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My 07 s550 just showed this message in red " Drive to workshop without shifting gears" what does that mean? The transmission is shifting right.
I don't see any abnormality in the transmission.
It came twice today and then disappeared Any suggestions?
My 07 s550 just showed this message in red " Drive to workshop without shifting gears" what does that mean? The transmission is shifting right.
I don't see any abnormality in the transmission.
It came twice today and then disappeared Any suggestions?
The "Park" interlock is beginning to fail. At some point the car will become stuck in park and will need to be dragged onto a flatbed to the dealer. Take it in for service immediately.
What does that mean "park" interlock is beginning to fail? how much is that to fix?
The mechanism that allows the transmission to shift out of "Park" and into gear (Drive, Reverse, Neutral) will stop functioning, trapping the car in "Park". In other words, it won't move and it can't roll, so it has to be dragged into a flatbed truck and then dragged back off of it. Then the shop has to figure out how to move it onto a lift so it can be repaired.
On the other hand, if you do what the car asks and drive it directly to the shop, they may be able to get it up on a lift while it still can be driven onto it. Not sure the cost to repair, haven't had it happen to my 221.
My 07 s550 just showed this message in red " Drive to workshop without shifting gears" what does that mean? The transmission is shifting right.
I don't see any abnormality in the transmission.
It came twice today and then disappeared Any suggestions?
i think it the control box on the front try to check it on the diagnostics
I can give you some insight to this issue. I had the same message, panicked, pulled over to the side, put the car in park and switched it off. BIG MISTAKE. The car would not start after that as it thought it was still in D.
The issue is with the Intelligent Servo Module (ISM) which tells the gearbox which gear the car is in and which gear to engage when you move the stick on the steering column.
I had to replace this module at a cost of £369 for the part. It also has to be programmed to the car using the Star computer, I got this done from an indi and it cost me £50.
Mercedes wanted about £900 for the part and labour.
For me the biggest headache was getting the car to the garage. The breakdown company had to send 3 trucks, the first was too small for the car, the second came with skates for the back wheels but with the skates on the car was just too wide for the flatbed, the last lifted the car by all four wheels and put it on the truck.
The garage I took it to then decided they did not want to do the work so I had to have the car moved again. This time I got the propshaft disconnected so that the car could be rolled onto a flatbed (another £100).
This was 3 days after I bought the car so as you can imagine I was not very happy.
I would not ignore the message, its much easier to get the part replaced now before the car digs in its heals and refuses to move. BTW where the message refers to not changing gears it means switching between D-N-R-P and not 1-2-3-4-5-6-7, I assume you could drive for miles with the message and the car would change gear fine, its just that once you put it in P you wont be able to get it out.
Have a 2006 W221 320CDI. Have had some intermittent issues when reversing/parking where a message pops up on the dash saying: "DRIVE TO WORKSHOP WITHOUT CHANGING GEAR". Luckily I have NOT put the car in park when this happens (thankfully from the sounds of it) - I just turn it off, lock the car, unlock it and start it up again when it normally clears the fault.
Had someone connect it up today on a non-star machine and looks like we are getting "No CAN Message was received" error codes C002, 0513, C103 and D13A.
Is this the same error codes as those discussed in this thread? Is the resolution ordering a new ISM module and having it re-coded to the car to fix or could it be something else? Please see screenshots and let me know.
Also does anyone know why the ISM moduls would have gone faulty on the W221? Is this a known issue? Tx
The transmission shifter on the 221 is essentially fly-by-wire, where a controller takes the inputs from the gear selector stalk on the column and then sends instructions to a servo motor that physically puts the tranny in the selected gear. There's no typical mechanical linkage between the selector and the tranny,
It looks like the control unit or the electric servo that makes the mechanical gear selection is failing or has failed, which is why it's not reporting itself as active on the CAN. I would start with the first error and work down since it's possible the two subsequent errors are being created by the first.
Just Googling those codes, the N73 is the ignition and drive authorization module, which verifies the key is present and allows the car to start. N80 is the master steering column control unit, and A80 is the servo that changes gears. I'd start with N80 since if that's bad, nothing down the chain will work properly, but honestly I'd take it to an indie or the dealer and get someone with real expertise.
this has been coming on about every 100 miles or so. I have to turn off the car for it to go in park. after that I have only 'drive' and 'N', no Reverse or Park, unless he car sits for few hours. Mercedes dealership diagnosed as valve body issue, even though everyone else says it's the ISM (intelligent Servo Module) which is on the side of the transmission.
