To remove the gear shift is simple, all you need to do is twist the plastic bottom part of the shift anti-clockwise half a turn and it will move down, then you simply pull the gear shift up and off the shaft. The centre trim should just pull up as its only held in be clips.

 

I can get the trim off but there were some pics on how to remove the actual shift module itself and take it apart to clean the sensors inside of it. I think you also have to remove the armrest console to remove the shifter.

 

Last weeks problem

I just did this last week. Once you get the trim off around the shifter which all is just snapped in and remove the shift knob. Unplug the electrical connections for the windows, airbag light, ecs, etc there will be three allen key bolts around the base, one in the front and two in the rear under the plastic bar. There is a switch on the right side on the front right side that needs to be turned about a quarter turn and pulled out. On the front left side you need to unplug the harness for the shifter. Also on the underside of the shifter the transmission linkage needs to be disconnected by removing one clip on the shifter arm. Which can be done from inside the car if you can fit your hand down there. To gain clearance to remove the shifter I removed the two philips screws under the pad in the center console. Once they removed I was able to manipulate the shifter out of the console.

 

Thanks, this really helped

I just did this last week. Once you get the trim off around the shifter which all is just snapped in and remove the shift knob. Unplug the electrical connections for the windows, airbag light, ecs, etc there will be three allen key bolts around the base, one in the front and two in the rear under the plastic bar. There is a switch on the right side on the front right side that needs to be turned about a quarter turn and pulled out. On the front left side you need to unplug the harness for the shifter. Also on the underside of the shifter the transmission linkage needs to be disconnected by removing one clip on the shifter arm. Which can be done from inside the car if you can fit your hand down there. To gain clearance to remove the shifter I removed the two philips screws under the pad in the center console. Once they removed I was able to manipulate the shifter out of the console.

This little paragraph was great. Two of us got the job done on 2002 CLK 430 Cabrio in under an hour following these exact instructions. The interlock was kaputt after a few too many sodas. An indy wanted $1050 to do this job, including get the part from a dealer for $675 which would take a week.

The indy was also somewhat dishonest, they claimed the motor mount was cracked with visual inspection (I asked them to look). I' ve gone to these guys for a long time and it must be the economy or something.

I don't know how they inspected it because the tech couldn't even get the thing into gear to put it up on the rack. He did the $150 diagnoses out in the parking lot. Hmmm, kind of hard to see a crack looking in from the top. Anyway, no crack. I don't think the tech ever looked at a MB motor mount, he probably looked at the rubber (it can look "torn" to an untrained eye) and said ok, it's cracked.

I was so fed up with them, I told them not to even bother putting it back together. I picked it up and got into gear and took it home. You should have seen the bill - customer declines this customer declines that -- it was pretty funny.

I bought the shifter from OEM and original car Parts For BMW Mini cooper Porsche Mercedes Audi Volkswagen Saab Volvo| BimmerSpecialist.com -- I ordered it at 3:00 PM and it was at my door at 11:00 the next morning. OEM original, $450.

Works like a charm.

Now it's on to changing the tranmission fluid. They wanted $600 for that. Hmmm, $150, plus $50 for the "dipstick" tool and a Benzworld set of pictures and we're pretty set.

Dealer claimed -- oh you need a special heat sensor ... well, I have an infrared one with a laser pointer that you just point at the pan and it's accurate within a degree or two.

I tell you, they really do try and rip you off. Thanks again for all the great posts.

 

thanks for the info!

 

Shift module removal - what now?

OK, so I have the big plastic unit containing what I presume to be the TCM in it out of the car and on my kitchen table. How in the world do you get it out of there for cleaning? Please see pictures of plastic unit top and bottom and the terrifying hole in my car.

 

OK, so I have the big plastic unit containing what I presume to be the TCM in it out of the car and on my kitchen table. How in the world do you get it out of there for cleaning? Please see pictures of plastic unit top and bottom and the terrifying hole in my car.

What was your initial problem btw?

 

Dude, good job! Maybe it doesn't come out? Marcus would know.

 

Never one to wait around, I took the plastic part to the dealer. They nearly died when I asked them the same question. They sell the entire shifter assembly as one unit. Who knew? I just sprayed contact cleaner on the board and all of the gazillion wires and contacts and put it back together. It starts, runs, and drives, so we'll see what happens in July.

 

That is TOTALLY AWESOME. This could save a lot of $ for a lot people.
Why July?

 

Why July?

I'm guessing that's when one of two things happens: Either her extended warranty expires or that's when the car is paid off. After all, they seem to know those things, don't they?


Seriously, though, axncatsma, congratulations. That is great news indeed.

For the sake of posterity I added this thread to the W210 DIY sticky, very useful information indeed.

