Gear Shift locked accompanied by 3 indicator lamps - what is it?

cleanpets

New member
I own five 2006 Sprinter 2500 vans. Three of them all have the same problem and my repair facility has been stumped. The issue is intermittent but happens every day.

When the van is placed in park, the gear shift locks and cannot be moved and the ABS, ESP and ASR/BAS indicator lights come on. Sometimes the van starts and can shift fine and then after a few minutes the lights come back on and when the van is parked the shift lever locks again.

Can anybody tell me what causes this to happen and how it is fixed. I'm pretty sure it's some sort of sensor or something electronic and I'm pretty sure it's in or near the steering column but I could really use an answer. Winter is coming and we need our ABS and ESP and ASR to be working.

We have tried reeplacing the brake sensor switch (above brake pedal) but that did not fix the problem.

Any assistance will be appreciated.

Thanks
 

Boater

New member
Have you checked the ABS sensors, they are used by by ABS and ESP and probably ASR to determine the speed of each wheel, if one gives a duff reading it will confuse all 3 systems.
Just wondering if all 3 vans have visited the same place and picked up a coating of something on the sensor tone rings?

Seems odd though, when the van is in park none of the wheels should be going round......
 

cleanpets

New member
Could this be related to a DTC 55A Steering Angle Calibration Error?

Dealer suggested recalibrating the steering angle...this may be related to a failed multifunction switch in the steering column.
 

cleanpets

New member
Now four of my vans all have this issue. One repair facility has given up., Said they found some type of C code that they can't find anywhere. Anybody have any other ideas?
 

scubanw3

Member
What you are describing is very unusual. The fact that you now have 4 vans doing the same thing and all have been serviced by the same company means they may be doing something wrong! All 4 have some repair in common. For example, have them check tail lamp bulbs. Maybe they all had a lamp replaced lately. Are they the correct lamp? Maybe there is another common repair but between the 4, but you have a disease going on and you have to find the common cause. Hope this helps.

Thank you,
Sprinter Store
http://sprinterstore.com/
A division of Upscale Automotive, Inc.
19460 SW 89th Ave.
Tualatin, OR 97062
503-692-0846
 

jmoller99

Own a DAD ODB2 Unit.
This pattern sounds like the Transmission Control Module (TCM), or possibly the Valve Body (in the transmission - it holds the gear shifting Solenoids).

Things that can cause the TCM to act up - Trans fluid wicking up into the TCM because of bad O-Rings in the Transmission Connector Sleeve (these will all leak after a while - you need a DAD or DBRII unit to clear any errors, a generic ODBII reader can't talk to the Transmission and read. or reset any errors).

What Scanner are they using? If they have a Sprinter compatible one, we should have a reasonable code to look at. What Code are they seeing.

I also suspect that the shop may not know much about Sprinters. Mine runs great, but I have had similar errors (and needed a DAD and some replacement parts to fix them).
 

fredbrud

New member
Did you ever figure out this problem, My 2006 is doing the same thing. I notice that when I start, as soon as I take my foot off the brake pedal, thats when the all three lights come on and lock the shifter. If I start with my foot off the brake pedal, the lights come on right away and the shifter is locked. I'm guessing maybe a brake pressure switch, but only a guess. Thanks Fred
 

fredbrud

New member
OK, I changed the brake light switch under the brake pedal in the cab. Its kind of a pain to twist it off and on, not much room and my wrist couldnt bend in the right way to grasp it, but it still only took about 20 minutes. I found it way easier to unhook the brake pedal return spring and the pedal from the piston by removing the linkage pin. It looks like it has fixed the problem for now. $25.00 at dealer. Fred
 

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