At the cost of $2300, they replaced and reprogrammed the valve body, which by the way is not sold outside of Mercedes, so you have NO CHOICE but to take it to dealer. Drove the car about 60 miles and guess what? same error came back on.
Dropping it back at the dealer on Monday. they better freakin fix it at no charge or put my old valve body back in he car and give me my $2300 so I go to another MB dealer. this is ridiculous.
Happen to me also.
Got that red no shift warning on the dash for about 1 second. Later that day I put car in park to drop off daughter and when I tried D it did nothing. I restarted the car and it went into D. Called shop and made appointment. They took it right away.
$620
I know this is an old post and it just happened to me today. However just to help out those that find no way of moving the car to a flatbed, The flatbed from the service center came to pick up the car and took out a rear tire, installed a round part on the disc and then the tire. That part tricks the rear axle and lets it move, we were able to push the car and move it to wherever we wanted for the truck to lift the car and take it to the service center.
The flatbed from the service center came to pick up the car and took out a rear tire, installed a round part on the disc and then the tire. That part tricks the rear axle and lets it move, we were able to push the car and move it to wherever we wanted for the truck to lift the car and take it to the service center.
My 07 s550 just showed this message in red " Drive to workshop without shifting gears" what does that mean? The transmission is shifting right.
I don't see any abnormality in the transmission.
It came twice today and then disappeared Any suggestions?
===== Sharing my experience with the same error, I'll summarize my 5 months, $ 3k saga and the final fix =====
1. Red Battery 'Visit Workshop" sign comes on, battery checkout fine, goes away
2. "" Drive to workshop without shifting gears" comes on a month later and the errors alternate between those 2 over 1 month
3. I change the secondary and main batteries with no fix
4. Take it to the shop, and after 2 months, a new transmission module and a new used transmission I get the car back ($3,000 cost)
5. 2 days later " Drive to workshop without shifting gears" comes back on ... I notice the voltage fluctuate while driving between 12.1v-13.6v)
6. I change the voltage regulator at the back of the alternator (the terminals are badly burnt) and the voltage stabilizes at 13.6V while driving and THE TRANSMISSION ERROR DISAPPEARS
I suspect it was the voltage regulator all along messing up the transmission computer ... I hope this save someone a lot of money and headache ..
Hi, my wife's 2011 E350 just showed this message in red "Drive to workshop without shifting gears" while switching to Drive after morning start. Turned off the car and it went away, I tested the car a few times and so far so good. Will see over the next couple days and scan the car once wife is back home today, assuming she makes it back What is interesting is that I just changed the car battery last night as it had a real hard time starting. The battery was changed in June 2017 so given now its Sep 17th 2022 it was expected. Had the alternator tested good. Any idea if the battery going bad might have triggered some state in the system that would have caused this? Also the auxiliary battery was changed about a year ago so that should be good, no errors for it.
The car also sometimes experiences jerking when shifting from first to second while slowly accelerating. I tend to drive it harder and almost never experience that issue. The trans fluid was changed at 84k miles, 102k now. When I disconnect the battery for ~30 min and let the comp reset its fine for about couple weeks. Maybe its related maybe not but sounds like its another issue.
I guess I will have to take it in to my Mercedes mechanic to diagnose the vehicle to confirm if the ISM is defective.
its is NOT meant to be Optional - it is best to do exactly as it says - in fact it doesn't go far enough, what it really means if you don't want to get stranded - where it literally maybe in the middle of a junction stuck waiting to be wiped out -
Don't stop for petrol or a cup of tea and don't stop at Service Reception - DRIVE without touching the key and without touching the shift lever on to the ramp at a main dealership where they will take $1200 from you wallet - thanks for for buying Benz
PS - if you don't believe us (if you live to pay) it might be be another $400 to get a specialist to jack it up, unbolt the propshaft and recover to a main dealer
We had a guy last year - he thought he could do what you are saying - it stopped at night in the middle of a junction - he couldn't move the car - funnily enough he was scared and upset about it
06-18-2014, 07:27 PM
Just had this message for the first time
What is interesting is that I just changed the car battery last night as it had a real hard time starting. The battery was changed in June 2017 so given now its Sep 17th 2022 it was expected. Had the alternator tested good. Any idea if the battery going bad might have triggered some state in the system that would have caused this? Also the auxiliary battery was changed about a year ago so that should be good, no errors for it.
