Limp Home Mode

MikaHakkinen said:

I have just driven 300 kilometres after i got my SL500 from winter garage and
now it wont shift 3rd gear. :crybaby2:
Only first ,second and reverse works.
What can cause this problem?
Dealer says it can be anything; even bad battery
Do you ever had this kind of problem in 5 speed automatic?
Is there anything that i can try my self?
I am not a big DIY man...
I hope this car is not broken as usually as Mclaren:thumbsup:

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Nice one about the McLaren: ask the real Hakkinen what he thought about his own McLaren Formula1 car lol. (I'm a huge Ferrari fan ).
Back to your question, I tend to agree with the dealer since the Limp Home Mode (LHM for short) can be caused but pretty much anything but since your car has been in Winter storage the first place to start is definitely the battery: a weak battery in a Mercedes can cause every kind of gremlins and weird behavior because all the electronic modules in our cars need solid power so before anything else check the battery and replace it if needed and see what happens. Now I suppose since you bought the car only a few months ago it probably has a few years old battery that is dieing.

Keep us updated.

Cheers.

Disconnect the battery before charging!!!!!!

I think i am not going to disconnect battery myself.
I dont have radio code and i am afraid that the rollbar and soft top buttons stop working again.
That was my problem a week ago, and the dealer cleared the codes succesfully.
My car is going to dealer again thursday; i hope its something easy to fix.
This is very bad for me: can you imagine new SL in yours parking lot and no change to drive it.:crybaby2:
Otherwise i am really in love with this car, it very nice looking, fast if needed and really pleasure to drive.
I really hope i dont need my own pit team to keep it on the move
Keep yours thumb up to Kimi Raikkonen if you are a Ferrari fan, msbarsi.:thumbsup:
I keep you updated when i know more.

MikaHakkinen said:

Only first ,second and reverse works.

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This transmission is operating in "Electrical Limp-Home Mode". Possible causes include faulty wiring or RPM sensors. A scan of the transmssion ECU for codes should precisely identify the problem. A $150 Carsoft-type scanner as sold on eBay can do this.

Hi!
You were right bobterry...:bowdown:
My car is now in dealer. They said that the battery is ok.
The computer showed that some rpm sensor is dead inside the gearbox.
New part is 290 euros and work including oil change for gearbox is about
630 euros. Total: 920 euros.:crybaby2:
I hope the car is fine after that.

MikaHakkinen said:

Hi!
You were right bobterry...:bowdown:
My car is now in dealer. They said that the battery is ok.
The computer showed that some rpm sensor is dead inside the gearbox.
New part is 290 euros and work including oil change for gearbox is about
630 euros. Total: 920 euros.:crybaby2:
I hope the car is fine after that.

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Ouch that hurts mate. I'm sorry to hear what you are going thru but if you are friend with teh people at teh dealership and if you are lucky enough you might find the parts on Ebay or parts.com for less money.
Remember to change your gearbox filters too while you are changing the gearbox fluid so you will be good for a good number of thousand miles.

Good luck.

Cheers.

Yes, its a big sum of money.
Oil change includes all filters, thats good.
The gearbox oil change price including filters here is 300euros.
So the rest of the sum is all for the sensor.
Yours ebay idea is good, but i cant wait that long.
I left my car to dealer and now i am hoping its okay at the end of the next
week. They are waiting to get right parts for next week.
I am a little bit Ferrari fan my self; sometimes when driving my SL, i wear a Ferrari beanie:thumbsup:

how do u reset limp home mode....c200 1995 w202

kenya007 said:

how do u reset limp home mode....c200 1995 w202

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I think that it is reset by a new engine start, but if the transmission fault persists it will immediately come back on again..