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Hi
I have a GL 320 CDI 2007 which over the last 4 months has given me the following message: Differential lock system, Contact work shop.
In the beginning it came after driving for a while, later It has increase to happen every time I am driving. However, the strange thing is that the message now appears some seconds after the car has been started and even not change from park to drive. I have also tested that the message comes even if I put the car in Neutral before I start the car, and only a few seconds later the message appears. For the record, the message disappears when the car is stopped and left, i.e. now history of he message is saved.
Mercedes told me it is the transfer case that is worn out, even if the car has only 160 000 km / 100 000 Miles. I wanted to check the slack on the transfer case chain. As this model did not have the oil filler cap in the center of he chain on the transfer case as illustrated on Utube it was not straight forward. I had to drain the oil on the transfer case and tried to check the chain tension. This was not easy, but I am am pretty sure the the chain is not worn out.
I tend to believe that the problem must be on a sensor somewhere, but I am lost.
can anyone come up with suggestion on trouble shooting?
Regards Per Jarle from Norway
Or just a confirmation that you have the two dials for ride height adjustment and diff lock on your lower center instrument panel as shown below. From the sound of it I’m pretty sure you do.
like chassis said, lack of use may gum up the lock mechanisms and you’ll get uncommanded engagement of the center diff, which is part of the transfer case, and on dry pavement it’ll overheat.
does the car feel like it’s skidding and jumping around when this is going on? That’ll tell you if it’s a real warning and that the case is actually overheating or just a sensor malfunction.
if you have access to an Mb star scan tool it can interrogate the drivetrain and perform actuation tests of your diff locks to nail down which sensor may be malfunctioning.
Last edited by Max Blast; Jun 3, 2021 at 09:26 AM.
I have have worked the LR function as I thought there was something there, but no change.
I have also changed oil in the transfer case with very little sign of dirty oil.
Regards
Per Jarle
Regards
Per Jarle
Hi,
Thank you for the reply.
The VIN is: WDC 1648221A247067.
The car has LR and the same
Look as the picture.
I have have
Worked the
LR function as I thought there was something there, but no change.
It could be that M46/2 is stuck from lack of use or age. Do you think the error is from the transfer case (auxiliary transmission) or from the front or rear axle?
Hi again,
Thank you for the illustrated drawing.
I have not thought about the rear axle as an option, I have only focused on the transfer case itself as that solution came from the MB workshop. I have not found any error codes in the scanner related to this issue, which I find the most strange about this. By that I mean the message disappears when the engine is shut off and ignition is off.
Yeah based on your last I’m inclined to think sensor malfunction...what kind of scan tool do you have?
there should be a stored or current fault for whatever sensor or motor failure that is causing the error message, read out via a short test or a drivetrain actuation test with an mb star / das scan tool.
maybe it’s just a wheel speed sensor...
Last edited by Max Blast; Jun 5, 2021 at 12:21 AM.
I am away this week end, so I cannot tell the make of the scan tool, but it is not a MB Star. However, the car was at the MB service when I asked them to check the message. They said they had restarted to program, but the alarm came back after been on the road driving for 10 minutes.
I would rather check each wheel sensor. Is it possible to disconnect cable going to the sensor in a easy way? Is there any drawings / exploded view available?
I am away this week end, so I cannot tell the make of the scan tool, but it is not a MB Star. However, the car was at the MB service when I asked them to check the message. They said they had restarted to program, but the alarm came back after been on the road driving for 10 minutes.
I would rather check each wheel sensor. Is it possible to disconnect cable going to the sensor in a easy way? Is there any drawings / exploded view available?
Regards
Per Jarle
IF it’s a wheel sensor it’ll ring up as a front/rear wheel speed sensor r or l “signal implausible”.
when a wheel speed sensor goes bad often you’ll also have esp and abs errors, and diff overheat / diff lock errors - and sometimes the variable speed steering solenoid will trigger off line, leaving the steering feeling like the servo has gone out.
disconnecting each wheel speed sensor is easy, the cable runs along the top rear a-arm; and the front strut cable collection point just above the knuckle.
doing one of these at the time should trigger the errors above, or no additional errors. At least you can then isolate which sensor it is.
Guys I’m having a similar issue with “4x4 system inoperative message”, I think mine is down to the solenoid on the transfer box. I have one to change to test it but don’t know if when you remove the solenoid will it dump oil on me or is it dry in there?
I’m not seeing any error codes on my ODB2 scanner. I’ve replaced a wheel sensor previously and seen a seen/cleared an implausible wheel sensor message by doing this.
Solenoid with rubber gasket thing. Transfer case showing solenoid. Clearer shot of solenoid on transfer case
To me it looks like you have Y108 magnet in the diagram. Looks immersed in oil to me, sealed by the off white diaphragm looking thing. One way to find out is to loosen all of the screws halfway, then pry an edge of the old magnet away from the housing, and see if oil weeps out. If not, leave it that way for a while. In any case I would have oil on hand to do a drain and refill if the solenoid turns out to be immersed.
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GL 320 Differential Lock message warning
