SL-Class (R230) 2003 -- 2012: Discussion on the SL500, SL550, SL600

SL/R230: SYNCHRONIZATION

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Old Jan 6, 2021 | 07:06 PM
  #1  
exeunte anno's Avatar
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2003 SL500
SYNCHRONIZATION

h ii have had a problem my SL for awhile; i always start my car in neutral as it doesn't shift in gears or always in first gear or it jolts ....but someone told me about this synchronization tool that is out there which would RE SET the system ??? is that true?
if yes what is this tool ?? or does it exist in DAS XENTRY?
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Old Jan 7, 2021 | 05:11 AM
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Originally Posted by exeunte anno
h ii have had a problem my SL for awhile; i always start my car in neutral as it doesn't shift in gears or always in first gear or it jolts ....but someone told me about this synchronization tool that is out there which would RE SET the system ??? is that true?
if yes what is this tool ?? or does it exist in DAS XENTRY?
xentry does everything you need
email my website for a quote if you want the best system around
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Old Jan 9, 2021 | 02:37 AM
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2003 SL500
Originally Posted by BenzNinja
xentry does everything you need
email my website for a quote if you want the best system around
no i already own Xentry
but does ti have Synchronization tool?
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Old Jan 9, 2021 | 04:21 AM
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Originally Posted by exeunte anno
no i already own Xentry
but does ti have Synchronization tool?
try going in to the shifter and relearn
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Old Jan 9, 2021 | 11:07 AM
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I'm not sure from your description, but this sounds like a problem I had.

What codes are you getting? If you are getting a P1856 (Selector lever position detection has failed) on the ESM or a P240C (The selector lever position sent from control unit N15/5 via the CAN bus is implausible) on the ETC, you probably have a solder issue on the ESM board optical pickups. This will usually be intermittent, but will put the trans in limp mode when it occurs.

You can synchronize the VIN in the ETC to match the vehicle VIN, but unless the ETC has been replaced, this should not be necessary. To verify, you can go to ;initial startup' on the ETC menu in DAS, it will show the VIN coded in your ETC as well as what it is reading for your vehicle VIN (will match VIN plate unless ME-SFI/EZS/ESM have been swapped from another vehicle).
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Old Jan 9, 2021 | 06:46 PM
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Originally Posted by BenzNinja
try going in to the shifter and relearn
ok so here are some pages
i can't find "relearn" but i know i have seen it before.




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Old Jan 9, 2021 | 06:50 PM
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Originally Posted by MikeJ65
I'm not sure from your description, but this sounds like a problem I had.

What codes are you getting? If you are getting a P1856 (Selector lever position detection has failed) on the ESM or a P240C (The selector lever position sent from control unit N15/5 via the CAN bus is implausible) on the ETC, you probably have a solder issue on the ESM board optical pickups. This will usually be intermittent, but will put the trans in limp mode when it occurs.

You can synchronize the VIN in the ETC to match the vehicle VIN, but unless the ETC has been replaced, this should not be necessary. To verify, you can go to ;initial startup' on the ETC menu in DAS, it will show the VIN coded in your ETC as well as what it is reading for your vehicle VIN (will match VIN plate unless ME-SFI/EZS/ESM have been swapped from another vehicle).
hi Mike i have tried that
i actually thought it was my little module so after buying the second one i "programmed it in" but not really.. .cause i think you're supposed to "CODE" it?? ?

anyway i know what you are talking about and i will try submitting the VIN again and again

can you look at the picture # 2 ? notice the word "IMPLAUSIBLE"
so regardless of the car being on or off if i try shifting and going from Park to Drive and then back to Neutral and Reverse i can see the letters changing
but then IMPLAUSIBLE
so i couldn't do anything else. whatever that means but that's basically what i have been dealing with for the past year.
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Old Jan 9, 2021 | 06:55 PM
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Originally Posted by exeunte anno
ok so here are some pages
i can't find "relearn" but i know i have seen it before.




shifter problem
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Old Jan 9, 2021 | 09:13 PM
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Did you replace the transmission module or the shifter? You can synchronize the transmission module, but the P240C code is a problem with the shifter.
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Old Jan 10, 2021 | 01:48 AM
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Originally Posted by MikeJ65
Did you replace the transmission module or the shifter? You can synchronize the transmission module, but the P240C code is a problem with the shifter.
no i didn't replace the shifter. i replaced the Module /the TCU thinking it was covered in oil and i also replaced the conductor plate as well but turned out it was fine
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Old Jan 10, 2021 | 10:11 AM
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The shifter uses four optical sensors to determine shifter position. They are the four larger u-shaped devices near the top of the photo. They are alternately blocked by a plastic piece with 4 partial ribs that is rotated by the shifter. To have redundancy, all of the sensors must match the 'code' for that position. For example, Park might be sensors 1&4 blocked and sensors 2&3 open. There are four combinations used out of 16 possible (4-bit binary). If one of the sensors goes bad or has a bad solder joint, you can get one of the 12 'implausible' values that don't decode to a shifter position. For whatever reason, there seem to be soldering issues on these sensors. In many cases the board can be repaired by simply resoldering them.

