Gearbox Stuck on S320 CDI, W220

[gurraj_singh]

The main problem I have is that the automatic gearbox seems to be stuck in a gear; I think it is 2nd gear.

Below are some things that I have noticed and tried:

When starting from a cold start (generally below 6oC), moving the gear selector from:

P into R there is a slight jolt
R into N there is a slight jolt – it feels like it is undoing the last jolt
N into D there is a big jolt

When the above happens, the car will not change out of 2nd gear. The +/- & S/W do not work either when this happens. So I turn the car off, take the key out and wait for everything to turn off. I then start the car again and there is no jolting and the car drives beautifully.

I took it to my independent garage, the guy plugged it into his laptop (not STAR), checked the gearbox, nothing faulty, checked the electronic part of the gearbox and it showed faults. All faults where cleared and it drove beautifully again. This was done on 3rd Dec 2012 and for free.

Today (14th Jan 2013) I went to start the car (2oC) and it started jolting as I moved the gear selector. Turning the car off and on did not help. Drove it a short distance, turned it off. Started it back up and still the jolting remained and it would not change into another gear. Had to drive home like this.

But does anyone know what could be causing this problem? The UK is due some cold weather over the next weeks and I have a feeling I probably won’t be able to drive the car.

Other things that this car does every now and again (In case it is all related):
- Smoke on heavy or gradual acceleration, oil has been changed as per service schedule and is good. MAF has been changed. If I remember correctly, so has the EGR valve.
- Acceleration sometimes is very laggy, car revs more than it should before it moves from a standing start.
- On the motorway, when trying to accelerate nothing happens and speed just gradually builds up.
- When the car is started from a cold start (generally below 6oC) the lights around engine temperature, fuel & revs appear to be very dim. After driving for a little while, they go back to their normal brightness. The lights around the speed are always at their normal brightness. The battery is good.
- As of last week, the window washer fluid has a leak, 6.7l tank. After a day I will have washer fluid low. The leak is not at the bottom, it’s in the middle of the tank somewhere, because when you look inside, you can still see the blue fluid at the bottom.

These happen every now and again, otherwise this car drives beautifully. As if it never had a problem in the first place. (Mood swings!?) :neutral:

I will be taking it back to the garage tomorrow, to see if he can print out what fault codes are on the gearbox and to see if he can clear it all again. I do hope it fixes the issue, but I would like to know why it’s doing it, so I can stop it happening again.


UK 2001 on a 51 Plate
W220
S320L CDI
108,000k +

 

[Terry_]

The speed sensor in the electronic plate commonly fails.
But you symptoms sound more like a battery issue

 

[gurraj_singh]

Alf230

Thank you, I will have a little search on the forum about the Speed Sensor.

One thing i forgot to add and I should know this really.

For this year, is it a 5 speed gearbox, because when the +/- do work. I get D, 1, 2, 3 4. Never on the dash has it showed 5.

 

[LTD]

For this year, is it a 5 speed gearbox, because when the +/- do work. I get D, 1, 2, 3 4. Never on the dash has it showed 5.

It won't show 5. It will display 1-2-3-4-D

How old is your battery ?

 

[gurraj_singh]

Was the battery, replaced it with a new one and everything was fine.

 

[ricardo62]

my e320 did exactly the same, it used to stay in 2nd gear unless you either let it idle for 20 mins in morning before setting off , or when warm stop turn ign off leave for a minute then start again , if you went thru this rigaramole then it would be ok and gearbox work as it should, it one day would not change out of 2nd no matter what I dib so took it to garage and had gearbox faults cleared but now back to the original prob ,ie I have to stop when warm and a minute later start engine , tbh I just put up with it as its been like this for nearly a year now , and so long as I go thru the routine it wrks fine for the rest of the day ??? very strange ?? I have a bosch battery installed ive never changed it because it looks in good condition, and always turns over the car starter rapidly , however I have a battery an exide I bought 2 yrs ago for my c250 td sitting in my shed , could the car battery that's fitted need replacing even though it works fine ? im a bit reluctant to change it im worried disconnecting the leads will upset all the e c u and computers in the car ?????