W209 CLK 320cdi gearbox "died"

[seymansey]

So i've had the first major fault with my CLK after 60k of ownership - and was with the gearbox last weekend. I@m leaning towards this being conductor plate / ECU issues, but would appreciate help. In any respect, it sounds expensive

2006 CLK 320cdi / 130,000miles / two gearbox fluid services due to high mileage.

Problem:

Driving along the motorway, I went to accelerate out of an average speed zone and noticed that the car wasn't responding to throttle inputs.

* the "D" and "S" indicators either side of the odometer had disappeared.
* The converter didnt appear to tbe locked up in the gearbox - I could maintain speed, however.
* Pulled over, switched the car off, let it shut down (until cluster went blank)
* Started the car, - it could go into "D" but engaged violently.
* I could drive off, but couldn't get out of first gear.

Got the car recovered home, and connected it to my STAR.

Codes from STAR were as follows:

C1026 Fault in CAN communication with control unit N15/3 (ETC [EGS] control unit).
C1701 CAN communication with transmission control unit is faulty.
C1027 Fault in CAN communication with control unit N15/3 (ETC [EGS] control unit).
C2211 No CAN message was received from control unit N15/3 (ETC (EGS) control unit).

After disconnecting the STAR (I didn't clear the codes) the "D" and "S" reappeared in the dash cluster and I was able to drive the car about perfectly.
I haven't been able to get under the car to check this week as I had to fly out on a business trip. No fluid leaks that I can see.

I can see that there are plenty of issues with the conductor plate / ECU on these cars, but I don't seem to have (or have had) any of the specific trouble codes on these.

What should I be budgeting for in terms of getting this repaired? Any help on diagnosing this would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[merc85]

I had a new conductor plate and the electrical plug, fluid and filter change done All genuine Mb parts total £500

 

[rifiki]

I has this problem with my CLK at around 55000 miles.
The CLK has been the one of the most unreliable car I have in decades,
almost as bad as a Morris Marina 2 door with MGB motor.
Ignition switch at 49000 miles
Gearbox at 55000 miles
Thermostat at 66000 miles
2 broken springs at 67000 miles
In spite of the reliability problems i love my CLK.

 

[Lit91]

I has this problem with my CLK at around 55000 miles.
The CLK has been the one of the most unreliable car I have in decades,
almost as bad as a Morris Marina 2 door with MGB motor.
Ignition switch at 49000 miles
Gearbox at 55000 miles
Thermostat at 66000 miles
2 broken springs at 67000 miles
In spite of the reliability problems i love my CLK.

These are just MB reliability issues, nothing specific to the CLK model unfortunately, it really is a shame that a major component such as the gearbox is such a common occurrence in MB. Nothing seems to be put in place in order to rectify the problem, in my opinion this should have been a recall repair by Mercedes for all affected vehicles.

 

[rifiki]

Honest John," If you want a reliable car buy Anglo Japanese, Japanese and nothing French" I also appears German cars are not much better. Wife's VW Polo had an ignition problem, random miss fires was never solved. Now have a Ford Fusion, much better car apart from low rent interior plastics.
I think the Americans opened legal action against MB on engine chain sprockets.problems.
There appears to be some thing lacking on MB quality control.

 

[BlackC55]

It looks like the gearbox control unit is faulty. Have you interrogated the codes?

 

[seymansey]

It looks like the gearbox control unit is faulty. Have you interrogated the codes?

So the AA man helpfully cleared the codes at the time when the car was recovered home, so i've seemingly not got anything further to go on, other than "the ESP and the engine ECU couldn't talk to the gearbox ecu".

I've driven the car 30 miles since, and it's been fine, even passed its MOT with no advisories.

I've taken it to a specialist and to my local Mercedes dealer. Specialist quoted around 2k to fix (worst case) assuming both the ECU / Conductor plate need to be changed. However, they need to see the codes from STAR to send to MB HQ to determine what exactly the part numbers that I need for replacement, and whether it's the valve body, TCU or both. Mercedes quote 1600 excluding about 200 of surcharges for replacement of both units.

So it seems for the moment that I have to drive it until i get the problem again.

 

[rifiki]

seymansey, The gear box on my CLk would play up, not changing gear etc, then would be Ok for a few days and then no gears or stuck in 3rd gear. Expensive fix.

 

[Lit91]

seymansey, The gear box on my CLk would play up, not changing gear etc, then would be Ok for a few days and then no gears or stuck in 3rd gear. Expensive fix.

£1k+

 

[seymansey]

So as an update, this fault has been disappearing and reappearing over the last couple of months.

