SBC fault - gearbox module is chief suspect

[corned]

Hello all.

As posted recently, my 211 has developed what sounds like the common 211 SBC problem of its failure to engage due to the gear selector module not knowing what bloody gear it is in. This despite the cluster knowing full well what gear the gearbox is in.

So the big question is - where is this suspect module, and is it a diy job to get out and inspect?

Thanks

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Wasn't there a factory recall on this issue?

 

[jaymanek]

I got a new one off ebay recently at around half the dealer price...

 

[corned]

Thanks chaps, but please can you help me with this para?

So the big question is - where is this suspect module, and is it a diy job to get out and inspect?

 

[jaymanek]

Its the gear selector itself, so you need to strip the console area around it, you need to undo the unions underneath the car and then it will lift out... a garage job really.

 

[corned]

OK Jay, many thanks for the info.

I still have a latent sense of having a crack at this sort of job myself and stripping something down to see if it can be fixed.

Guess I should have learned by now...

Final question - I promise - how much of a garage job?

 

[mr. shr]

I have the same prob on my S211.
And I, just like you, queried how come the system "doesn't know" the position of the gear lever, yet the cluster quite happily displays it without any problem at all.

I was told that it's not a complicated job and probably DIYable (to remove and replace).

But as Jay says, will be fiddly as have to uncouple lever from rod underneath the car.

 

[corned]

I have the same prob on my S211.
And I, just like you, queried how come the system "doesn't know" the position of the gear lever, yet the cluster quite happily displays it without any problem at all.

I was told that it's not a complicated job and probably DIYable (to remove and replace).

But as Jay says, will be fiddly as have to uncouple lever from rod underneath the car.

Hi there.

Thanks, if I find an hojr or so I may pluck up tne courage to go and have a poke about under there. Baffling problem, though. Complicated just for the sake of it? Surely not.

 

[mr. shr]

Did you get my email?

 

[corned]

Hang on a mo', I'll go and check!

 

[Doodle]

From the research I did, it seems there is a microswitch in the module that sends the signal to the SBC/parking sensors, and this wears with time until it no longer activates.

I would assume the gearbox/cluster signal is done separately.

 

[mr. shr]

Yes, I seem to remember being told something similar.

Has anyone successfully opened one up and replaced the failed switch?

 

[corned]

That's the line of enquiry I was thinking of going down...

 

[Doodle]

Once someone has a suitable candidate, perhaps consider popping it off to BBA to see if they can repair it?

 

[migmog]

Resurrecting an old thread. My 211 has the same problem, quoted something like £450 from mercedes to fix it. Has anyone attempted the repair?

 

[Dieselman]

I can't see it being hard.
Stripping a standard auto box gate takes about 10 minutes start to finish.

 

[mr. shr]

Resurrecting an old thread. My 211 has the same problem, quoted something like £450 from mercedes to fix it. Has anyone attempted the repair?

I suspect there are quite a few of us out there that have got this problem. When my 211 was diagnosed with this, I had all sorts of plans to get it sorted, but nothing ever materialised as replacement part is expensive. (And car is fine, otherwise).
Would suggest the same is true with the OP?

At 450, that's probably just the price of the part, right?
Labour will be a couple of hundred quid on top?