing around taking off my engine cover for a day or two and putting it back on. EVERY one in awhile id see a hood open message when it clearly was not. Digital sensors and all...

So, either from a major pothole or some other such type of issue you could have loosed either a sensor or some piece during service was not fastened properly. So a light amount of disconnect throws that code...

DO not shift gears was likely related to putting it in manual and swappign around, possibly due to a cover for the torque converter broke offf fell off sensor for fuel pressure broke off, something that wouldve been affected by non computer saved programming for shift during a limp home situation...

Very curious.

DC-IT

Thanks Trancebolt.

Yes. The dealer performed a Transmission service on my vehicle in June, 2014. So it's possible a sensor was not properly reconnected.
And I hit several pot holes over the past year on the front passenger over Winter and Summer 2014 that resulted in a cracked rim + blowout of a Winter Tire and a bubble in the side wall of an all season tire. So those pot hole hits could also be the culprit causing a loose sensor?

I'll bring this up to the dealer the next time the warning reappears.

Cheers