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Hello. I’m no mechanic but i can do some stuff. I helped tow my aunts car from another city to my house yesterday so i can look into the problems. She was self employed and now lost everything. She’s now renting a room and working for someone and now carless. It’s a 2010 GL450. Besides the body damages, biggest issue is there’s no power to the dash instruments. Did a couple YouTube searches and found it may be some modules and fuse box that got wet and fried. So being that it’s an AWD vehicle, getting it on the trailer and off was not easy but i managed. Now it needs to go to a Mercedes shop due to the possibilities of electronics and reprogramming requirements.
i need assistance in finding a way to get the car to shift into neutral so i can easily get it back on a trailer. Can anyone help?
1. Find/fix water leak that fried the rear and/or front SAM
2. Obtain and code new SAM into the car
3. replace both rear air springs
4. possibly replace airmatic compressor
I’d tell your ant to cut and run. This isn’t the car for her considering what she is going through.
Any one of these line items is going to cost $1000 each at the dealer, all of them combined will exceed the value of the vehicle. Even if you find a good hearted competent in the mechanic, you’re still looking at spending more on repairs in the car will be worth. And if it has had a water intrusion ruining more than those electronics, it is at best a parts car.
Tell her to go look for a 20 year old Tahoe that has had a transmission replaced. Basically a crappier version of this car with leas maintenance outlay.
1. Find/fix water leak that fried the rear and/or front SAM
2. Obtain and code new SAM into the car
3. replace both rear air springs
4. possibly replace airmatic compressor
I’d tell your ant to cut and run. This isn’t the car for her considering what she is going through.
Any one of these line items is going to cost $1000 each at the dealer, all of them combined will exceed the value of the vehicle. Even if you find a good hearted competent in the mechanic, you’re still looking at spending more on repairs in the car will be worth. And if it has had a water intrusion ruining more than those electronics, it is at best a parts car.
Tell her to go look for a 20 year old Tahoe that has had a transmission replaced. Basically a crappier version of this car with leas maintenance outlay.
im willing to help get the car running and drivable. Body parts can come later maybe in finding someone who’s parting out. But right now it’s getting the trans to shift into neutral so i can get it on a trailer with ease. Got any input for that?
otherwise I’m going to have to resort to plastic trays and grease up the trailer. Secure the trailer so it doesn’t move and pull the suv onto the trailer with my truck lol
Check that the small auxiliary 12 V battery under the passenger seat is at 12 V, or hook up a good known battery (not a jump pack).
if this is not enough to power the ISM you are back into my list one through four, and at the mercy of the dealer or an Indy and I will standby my initial recommendation.
Bodywork was so far down the line that I didn’t even care to comment on it given the issues this car is having.
Oh man my heart goes out to you and your aunt, and bless you for helping her.
I wholeheartedly agree, this is now a parts car.
It is possible to make one of these things last for several hundred k miles, but one has to be a competent, patient, and resourceful mechanic. The people that make these things work owned them since they were near new, and have grown accustomed to dealing with them. If someone were to go back in time and offer me a - what did @Max Blast say - a 2003 Tahoe - I'd jump on it. My attitude toward my GL is, this is a cross I have to bear, and bear it I will. Of course, the terrific motor and body and suspension eases the pain, but still - life with one of these things is life on a knife edge. (Cue "I watched a snail crawling along the edge of a straight razor ...") It is a labor of love.
If you want a last hurrah as a mechanic on this thing, unbolt the rear driveshaft. It should then easily roll up. Otherwise, it can be dragged up onto a flatbed or trailer with a sufficiently strong winch and probably a helpful dousing of the deck with soapy water. Then start calling around to wrecking yards. Try selling it as a fixer upper and see what happens. The body damage definitely cuts into its value as a working automobile, though.
And your aunt should be driving a simple, older economy car.
Thanks for the input guys. So now she wants to accept the loss and get rid of it for like 1-2k. At that price i can’t even accept to sell it to someone else for that price other than to myself. She already did put in about 7-8k and he 40 something year old son is the one who messed it up to the condition it’s in now.
she bought it for 10.2k, dropped 7-8k in repairs, careless son took car from her and damaged it, now wants to get rid of it for 1-2k. I think it’s best for me to buy.
Well, consider another outcome here; that you could help her sell it for more than 1 to 2K - provided that it starts and runs.
It could be an all of $3000 parts car for somebody which might buy her reliable transportation.
sorry to hear that this transpired, it’s just that once water gets into these cars it becomes cost ineffective to repair unless you DIY everything viciously.
And for that, you need this forum, discount on OEM parts, and an MBStar/DAS system.
Thanks for the input guys. So now she wants to accept the loss and get rid of it for like 1-2k. At that price i can’t even accept to sell it to someone else for that price other than to myself. She already did put in about 7-8k and he 40 something year old son is the one who messed it up to the condition it’s in now.
she bought it for 10.2k, dropped 7-8k in repairs, careless son took car from her and damaged it, now wants to get rid of it for 1-2k. I think it’s best for me to buy.
Painful. Well, you have to do what you have to do. If your hope is to fix the electrical issues, I warn you: Those issues are extremely difficult to diagnose and repair. The GL has several interconnected computers, and failure in one can easily manifest in others. I know a little bit about circuits, and I assure you: The circuitry in the GL is poorly designed. It is slapped together without much thought given to making it elegant. It is like how the computers are placed in areas where water can pool. The engineers placed the computers wherever a convenient nook or cranny was found; in the circuits, they are simply put here and there. For example, my driver door panel switch - it's a miniature computer - which I unfortunately replaced with a Chinesium part that then sent bad signals to the little door computer, which is riveted onto the door. That's right; there are two or more literal computers in one door, and one computer fried the other. People come on here all the time looking for answers to their electrical problems, and helping them is nearly impossible. You see things like this in house wiring, too: Electricians will run wires wherever it is most convenient to run them, not in the way that makes the most sense and is easiest to decode after the fact.
I'd call around to wrecking yards and see what they'll give you for it. The body damage greatly diminishes its value as a running automobile.
If you can turn a wrench, ANYTHING is possible. The repairs you need are simple enough, just time and effort. (rear bags are about 1 hr per side, if that. That includes jacking it up lol)
Id keep it and fix it up, I love my GL, its my wifes, but it's a great SUV and tows my trailer with zero issues or effort!
Ok, as others have said, if you can't fix it yourself, you need to junk it.
These cars have an electronic park lock. This motor is located in the ISM module located on the transmission. So you need power to place the car in neutral. This module is also known to fail, where the plastic gear strips and the car can no longer go into neutral. So you need to work out whether:
1. It's a power issue.
2. The gear is stripped.
3. The module is fried.
First thing to do is open the battery compartment up (under passenger seat) and look for moisture. Then look in the rear (via the main fuse area). You need to start confirming your suspicion. Then you can work out what you want to do.
Also try and describe the symptoms in detail. Currently AFAIK your only problem is that the dash doesn't light up. So I'm assuming you have power, radio works, car starts.... If it's just you instrument panel, shifting the gear selector up (or down) will put the car in neutral. You then need to shift it again to put it in D or R. Car will go back to park whenever key is taken out. So you can't tow with no key.
Good for you trying to help. Like others have said, check batteries (both of them) as these cars do some strange stuff if the batteries are anywhere near bad... It might be that simple. Next, water in the battery compartment, then front and rear SAM's - again look for water damage. If it turns out to be the rear SAM, I have an extra one that I'll donate to the cause. Good luck!
07-11-2023, 02:32 PM