For repair, you would have four options. 1) buy a new shifter and marry it to your VIN (a used shifter will be locked to it's original VIN and unusable) 2) buy a used engine ECU, EIS, and shifter from a single vehicle and install all three together 3) remove and disassemble the shifter and resolder the sensors 4) have the shifter professionally repaired, Ecu testing in the UK can do this.








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Old Jan 11, 2021 | 10:39 AM
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Originally Posted by MikeJ65
The shifter uses four optical sensors to determine shifter position. They are the four larger u-shaped devices near the top of the photo. They are alternately blocked by a plastic piece with 4 partial ribs that is rotated by the shifter. To have redundancy, all of the sensors must match the 'code' for that position. For example, Park might be sensors 1&4 blocked and sensors 2&3 open. There are four combinations used out of 16 possible (4-bit binary). If one of the sensors goes bad or has a bad solder joint, you can get one of the 12 'implausible' values that don't decode to a shifter position. For whatever reason, there seem to be soldering issues on these sensors. In many cases the board can be repaired by simply resoldering them.

For repair, you would have four options. 1) buy a new shifter and marry it to your VIN (a used shifter will be locked to it's original VIN and unusable) 2) buy a used engine ECU, EIS, and shifter from a single vehicle and install all three together 3) remove and disassemble the shifter and resolder the sensors 4) have the shifter professionally repaired, Ecu testing in the UK can do this.
wow that's awesome.
i do have a brand new shifter from a 2009 SL model i hesitated to install .
but is this logic board you showed picture of inside the gear shifter? is it hard to remove/disconnect?
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Old Jan 11, 2021 | 11:55 AM
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Yes, the board is inside of the shifter. The hardest part of the job is removing the shifter, but you will have to do that regardless what path you chose. I think I would try the board repair first, since that is pretty much free money if it works. You don't need to do a total reinstall to test it. If the 2009 shifter is virgin (never been mated to a car), it should work also but needs to be mated to the car with DAS. Per EPC it looks like there is a US version, an Aussie version, and a third version for the rest of the world common to the entire 230 series.
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Old Jan 12, 2021 | 02:28 AM
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Originally Posted by MikeJ65
Yes, the board is inside of the shifter. The hardest part of the job is removing the shifter, but you will have to do that regardless what path you chose. I think I would try the board repair first, since that is pretty much free money if it works. You don't need to do a total reinstall to test it. If the 2009 shifter is virgin (never been mated to a car), it should work also but needs to be mated to the car with DAS. Per EPC it looks like there is a US version, an Aussie version, and a third version for the rest of the world common to the entire 230 series.
how do you mate them? is that the same as coding?
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Old Jan 12, 2021 | 07:51 AM
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You just do the Initial Startup procedure for the ESM in Xentry/DAS. It will remove transport protection, personalize, and activate the module. I believe that it will give you 20 'free' starts before enforcing the immobilizer, so you can install, test, and then do the initial startup, but don't be fooled into thinking you are done if it starts without doing the startup procedure. If you go to ESM->Actual Values->Drive Authorization you can see the status of all of this. You should also either go back to your original ETC or clear the adaptations in the replacement ETC and do an adaptation drive cycle. Carryover adaptations can damage your transmission.
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Old Jan 12, 2021 | 11:21 AM
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always clear adaptions
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Old Nov 21, 2021 | 02:18 PM
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hey all so re-soldering worked although the technician who did the work didn't find any cracked joints he just re-soldered. i wanted to wait a full year to post this however i still have a little problem with the shifter which is sometimes i can't GO TO Park; i have to wait then i hear something on the right /passenger in the corner where the ECU module is eh? and then it lets me Park.

other than that i no longer am in limp mode or i don't have to start the car in Neutral for it to shift. it is really recognizing the shifter movements but it is not 100% fixed.

Last edited by exeunte anno; Nov 21, 2021 at 02:32 PM.
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Old Nov 22, 2021 | 03:42 PM
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Sorry if this sounds silly, but that wouldn't be the solenoid that releases the shifter when you press the brake pedal? Two folks on this or another forum reported their solenoid becoming hesitant or just very slow to react (8 seconds or so).
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Old Nov 29, 2021 | 07:52 PM
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Originally Posted by Frederick NL
Sorry if this sounds silly, but that wouldn't be the solenoid that releases the shifter when you press the brake pedal? Two folks on this or another forum reported their solenoid becoming hesitant or just very slow to react (8 seconds or so).
i changed that too!!!
thinking it was the" common" bad solenoid" so i changed it and re flushed the system but it wasn't original mercedes i bought that from amazon
my old unit is still good? maybe?? ? put it al back together yeah? along with the ECM module?
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