Take care and -- ENJOY THE RIDE!
Greg

 

July because it only shifts stupid when it's really hot outside. I don't think that cleaning it really fixed it, but at least I know how to replace it when I do have to buy the entire shifter assembly. BTW -- I'm a 40-year-old married mother of two, dudes. : )

 

My apologies, the post is now changed to a feminine reference. Just curious how many miles you have on it and whether you've done the fluid and filter change, someplace in the 65,000 to 75,000 miles is recommended. That might help to smarten it up a bit.

Take care and enjoy the re-shifting ride,
Greg

 

Excellent!

 

The car has 61,000 miles on it now. To my knowledge none of the transmission fluids have been changed. In fact, I have a teeny drip that appears to be transmission fluid, so something is definitely up there. I just can't bring myself to really look at it for fear of what it will take to fix it properly. ugh.

My initial problem was that the car would get "stuck" in 2nd or 3rd gear in the summer when it was really hot outside. If I would pull over, shut the car off, then restart, usually it would be OK. But not always. The problem happened more and more often as the summer progressed. As I got to reading posts on the lists, it sure seemed like it was the TCM. So, I gave it a shot at removal and cleaning to see if that will help. Visually, the board doesn't look like there was anything spilled on it, but there is gunk on either side of the hump where they couldn't get it detailed out before sale, so I'm pretty sure that someone spilled something in there. We'll see how it goes.

 

car not shifting 2003 benz

We followed the directions here, thanks! to remove the shifter in our 2003 benz. A glass of water was dumped into it and it gets stuck in gear. We removed the entire shifter, sprayed and cleaned and dryed with "eletronic" spray...put partly back together and it still gets stuck in gear. Now we know how to get it out and get it back together....does anyone know which piece to order, replace to get it to work? We would hate to order the enitire thing for $800, any other suggestions?

Thanks for all of the help!

 

We followed the directions here, thanks! to remove the shifter in our 2003 benz. A glass of water was dumped into it and it gets stuck in gear. We removed the entire shifter, sprayed and cleaned and dryed with "eletronic" spray...put partly back together and it still gets stuck in gear. Now we know how to get it out and get it back together....does anyone know which piece to order, replace to get it to work? We would hate to order the enitire thing for $800, any other suggestions?

Thanks for all of the help!

Try ebay. You can often find a good used shifter assy for around $100.

 

How do you remove the 3 large bolts?? I cannot get to them because they are under the large plastic bar. I unscrewed the screws in the console but it won't budge. These last 3 screws are very hard to get to!

 

TCM only part of the problem

Cleaning my TCM board with contact cleaner didn't really fix it. However, instead of getting stuck in 2nd OR 3rd, it only sticks in 3rd. Interestingly enough, I also do not have reverse when this condition is present. What I have been noticing is when I try to shift down to 4th or 3rd with the gearshift, I'm only getting a quick change in the number on the instrument cluster -- gears don't actually change and then the number pops right back to "D".

So, I bucked up and bought the $439 part. (2022670424) Easy enough to install. Now I can get the transmission to shift up and down through the gears with the shifter. A minor win. Still sticks in 3rd. You can tell when it's going to happen -- I get a really hard shift -- usually down -- and then I'm stuck until I put the car in park, shut off the engine and restart.

Sadly, it appears I need a transmission rebuild. I changed the fluid a couple of months ago and it was burnt. The friendly (and sarcastic) parts guys at the dealer tell me about some solenoids at the bottom of the tranny that go out often. At least it's a place to start.

I think i'm gonna be sick.

 

Cleaning my TCM board with contact cleaner didn't really fix it. However, instead of getting stuck in 2nd OR 3rd, it only sticks in 3rd. Interestingly enough, I also do not have reverse when this condition is present. What I have been noticing is when I try to shift down to 4th or 3rd with the gearshift, I'm only getting a quick change in the number on the instrument cluster -- gears don't actually change and then the number pops right back to "D".

So, I bucked up and bought the $439 part. (2022670424) Easy enough to install. Now I can get the transmission to shift up and down through the gears with the shifter. A minor win. Still sticks in 3rd. You can tell when it's going to happen -- I get a really hard shift -- usually down -- and then I'm stuck until I put the car in park, shut off the engine and restart.

Sadly, it appears I need a transmission rebuild. I changed the fluid a couple of months ago and it was burnt. The friendly (and sarcastic) parts guys at the dealer tell me about some solenoids at the bottom of the tranny that go out often. At least it's a place to start.

I think i'm gonna be sick.

Hey, axncatsma. Been a couple months since you updated, I was curious if there is yet another update. Looking back you'd mentioned a leak, there is a connector on the transmission that is fairly notorious for leaking, when it gets bad enough it will actually push fluid up the wires into the TCM, resulting in some of the problems you experienced.

Let us know when you get a chance!
Thanks,
Greg

 

Shift module removal - update

This is going to be a long post...

