Auto Gearbox stuck in 1st

[Scruffy_E300]

I was driving home fine last night, dropped a mate off, pulled away and my E300TD would not shift out of 1st. I was 5 miles from my sisters, so continued along the A127 doing 40mph at 4000 revs! At my sisters I re-started the engine after a minute and went around the block, it was changing gear fine. I then drove home (another 5 miles), gearbox behaving perfectly normal. I have reverted to my yet to be sold Mondeo this morning!

Does anyone have any idea what might have caused this problem? I've only had it a month & my wife is already questioning my judgement...

 

[The Editor]

Hi Scruffy,

Does yours have a 'tip' function on the auto box? i.e you can tap the select knob left or right and the box will shift accordingly?

If it does are you ABSOLUTELY sure you didn't knock the selector a few times to the left and therefore changed down to 1st.

The only reason I say this is about 3 days after I bought my wife's MB she picked me up at the station and whinged "It's stuck in third it won't change, I don't like it, I don't like it"

I calmly climbed in, tapped the selector twice to the right until 'D' appeared on the dash display and all was well !! (Obviously we drove home while I had that smug look on my face so my life wasn't worth living that evening... but that's another story :roll: )

Just my two pennyworth.

Mark

 

[Scruffy_E300]

Hi Mark,

No, it is a standard auto 'box. As this is the first auto I have owned I was wondering if there was some new feature that I have been unaware of all these years. I haven't even ventured to change from 'D' to any of the lower gears yet!

Since posting this I have spoken with a friend who is a mechanic; he hs spoken with an auto 'box specialist who has recommended a fault diagnostic check and auto oil level check (which he can do, thus avoiding the need to go to a MB dealer). He also said that he had heard this happen as a 'one off' and never happen again. But there would always be that doubt in the back of your mind...

I will book it in for these simple checks for peace of mind.

Thanks for your help.

 

[woodturner-fran]

might be no harm to actually change the auto gearbox oil if you have it over a pit or up a lift.

You can dip it for gearbox oil yourself. The dipstick is usually on the back left hand side of the engine and has a plastic mechanism that you flip up to allow you to pull out the dipstick. Go for a drive so that box heats up, park on level ground and pull out the dipstick. Clean it with a lint free cloth, put it back in fully, pull it out and theres your level. Some dipsticks give 2 readings, one for hot and one for cold. Oil should be clean too and often pink. Make sure you don't introduce any grit or dirt into the box when you are doing this! The drivers manual gives you these instructions

Fran

 

[gpilko]

Hi Scruffy

About a month after I bought my SLK230 Auto I had exactly the same thing happen to me, left work drove a couple of miles down the road and then after pulling off from the traffic lights the car was stuck in 1st. I drove for about half a mile messing round with the gears(non-tip version) but couldn't get it to change. Eventually I pulled over, restarted the engine and all was fine. 12 months on its (touch wood) never happened again.

I know with the electronic boxes they have a speed sensor which dictates when the box should shift, could possibly be an intermittent fault with this (not too expensive to replace)?

 

[pascal]

I don't think yourgearbox has an actual dipstick. You have to buy these from your dealer.

But I am inclined to think that it is an electronic glitch. You could have the memory of the ecu read to see what caused this glitch to put your mind at rest. Are you sure it was 1st it was stuck in, and not 2nd or 3rd. Get me home mode usually defaults to 3rd or 2nd if a fault is detected.

 

[Scruffy_E300]

I assumed I was stuck in 1st as I couldn't detect any gear change as I increased/decreased speed and there was no sign of engine labouring when I started off.

Thanks all for your comments so far. Coincidentally, I had to order a handbook (£28!), which I have received confirmation today is now at my local dealer, so I will see what it says about oil gearbox checking. I found the location of the gearbox dip-stick at the back left hand side last night, but I wasn't sure if it was a sealed unit, or could only be opened by a MB person.

 

[pascal]

If yours is a sealed for life 5spd auto there will be no dipstick there. That is where you check the fluid with a dealer supplied dipstick.

This matter on sealed for life autoboxes is a contentious issue. Many owners who have had gearbox failure, blame this fact.

As a result, many owners have got their fluid changed at MB dealers or independants. It is possible to do yourself, and there are varying methods to remove all the old fluid.

Pascal

 

[MPK]

Auto Gearbox stuck in 1st - E300TD

Very similar symptoms occurred on my 1999 E300TD a few months back.
Started car, selected "D" and car would not move out of 1st gear no matter how I revved it or what I did with gear selector. Like you, I turned car off for a few mins and all was well again.So,I drove home the remaining few miles very gently. By the way, The gearbox oil in my car had been replaced in the previous service some 10k miles - 6months earlier.

As I pulled into my drive that evening, I then noticed the pool of red oil (ATF) where my car is normally parked.

Next morning brought the car the 2 miles to my local MB specialist.
Told him the story and he drove it round the block.He said it drove fine.
When he dipped it, it was practically empty.
Next he put STAR diagnostics on it and it called out a "faulty plate" in the gearbox. ( By the way, I am with him in the workshop for the whole procedure)

£650 pounds later, gearbox has been fixed and has not missed a beat since.

In your case - A gearbox oil change may be all you need.
As I had an obvious leak, it needed more attention.

Looking back, £650 seems an aweful lot for this problem.
The "plate" was some sort of electronic component.
However, I was looking down the barrell of a £1300 gearbox rebuild, so felt like I'd done well !

PS - Mileage then was 140k. No towbar.FMBSH.
(MB Specialists do most work now)

Anyone else have similar problems with their E300TD ?

MB specialist was MERCSTAR in Harrow.

 

[Stephen Calderhead]

Hi all,

Based in Glasgow, this is my first post so go easy! ...unfortunately I suspect like many members on here my introduction and discovery of this website was on the back of an issue with my C220 51 plate, which I bought back in May.

My problem has / is as MPK describes above. I was initially quoted £600 for the change of the 'circuit board' after the diagnostics showed a speed sensor problem in the gear box.

I tried another garage who confirmed the same fault and that having to replace the circuit board is a common problem. (He quoted £350). However! He did explain that this was the first step and if this doesn't resolve the problem (I'm taking the car in on Wed) a new gearbox may be the only solution at a cost of approx £1000 (£1300 including the already replaced circuit board).

Any thoughts....l'll keep you posted on the outcome.

Regards

Stephen C

 

[Xtractorfan]

This problem is in most cases caused by oil in the gearbox ecu, The ecu can be dried out and the wiring loom connection seals replaced on the gearbox, really a simple fix.. so get a second opinion

 

[busby20]

This happened a few times on my SLK230, I find that if you get a quiet stretch of road, switch off ignition in drive, stop, put back into P, then re-start, everything goes back to normal. Don't know what the cause is but it's worked about 4 times now over 18 months. Checked fluid levels, fault codes - nothing listed, and the gearbox has been replaced previously - so, I just live with it. My wife's SLK which is an older model without the tiptronic has never had any problem- so could be something to do with tiptronic gearboxes?

 

[Tontastic]

Have a read of http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=32686. I had a very similiar problem which was looking very expensive until I changed the battery and had the ATF replaced. Not a single problem since then, and that's been since last Winter. Not saying its the same problem, but there is some hope ...

 

[Stephen Calderhead]

Ok thanks guys, I'll get these checked out and let you know how it goes...much appreciated!

Stephen C