CLS 350D low power to ESP causing gearbox issues

[BigG943]

Hi all my CLS is having issues with the gearbox, it randomly sticks in 5th gear, it will change down to lower gears and back up to 5th in auto but will rev to 3k plus before changing. It won’t let me use manual mode. When you turn the car off the issue goes.
I’ve had the codes read and nothing is logged in the transmission. The garage did see a code for Low ESP power/voltage. They seem to think it is due to a low power battery. Has anyone else had this issues or know of anyone else. Could a low power battery cause this?

 

[Wighty]

Hi all my CLS is having issues with the gearbox, it randomly sticks in 5th gear, it will change down to lower gears and back up to 5th in auto but will rev to 3k plus before changing. It won’t let me use manual mode. When you turn the car off the issue goes.
I’ve had the codes read and nothing is logged in the transmission. The garage did see a code for Low ESP power/voltage. They seem to think it is due to a low power battery. Has anyone else had this issues or know of anyone else. Could a low power battery cause this?

Well MB’s hate Low battery . This can cause them to throw up codes/faults .
How old is the battery , there is a date stamp on the terminal . If it’s over 8-9 years old it’s not a bad thing to replace it anyway .
You could check the voltage at rest tomorrow morning , if it’s 12.0v or under that will confirm it , especially if it’s been charged or you’ve done a decent run in the car
Aside from the battery when was the gearbox serviced , what mileage is it on now ?

 

[BigG943]

Hi from what I can see it’s the original battery and I have a feeling it needs a gearbox service as again I can see no evidence in the service history. The car is 10 years old last Friday and just ticked over 100k. It had 6 Merc services and two independent non merc specialists. It looks like it had a Aux battery in the last year but while the main one is a Merc branded one the Aux is a non Merc one. The main code that was shown up was U010100 COMMUNICATION WITH CONTROL UNIT "TRANSMISSION" HAS A MALFUNCTION. : STORED this has now been cleared and on re-test has not come back yet. From what I’ve read and been told it might just be old/wrong batteries(I’m really hoping it is as a new gearbox control unit could be many pounds) I only collected it on Saturday so this has taken the edge of the new car fun sadly. The garage I got it form have said they will sort it out but just looking for any further info or advice.

 

[Larkone]

Battery - the question to ask is how long was it sat unused before you bought it.

 

[BigG943]

At least 6 weeks I’m told.

 

[bembo449]

think id give the battery a good charge first

 

[BigG943]

That is what the dealer is doing I’ll also get them to replace the AUX battery for a gen Merc one. It just seems mad that a battery can cause so many issues. I’ve now read quite a few posts I’ve a number of groups with the same issue and no solution being found. My car was scanned with autologic by a Merc Indy however people have had theirs scanned my Merc main dealers and still no codes were stored of found in the gearbox!

 

[Larkone]

A genuine Mercedes battery will not be made by MB - they re-label others. Just ensure you buy a known make.

 

[BigG943]

I’ve been told the dealer is either booking it in to Startec poole or Mercedes Poole so either way it should be a good one I guess.

 

[Wighty]

I’ve been told the dealer is either booking it in to Startec poole or Mercedes Poole so either way it should be a good one I guess.

Result ! Let us know how you get on

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

If it is the original main battery I’d change it MBs don’t like low voltage batteries it throws up all kind of spurious faults. It’s a good idea to have a multimeter in the garage to check the voltage it should be 12.6V fully charged and if drops much below 12.4V you will have issues with the electronics.

Always a concern when buying second hand cars that sit around for a while some of the better dealers use charging tenders to avoid this.

 

[BigG943]

I’ll update when I know more, I’ll check the age of the battery later as I’m out at the min.
Thanks all so far for the info. It just a bit getting as apart from this and a flickering back light in the cluster the car is perfect

 

[Larkone]

@BigG943 Update your profile to include which model you have (CDI/55/63) and year as it helps others when you ask questions - see mine

 

[BigG943]

Try this one on ebay : navi-expert-uk , I bought from him 2 times, straightforward and easy process


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Hi what do I need from this site as this issue isn’t to do with the sat nav?

 

[BigG943]

@BigG943 Update your profile to include which model you have (CDI/55/63) and year as it helps others when you ask questions - see mine

Sorry that’s now done.

 

[axelcls]

Hi what do I need from this site as this issue isn’t to do with the sat nav?

Sorry, was meant for another discussion on the forum. Sorry again


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[BigG943]

So battery update the negative terminal is stamped 26/13 so it is the original battery! Which is now 10 years old

 

[BigG943]

So on the way back to the garage today it enters limp mode twice, the first time after just 400m the second 30 miles in. Then after another 10 miles we get an engine management light come on and full blown limp mode. Still they’re following a restart. Instead of going to the dealer we went straight to Startech Poole who ran a diagnostics for us. No gearbox issues however the DFP was showing as it had failed or at least a sensor in the system. The technician checked the exhaust tips and the a coated in thick black soot.
It’s now in Startech’s safe hands however it looks like the job list is going to be quite big, new DPF, full Gearbox service, new battery and a few other bits and bobs. Luckily the dealer Bournemouth Cars, so far has been very good in covering what is needed. Don’t think I’ll be seeing the CLS for quite a few days.

 

[BigG943]

So further update, Garage has decided to do all work themselves. The DPF was removed and on inspection the inside filter had split/failed. According to MB Poole Dealer New DPF's are on back order so garage has fitted a cleaned 30K example. The garage found an oil leak coming from the oil cooler so have done a full oil cooler seal and cooler replacement along with all the required seals and gaskets. New MB battery has been fitted and its also has a full gearbox service carried out. All of the above have been carried out with genuine MB parts all from MB Poole. a few other small niggles have been found and corrected and fixed including a loose tail pipe tip and a flickering back light to the instrument cluster (work carried out by Cartronix). Hopefully all the issues are now sorted and in some ways it could be a good thing as a lot of the costly jobs that might have been just around the corner are now sorted. Hopefully repacking it up this Friday. Still nervous about it still playing up but I guess only time will tell.
I have to say Bournemouth Cars have been great and proactive in sorting all this out. they haven't argued about the cost of the genuine MB parts or fixes to the cluster. they are also giving a full years AA warranty free of charge for extra piece of mind.

 

[Botus]

who's paying?

oil cooler £900
batteries £500
diagnostics £250
emission software updates and NOx sensors £1800
and we haven't got round to the faulty gearbox yet.... so then an electroplate and fluid flush £1300

round up to £5k if they wash it