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First "gremlin" with our new car. Its getting cold, the car won't shift into park when we push the stalk button. Lever shifts the transmission fine otherwise but we have to open the door to get the car into park. It seems to work normally once the interior of the car is warm.
I wonder if there is a dirty contact under the button or something relating to cold plastic? Even when the car was warm I note that it sometimes took a couple "pushes" on the button to engage park...
There is another thread with a similar problem that morphed into a discussion of how the original question was worded. I just want to know if this problem has been noted and corrected by someone else without a trip to the dealer.
First "gremlin" with our new car. Its getting cold, the car won't shift into park when we push the stalk button. Lever shifts the transmission fine otherwise but we have to open the door to get the car into park. It seems to work normally once the interior of the car is warm.
I wonder if there is a dirty contact under the button or something relating to cold plastic? Even when the car was warm I note that it sometimes took a couple "pushes" on the button to engage park...
There is another thread with a similar problem that morphed into a discussion of how the original question was worded. I just want to know if this problem has been noted and corrected by someone else without a trip to the dealer.
Thanks. Dave
16 E400 Sedan
I assume your car is still under warranty so definitely take it to the dealer for the fix. It seems a simple button problem at the end of the stalk so they will replace the stalk.
My car has 117k so the basic warranty has expired. I've been looking at parts fiches online and the stalk on the 2016 appears to be part of a "module" which also includes the turn signal stalk, cruise and the steering column adjustment stalks. I agree it appears to be a fairly simple repair (once the air bag, steering wheel and clock spring are removed) however none of these "stalks" appear to be available separately as on earlier models. I'll call the dealer today to confirm.
For now I've given the button a shot of contact cleaner, fingers crossed this clears up the problem. We once owned a Pontiac Montana van, when the temps dipped to below -18c the horn pad would contract and sound the horn constantly. Had to pull the horn wires until the warm weather arrived. It will be interesting to see if this problem is unique to our vehicle or is something that starts to affect other models once they get a bit older and are subjected to colder temps.
Could be ISM located @ transmission given exposure to cold temperatures. You can check it visually however, I suggest pulling fault codes but since it is intermittent there is a chance no codes will be stored.
It does shift immediately into park if you open the door, thus my assumption that the stalk button contact may be at fault. Drive, reverse and neutral select immediately, it is only the "park" button that seems to be failing. I've noticed for some time that the button seemed to require a couple of "pushes" at times to get it to shift into park.
I hope my spray "cure" works, the new module is over $900 Cdn and the parts guy at MB thought it may require "programming" after replacement.
Konigstiger, thanks for the info, I'll crawl under this week and have a peek at the servo module.
Saga continues, we've had a week of cold weather and the issue we've experienced has worsened. Last week my wife picked me up at work, the car was in drive when I entered the passenger side and she was unable to select reverse (or park) to reverse out of the lot. I had her stop the car and restart it and the selector behaved normally after the engine restart. 2 more times in the past week we have been unable to shift the car from drive into reverse or vice versa. Both subsequent events required an engine restart, the last time I had to start and stop the car 3 times in order to get it to go into drive.. Luckily we live on a quiet street and have not been pressed to get the car going and out of the way.
I spoke the service manager at a local MB dealer Monday and he noted that the E 400 models were very reliable, other than having to replace the rear bumper "radar sensors" ever couple years due to corrosion. He was suggesting that the techs have been noting issues with a wiring harness under the carpet (I believe on the drivers side) that suffers from corrosion from salty wet carpets.....He suggested that that may be causing the symptoms I described.
The dealership is booking 2 weeks from now, so I have some time to try and identify the issue myself before tossing in the towel and taking it in. Either that or the car will fail to move from wherever we've parked it and will require a tow.
Konigstiger, I tried to send you a PM, don't think it was successful but if someone has a wiring diagram or an idea of what/where this harness is located that would be a great help before I start peeling back carpets to check for salty connections.
Other than this issue with the transmission gear selection, the car runs flawlessly.
P172AOO "The DIRECT SELECT lever has a malfunction'
U113B29 "Communication with the DIRECT SELECT lever has a malfunction. There is an invalid signal"
The third code is likely unrelated as the drivers door handle was freezing and wouldn't retract fully into the door. I sprayed it with silicone and it springs back nicely now. The Keyless Go wouldn't reliably work when the handle wasn't fully closed. I believe this is why the third code was set: B1A4A96 "The "KEYLESS GO sensor in the left front door has a malfunction. There is an internal component fault".
I need to get my hands on a wiring diagram but hopefully someone on this forum can provide some assistance interpreting these two codes? If not a wiring or corroded connection somewhere, perhaps the direct select lever is triggering both codes?
The car still runs fine however last night I was unable to select reverse when trying to back into my laneway and had to stop and restart the car.
Been a while, most likely resolved by now nevertheless, here is info requested. Function: shift lever (s16/13) -> steering column module (n80) -> control unit (n3/10). EPC does not show lever as being sold separately, only complete column switch (module).
11-04-2019, 08:19 AM