I got a notion after seeing an advertisement for a local transmission shop ("we diagnose for free") to take the car in and see if they could figure out why I keep slipping into 3rd gear with no CEL. They didn't want to touch a Mercedes, but I baked them some homemade chocolate chip cookies and they at least put a code reader on it and talked to me about it for about an hour. No codes (no surprise, their reader was the generic Snap-On reader and the CEL wasn't on). I asked them what kinds of malfunctions could cause the sort of symptoms I've been seeing. He mentioned "turbine speed sensor". AHA! I saw that code (P0715) ONCE several months ago when I replaced the CPS.

I went straight to the dealer's parts counter and orderd the "conductor plate". The valve body and shift solenoids sit on this plate and it contains all kinds of electrical connections. They were nice enough to give me a diagram on how it all fits together. So, we replaced the board (and the fluid again -- at $13/quart, geez!). Now we are getting a code... P0753 - Shift Solendoid A Electrical. We're now also stuck in 2nd gear -- limp home mode. Crap! Checked everything on the installation of the board and it all looks fine. Tried to reset the codes with the reader and by battery disconnection. No dice. So, I threw myself at the transmission shop (cheesecake this time) and begged for mercy. They've had it for two weeks. They put in new shift solenoids (way cheaper than the dealer, btw). Same code, still stuck in 2nd gear. They surrendered.

I'm intrigued, Greg, about your comment about the leaky transmission connector. I am going to check that, too, now. I feel pretty stupid that my wild notion has now stumped two mechanics and cost me $500 and a month of gorgeous convertible weather. I'm going to feel really stupid when it's a transmission connector that's pushing fluid up the wires...

I'll let you know how it goes. :crybaby2:

I'm seriously considering going to the dealer, but admitting defeat is not easy. Plus, we'll have to skip Christmas and birthdays this year and next because they'll have all of my money.

 

Interesting. Mine threw a P0715 code back in July. It was stuck in 5th (or some torque robbing gear) after I got off the freeway, but after turning the car off and on, the symptoms cleared. After I got back home, I plugged in my code scanner and could see the P0715, even though the car ran fine. My scanner could not clear the code. I've since been told that many codes can only be cleared with an SDS box. The P0715 means the input speed sensor has malfunctioned. The input speed sensor is on the plate you replaced. To get to it, you drop the transmission pan, remove the filter, remove the valve body, and then extract the plate that holds the input and output sensors. With the plate on a workbench, the sensor(s) can be removed.

At any rate, I dropped my car at the dealer. They gave me a free 2008 C-Class loaner, and sent me on my way. The car was ready the following evening. On my car, the plate that holds the input and output sensors was cracked. They replaced the plate and did the infamous "transmission wiring harness o-ring job". My o-ring wasn't leaking, but it's a $2 o-ring, and they were right there, so it made sense to do it. Total bill was about $800

electronics kit (plate) (part number 140-270-08-61) - $223.45
transmission pan gasket (part number 140-271-00-80) - $12.00
seal ring (part number 140-271-00-60) - $2.09
transmission fluid (part number 001-989-21-03-10) - 5 @ $14.50 each
Transmission oil filter (part number 140-277-00-95) - $15.50
Lock pin (part number 140-991-00-55) - $1.69
Spacer (part number 203-540-02-53) - $11.02

I can't say enough good things about the service department at Mercedes-Benz of Valencia. They do it once, and it's done right. And the price isn't bad.

 

the importance of a good scanner

All in all, I have a happy ending. After stumping two mechanics, the third one had a fancy scanner that could talk to the Mercedes transmission computer. The other two could only access OBDII. I should have put that together earlier than I did. He told me that the transmission computer had 18 codes in it -- all related to the solenoids and turbine speed sensor. Not surprising, as we've replaced both the conductor plate and the three shifter solenoids. He reset the codes and I have all gears again. Hallelujah! I don't expect to have the intermittent 3rd gear thing again, but time will tell.

The lesson I learned was this: make sure that your mechanic has a code reader that can access more than just the OBDII system. The one that worked was a SnapOn model but it was like "Elite" or "Platinum" or something like that. He said he just got it and by the time he bought all of the "keys" the darn thing cost him $5000. He only charged me $48 to clear the codes, and I'm on the road again.

The whole debacle cost me right at $800 and a lot of heartache, but I think that it was probably fixed with the replacement of the board ($150 labor and $200 for the board). If we'd had the right scanner I wouldn't have had to fool with the transmission shop. I'm liking Marcus' solution more and more, but I am in a small community and am not quite ready to trust the dealer. They are the only one in a 100 mile radius, so they can do business however they wish. I've heard horror stories.

