Any Way to reset - Limp Home?

[ribby]

Hi

E320CDI Auto (2001)

Dealer reset all my computer logs a couple of months ago (after major issue) - and after getting rid of 10 pages of errors, only one possible error remained. The gear selector.

Yesterday, After a jolt when changing gear, locked into '3rd' gear. After stopping and restarting, now locked into 2nd... :-(

Is there any way I can try and reset this, so I can drive it to the dealers to get it fixed (30 miles to a reasonably reliable dealer - mostly 60 zones!)

Thanks
Peter
NB - I will place another post about my great experience of Warranty rust work!)

 

[television]

Just thinking could this be a MAF problem that has put it into the limp home mode. Why not unplug it and see what happens

 

[ribby]

Just thinking could this be a MAF problem that has put it into the limp home mode. Why not unplug it and see what happens

No Change :-(

 

[television]

OK the first 6 vin numbers please WDB------

 

[eric242340]

If the car is stuck in second gear (limp home mode) then the only way to get it out is Star Diagnostics. Interestingly the E320 and S320 do have known problems with the Electronic Selector Lever, but normally they simply end up locked in park and you dont have that problem. Sorry to say, you need Star D for this one. You could try disconnecting the negative side of the battery for five minutes, but it rarely works.

 

[ribby]

OK the first 6 vin numbers please WDB------

210026

Thanks
Peter

 

[television]

210026

Thanks
Peter

I will look up this evening for the causes.

 

[beemerjay]

I've just had a similar limp home mode issue with a w210 e 300D auto

The ABS ring had split and was giving slippage issues and fault codes so the box went into limp home mode?

Jack up the car take off wheels (following the accepted and acknowledged procedures for doing so) and see if any of your ABS rings are loose( I mean loose at all , this will cause problems)

You have you answer if one or more is! Replace the approriate shaft (you can do this with out taking off suspension) and test drive The faults should clear but be in the memory permitting normal driving

 

[eric242340]

I've just had a similar limp home mode issue with a w210 e 300D auto

The ABS ring had split and was giving slippage issues and fault codes so the box went into limp home mode?

Jack up the car take off wheels (following the accepted and acknowledged procedures for doing so) and see if any of your ABS rings are loose( I mean loose at all , this will cause problems)

You have you answer if one or more is! Replace the approriate shaft (you can do this with out taking off suspension) and test drive The faults should clear but be in the memory permitting normal driving

Im not sure what you are saying here and I hope you know what you are saying. The drive shaft pick up rings never and I mean never go wrong. So could you elaborate on this? Maybe someone is cheating you here?

 

[beemerjay]

Im not sure what you are saying here and I hope you know what you are saying. The drive shaft pick up rings never and I mean never go wrong. So could you elaborate on this? Maybe someone is cheating you here?

If there is a lot of salt on the road and you have more than 100 thousand miles on your car then the salt can corrode the alloy ABS rings causing them to swell and crack and then they can spin on the CV joint hubs and cause fault codes in the auto box

No One cheating me (or did I cheat anyone) I did the diagnosis and fixed it for my client, the issue is the Auto box thinks there's a problem and reduces output to prevent further breakages i.e. limp home mode!

 

[eric242340]

If there is a lot of salt on the road and you have more than 100 thousand miles on your car then the salt can corrode the alloy ABS rings causing them to swell and crack and then they can spin on the CV joint hubs and cause fault codes in the auto box

No One cheating me (or did I cheat anyone) I did the diagnosis and fixed it for my client, the issue is the Auto box thinks there's a problem and reduces output to prevent further breakages i.e. limp home mode!

Thanks for that, its a new one for me.

 

[television]

You must mean the rings on the holder for the sensors as the bearing face is the magnetic part that operates the Hall effect switch.

 

[television]

Too many reasons to list and you can do nothing with them your self, it is going to be a fault code read out. A good indie can do this.

 

[ribby]

Too many reasons to list and you can do nothing with them your self, it is going to be a fault code read out. A good indie can do this.

Thanks for looking - just now not looking forward to the slow trip to get it fixed...

 

[television]

Thanks for looking - just now not looking forward to the slow trip to get it fixed...

The best read out guy is just north of Machester in Preston

 

[ribby]

The best read out guy is just north of Machester in Preston

Got it booked into Harrogate MB now, 'only' 32 miles@30mph , 88 miles to Preston is not really feasible...

Many Thanks for your time
Cheers
Peter

 

[ribby]

update - still on going

Evidently no error code shown...

Left with MB of Harrogate, it is NOT:-

- Gear Selector (Electronics at the gear lever) (tried new on)
- Electronic/Mechanic arm in the Gearbox (tried new one)
- Mechanical issue with the gearbox (as there is not lots of metal in the gearbox oil filter)

So, the next thing they are trying is the 'Gear Controller'(?) that is a box of electronics in the passenger floor well...

The part is specific to the Chassis Number, so on order - hopefully in by the weekend...

 

[ribby]

Update - Back on the road

Problem found and fixed

There was an oil leak from the gearbox, into the 'Control Unit' - the oil leaked out of the cable exit point from the gearbox, and followed the wires into the control unit... So, they:-

sorted the Gearbox oil leak
fitted a new controller unit
replaced the gearbox oil and filters

So, hopefully, it'll be on the road for a while now - so I can save up...

 

[television]

Yes we know that one too, I would love to see one of these oil damaged ECUs as in real life oil cannot damage them. Pleased its fixed though

 

[eric242340]

Yes we know that one too, I would love to see one of these oil damaged ECUs as in real life oil cannot damage them. Pleased its fixed though

I agree here. There are known problems with oil entering control units. But this is all wrong. The control unit will not be damaged by this. They will function normally once the oil has been removed and things reset. So you have just paid for a control unit that was not required, sorry to say this but I agree with Malcolms statement.