Help, what have I done???

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automaniac

Active Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2006
Messages
81
Location
Sunny Bournemouth
Car
W210 220 CDI Avantgarde saloon
Hi all, its a sad story..:(
on sunday night I left my drivers door window open all night by mistake, the wind howled and the rain flooded in that night, result, next morning two very wet seats and a very wet dash and centre console. I tried to dry everything off as best I could and when I went to start the car the gear selector inter lock would not disengage.

I took the covers off around the gear lever and prised the sumer winter rocker button off, and saw that the circuit board inside was also wet. I carefully put a hair drier onto it and blew it until the whole thing was warm and looked dry.

I can now engage drive but its a limp home function only and the car is in 2nd (i think) and cuts out at 3000 rpm (approx 30mph) reverse will engage but only if your foot is OFF the footbrake :confused: also the gear indicator on dash is blank.

Basically have I f*****d the gear selector unit or could it still be damp and come back eventually?

I could kick myself for this, Just as I was starting to say no problems for nearly a year now.

Any help with this guys?
 
Get it on a STAR and have the codes read , then you will know what is wrong .

Does sound like the gear selector is toast though.
 
Exactly the same symptoms of a C220CDI that I recently bought. Car had been standing as the old boy had suffered a stroke. The hairdryer trick gets it into emergency mode so you can move it.
As a FYI, the module I ended up buying (none in breakers yards) was £300+vat at MB :(
 
Thanks, that really fills me with joy.... not:(
£300, thats a lot of dosh for leaving the windows open!!.
Thankyou anyhow
 
Reset the codes & you might find that all will be ok.
 
Thanks, have booked car in for monday morning to be checked. Priced a new unit at £377 inc vat from Merc, so have some idea of how poor I'm going to be if it has to be replaced
 
Seems expensive.

Got a part number ?

You might find it'll be ok after a reset .
 
I spoiled a holiday once by being utterly convinced that I'd left my car in the airport long stay car park with the drivers window open after taking the entry ticket - it was all a bit of a panic to get parked up and there was a plane engine testing nearby so the noise was immense.

I was hoping someone would have noticed and wrapped the car up or something!

Got back and actually felt dismayed (after 2 weeks of worrying) to find the car all secure. :crazy:
 
Seems expensive.

Got a part number ?

You might find it'll be ok after a reset .

Well, I'm hoping that a reset will do the trick, I'm taking it to an independant specialist, but £377 was quoted to me by my local Merc main dealer for a selector unit using my chassis number, I haven't got a part no, Do you have one for sale by any chance???
I cant really wait for something to maybe turn up on ebay, so if its burnt out, I presume thats the price I pay plus fitting. :crazy:
But fingers crossed an easy fix:) and I promise to never never never never leave the windows open again
 

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