C180 not showing gear selection or w/s mode

[Johnace]

Hi guys

I've just bought a 2001 c180 (w203) and I thought all was well until my dad (who's had mercedes for years) took it for a drive and noticed that the mfd doesn't show what gear is selected or what w/s mode is selected, he also noticed that the car doesn't seem to shift into 5th so it's high reving at 80+ mph like it's got a long 4th gear, he also says the Tiptronic mode is lazy and shifts much later than it should......is this something simple that we've overlooked?

 

[ernie]

When you say it doesn't show what gear is selected, do you mean that there is no display showing DNRP, etc.? And does the Tiptronic work by holding gears, although I suspect you will not be able to see what gear is selected?

Sorry, I can't offer a solution, but with a bit more info, someone might!

Ernie

 

[Johnace]

When you say it doesn't show what gear is selected, do you mean that there is no display showing DNRP, etc.? And does the Tiptronic work by holding gears, although I suspect you will not be able to see what gear is selected?

Sorry, I can't offer a solution, but with a bit more info, someone might!

Ernie

There's no display on the dash as to which gear is selected, tiptronic works but doesn't change when you'd expect it and even in tiptronic I don't seem to have 5th, I'm assuming that it could be a setting to show or hide gears maybe? Otherwise the display works flawlessly so it's not a dead segment of the screen, just really confusing.

 

[ernie]

I'm not aware of any settings that would hide or partially hide the display, although mine was a 2004 Facelift. The only thing I would say is that in Auto mode, the display will only show D (for Drive); the only time it will show which gear is when in Tiptronic when it should show 1,2, 3, 4 or D. None of this would explain the apparent lack of a 5th gear.

JUst a thought or rather 2 questions, What are the revs at 70 in Auto mode? Given that the C180/200 will normally start in second gear, can you count the number of gear changes? Mine used to get into 5th at around 50MPH.

If you are still unsure if everything is OK, I would get it to a MB Indy and have the codes read.

There is another thought...a bit of a long shot, though, someone on one of the MB Forums bought a car that wasn't performing properly and discovered that the diff had been changed by a previous owner and the gear ratio was wrong, throwing out all the automatic settings. Do you have any history?

Sorry, not much help, I know, but you don't want to spend money speculatively and that's why I suggest you get the codes read as a first off.

Ernie

 

[Johnace]

I'm only counting 4 gear changes but if it's starting in 2nd then that would explain 4 changes I guess.... Back to the display problem it doesn't even show D N P R etc, I'll post a picture to show you

 

[SLKNick]

4 gear changes would be right for a 5 speed box starting in first.

 

[MancMike]

Even the 7G only lets you shift up to 6th with it displayed. If you want 7th, hold the stick to the right and it'll go out of manual mode, back into fully automatic, then it'll choose 7th anyway if it's appropriate.

The shifting is really only for downshifting, holding a lower gear.

If you're driving at 30mph, it'll probably go into 5th or even 6th, but if you manually selected 3rd, it'll hold 3rd, but if you then floor it, it'll still upshift when it has to. It won't bounce off the redline.

 

[Johnace]

So the gearbox itself is OK then... What about the display not showing anything gear related?

 

[Ted]

Is it supposed to?

 

[SLKNick]

Sounds like a communication issue between any or all of the following:
gearbox, electronic gear selector, engine management system, instrument cluster

Have any of these items ever been replaced or disconnected at some time?

The only way you will ever get it sorted is via proper STAR diagnostics.

 

[Johnace]

Sounds like a communication issue between any or all of the following:
gearbox, electronic gear selector, engine management system, instrument cluster

Have any of these items ever been replaced or disconnected at some time?

The only way you will ever get it sorted is via proper STAR diagnostics.

It's possible that any or all of them could have been disconnected at some point, let's face it it's a 14 year old car and I've just got it, would star diagnosis be expensive?