Bit the bullet and took it to Mercedes, expecting a new valve body and conductor plate.

Drove it three miles to the dealer in limp mode and as i pulled into the dealer, the gearbox jumped back into life! Frustrating!!

Was contacted this morning and told that they can't find the fault - star reports the codes:

C1027 Fault in CAN communication with control unit N15/3 (ETC [EGS] control unit).
C2211 No CAN message was received from control unit N15/3 (ETC (EGS) control unit).

and that they can clear them, and thats that, the car is back to normal.

Also the Gearbox ECU didn't report any errors.

My gut reaction suggests that something else is causing an issue with power (or signal) to the Gearbox ECU.

Can anyone suggest other common issues which might use the Gearbox to act in this way?

 

[Lit91]

Low voltage from the battery can apparently have an effect (something which has been mentioned on the other forum)

 

[KeithJG]

As most on here have probably read i had my hydraulic valve and electroplate complete fitted by Olly a few months back and although your codes are slightly different it will probably end up needing the same replacement at around £1500.

One thing i don`t understand is the fact that MB have no idea what has happened via STAR.......STAR is only as good as the person reading it and although my 7g first went wrong a year before when it happened again i could not drive a car which had the problem that it could get me stranded anywhere!

At Ollys STAR even gave me the information when the fault first occurred and it was some 50,000mls before i even owned it...STAR seems to keep all the ECU information over the life of the car.

Your problem will return you can be sure of that .......in the meantime you will not notice that the performance has dropped off as it will be in the wrong gear at the wrong time resulting in jerking and dropping gears when it should be in the correct gear.

This is what i noticed when mine was repaired ....performance increased markedly smooth changes all round....and warranty for 2years.

 

[seymansey]

Could anyone confirm where unit N15/3 (i.e. the ETC unit) is located on the CLK?

It is now actually unit Y3/8n4 which is the control unit on the conductor plate?

It is not in the passenger footwell, mounted to a metal plate.

I'm trying to confirm if the ETC unit that the car says it cannot connect to is actually a separate unit, or if it part of the EHS / VGS control unit on the conductor plate.

I'm trawling through WIS / ASRA, and it makes no reference of unit N15/3 for my vehicle.

 

[KeithJG]

It is one of the speed sensors in the electroplate in the 7g box underneath.

Pictures of mine when replaced by Olly also note one page of my STAR readout which says the whole hydro-electric plate has to be replaced.

My TCU in the plate had a short which would only make a new replaced sensor fail again so the whole thing was replaced as requested by STAR.

 

[seymansey]

As an update thus far, my dealer couldn't find a problem, so recommended I take the car away and come back to them when it reoccurred.

When the car was brought around to me, it was demonstrating the issue! How the associate who brought it to me didn't notice the very large "Clunk" the 'box makes when you shift it into D as well as the "Check engine" light showing is beyond me.

Car turned round, went straight onto STAR. STAR couldn't access the ETC/EHS when it was showing the fault, so they have now admitted it's likely the electric plate, which in turn needs the new valve body!

 

[Lit91]

As an update thus far, my dealer couldn't find a problem, so recommended I take the car away and come back to them when it reoccurred.

When the car was brought around to me, it was demonstrating the issue! How the associate who brought it to me didn't notice the very large "Clunk" the 'box makes when you shift it into D as well as the "Check engine" light showing is beyond me.

Car turned round, went straight onto STAR. STAR couldn't access the ETC/EHS when it was showing the fault, so they have now admitted it's likely the electric plate, which in turn needs the new valve body!

As mentioned from the start, the symptoms suggest exactly that, and with it being a common problem, it will 99% be the electric plate / valve body. They don't supply electric plates on their own anymore, they only come with valve bodies.

It's not going to be a cheap fix and I feel your pain having gone through exactly the same issues.

 

[seymansey]

W209 CLK 320cdi gearbox "died"

£1616 minus some Official Owners Club Discount, to be (fairly) precise!

Incidentally, this was slightly cheaper than a couple of quotes I got from specialists , mainly because they didn't have a genuine STAR to do the SCN coding, so they needed to take it to the dealers themselves!


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[Lit91]

£1616 minus some Official Owners Club Discount, to be (fairly) precise!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sounds about right. This should of been a recall fix in my eyes, really disappointing for such a common and well known issue from manufacturer not to be addressed.

 

[seymansey]

So, 80 miles in, a new valve body and plate, and the issue seems to be resolved - I have my CLK back!

Adding this to the list of 7G Gearbox issues caused by a faulty valve plate - and this one didn't raise any codes!