 

This has been an educating thread. I have a 2000 E320 w/ just shy of 110k on the clock. It's been great for the past 6 years, but a few days ago, I began hearing a high pitch whine coming from my tranny in the low gears, but it would stop once it was past 3rd. Then the other day, I got stuck in LHM. I'd stop the car, restart, then I could go for a few more miles. The car's been generally dealer-serviced (i just did the brakes) at all the intervals and I've never noticed any ATF spots on the ground or on the tranny. I plugged an OBDII and discovered codes P-0700 (TCM) and P-0715 (Speed sensor). I cleared the codes, but after ~a mile, it went back into LHM.

So I've brought it to the dealer and he is now telling me that the tranny was pretty much dry of ATF and that I need a new/rebuilt tranny.

Should I even bother to try replacing the the plate as you have? I'm thinking, it might be worthwhile to spend ~800 to get some more miles out of my E (i'd be really disappointed if I have to repl the tranny with only 110K, in which case I'm more inclined to just upgrade to the W211). What are your thoughts?

 

I'd get a second opinion. If the transmission is dry, it had to have leaked from somewhere. I would think that there's a good possibility that at least some would end up on the garage floor.

 

Once your car get into the LHM, should immediately send your car to the dealer before any further leak of Transmission fluid. At 80K my wife told me one day the car was in LHM, I send her car to the dealer to replace the fluid filter plus most important :SPACER, the seal always leak slowly, between the harness and the housing. The transmission runs like new, the car we bought in 2001. The job cost $230. Only other thing we replaced at 50K is the shifter rubber busing for $60.

 

Man, you have some good dealers. My new to me CLK430 Cabbie has 40k miles on it, and the original owner never had the tranny service done. I phone the dealer, and they want $500 for a fluid and filter change. WTF????

I ring a respected local Indy, and he wants $370 for fluid and filter change. He must know what the dealer charges, and can get away with nearly $400.

I will be joining the ranks of those who have dropped their own tranny pan. I've done it plenty on Detroit iron, but not MB.

I'll order the tranny dipstick, buy an infrared pyro, and the expen$ive fluid, and do it myself. $500 for a fluid/filter change? What are they smoking? (actually, that is what you get when the next closest MB dealer is 2 hours away....no competition.)

Finally, what is the final word on Chrysler ATF+4 vs the fancy Mercede$ fluid???

 

weird thing is, I have no oil spots on the ground; also, there was no evidence of a leak on the tranny itself. I ended up trading in the w210 for a w211 E350 Sport. I really like the dual exhaust, asym wheel/tire and 7-speed. Gas mileage has been sim to the w210 even though I now have more hp.

 

Sorry about bumping an old thread -- although I'm sure it's popular -- but I'm having a problem pulling the module out.

The two screws in the back are obscured by the plastic bar and any efforts to get them out only lead to them being stripped further, which would suck. I noticed in one of the earlier pictures that the plastic bar is removed/removable to get access to the screws, but I have no idea how to accomplish this.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

This thread must have been imported from another class. I think it was the E series, I had the same problem where my shifter was stuck in limp home mode and wanted to try and clean the module rather then replace it. However, I must be unlucky because it did have to end up being replaced.

The plastic bar is not in the E series but as you noticed it is in the 208 style. It really depends how attached you are to your car. What I mean is this. When I went to work for Toyotas Lexus division I was exposed to several things that were made way too complicated for what they were. Much like this situation that houses the shifter module. It is molded all as one piece with this structural member in the middle to provide structural support to this area. At the end of the day I don’t think it really needs it so I cut it out with a rotary tool. It took a few minutes and I only removed what I had to so if I did want to I could go back and put in a dowel or some other bar (but I did not because it really does not have to be there) The other change is you really cant undo the clip from in the car. Brother do not try, just get under it with a flash light and you will see the linkage above you read and slid the clip off using needle nose pliers. It is not hard; in fact it is harder getting it back on once you have tried to clean the module. The module is the computer board looking thing and it does not come out. So you spray the electronic cleaner (Pep boys or Radio shack carry’s the cleaner) into the holes and hope it works, give it a good soaking because that stuff dries in an instant. When you’re ready to try it back in the car just but in what you have to until you know it works if it does not then you go get a new module and put it in and you’re done.

It is not all that hard and because it is a MBZ it all does make cense and goes together like it should. The only part that is dumb is the plastic bar that I had to cut out. Keep us posted to how you make out.

 

I haven't read the whole post... but last year sometime, I got the dealership to switch out the shifter and it was covered by my extended warranty. I believe a car wash place sprayed some good smelly stuff in there.
Cha Ching!

 

what to do next

I have separated the components of the shifter assembly; there is no chip is that location as the DIY shows, so where do I clean in the components I am looking at the black part with the LEDS for the gear numbers but that all it appears to be: LEDS dor the shift numbers.... where is the module I am to clean?

 

if your just looking to get the woodgrain around the shifter off or whatever this is the closest thing ive found hopes this helps

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w208-clk-class/1234304-ashtray-delete-install.html