Transmission issues????

OkieNAz

Randy
Sorry for being long winded on this one!!

At about 25K miles on our 2014 THOR 24SA, we had just stopped at a stop sign, turned right up a slight incline. Just as the transmission was about to shift out of 2nd gear, we heard a very loud “BANG” as if a sledge hammer had hit the transmission. :frown::frown:

The engine started racing – as I was still trying to accelerate. The RV began to slow down as if the transmission was in neutral. I checked the gear shifter – figured I must have bumped it into neutral. Nope, still in “D”. Coasted to the side of the road. Engine still running, no warning lights on the display, gear shifter in “D”, I could race the engine but RV would not move. (Almost as if the drive shaft had fallen off.) :idunno::idunno:

I killed the engine. Darn!!!!!! What to do? What to do? :idunno::idunno: Looked under the RV. Everything looked good.

Started the engine, put ‘er in drive and away we went. Everything working ok. No lights. Babied the RV for the next few 1000 of miles. No problem. :thinking::thinking:

Next oil change at Mercedes of Chandler, I asked them to check the transmission. All diags showed everything to be ok. No issues. :thinking::thinking:

At about 37K+ miles, we were heading out on a two-month long trip. Driving from Phoenix to Flagstaff up I17 to 7000+ feet elevation, no problems.

Pulled into Flagstaff, stopped at a stop light, turned right up a slight incline. As the RV was about to shift out of second gear, another “BANG”. :frown::frown:

The RV started coasting – while I was trying to pump the accelerator to see if anything would happen. Nope! RV just coasted to the side of the road. Everything looked good. Changed shifter to Park, back to Drive. RV would not move. Darn!!! :idunno::idunno:

Killed the engine. Scratched my head!!! Started the engine, shifted in to Drive and away we go. Everything worked fine.

Slowly drove the RV to the Flagstaff Mercedes dealership and asked them to check the transmission. They could find nothing wrong.

I called my ACE Service guy in Chandler and discussed the issue. He suggested continuing on with our trip. :thinking::thinking:

At about 42K miles in the mountains near Chattanooga, I pulled over at a beautiful lookout. Killed the engine. Everything was going great.

Pulled back out on to the road, heading up a slight incline and just as the RV was shifting out of 2nd gear, another “BANG”. Same thing. About to lose my temper now!! : (

Killed the engine, started it back up, and away we went.

At about 44K+ miles, driving through Amarillo, all traffic was moved off of I40 to a single lane of traffic on the access road. Driving at about 5 miles per hour for about a half hour, finally were about to pull back onto I40.

UP a slight incline with the RV about to shift out of 2nd gear, another “BANG”. Coasted to a stop in the middle of the one lane road – with about 5 miles of cars lined up behind me.

Killed the engine. Started it back up and finished the trip.

Mercedes of Chandler had the RV for over a week trying to determine the issue. They called Mercedes in Germany to see if they knew what to check. All diags checked out. Darn!!

After much discussion, the decision was made to change out the Transmission Control module. Transmission oil looked great. Filter had no metal particles. Control module replaced.

Of course, Mercedes would not warrant the module replacement because nothing showed up on the diags. That SUCKS. :tongue::tongue::tongue: (I would figure the control module was part of the drive train. RV sure would not work without it.)

So, $1500 later, with the new transmission module, we have now driven the RV about 2000 miles and have had no more issues. :yell::yell::yell: :censored::censored:

Transmission does seem to shift a bit better than before the module was changed out.

Keeping our fingers crossed.
 

smiller

2008 View J (2007 NCV3 3500)
If the vehicle was still under warranty you should not be responsible for the repair charge. It is MB's responsibility to rectify the problem and if the dealer can't figure it out and has to throw a part at it as an educated guess it's MB's problem, not yours.
 

WizBandit

New member
Ours did this just before the 3 stooges showed on the dash, (Wheel Rotation, ABS, Skid) from false readings from one of the wheel rotation sensors. We have had 6 new sensors installed under warranty. The lights are on now and from reading in other forums it is just iron powder from the brake pads building up on the sensors. I'm going to pull the rear wheels off and clean off the sensors. I suspect these sensors also provide information for the transmission.
 

OkieNAz

Randy
Thanks WizBandit

Nothing showed up on the dash displays. Nothing showed up when Mercedes check the history report. : (

I have not had any issues with the wheel sensors. The only time the ABS/SKID light came on was when the brake pedal switch malfunctioned. Switch replaced - no more issues.
 

Hooligan2

Member
Along same line as Wizbandit-- Twice I have have the 3 idiots light up. ABS ASR ESP - 1st was Right rear wheel sensor, 2nd (7 months later) was the left rear. The first time I was able to continue trip of 5-600 miles with the lights on and no cruise or often they reset after a restart and everything worked.
The recent failure was totally different. Idiot lights on a highway speed, lost cruise control. Refueled, and on restart no idiot lights- as I pulled into traffic, it did not want to shift, went to 2500+ rpm in 1st, shifted hard to 2nd, back to first. and bang into 2nd. Shutdown in parking lot. Restart with lights on, all normal w/o cruise, drove 200 miles home without shutting down. (did not want lights to clear)-- The wheel sensors apparently tell the tranny when to shift. Dealer diagnostic states "left wheel sensor signal intermittently goes away."

2016 Siesta Sprinter 24ST
 
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carls

New member
Any body have a slite vibration on down hill with cruse on??

The motor home is a 2016 pleasure-way XLMB. 2015 sprinter..



Take cruse off it stops.
x
Carl
 

tma1

New member
I wanted to document a similar situation.

Pulling out of my driveway with a 2018 Thor Chateau 24FS (with a 2016 Sprinter 3500 diesel chassis) with less than 9K miles, I had a "bang" from the transmission. One bang only. In hindsight, this was just after a right turn. About 300 miles later after a stop light and right turn, the Transmission started trying to shift back and forth between 2 and and 3 (or maybe 1st and 2nd) in somewhat violent rapid alternation. I stopped and restarted the RV. Ran fine. About 75 miles later after a right turn, same thing. Stopped and restarted.

ODBii (ScanGauge) gave me a C0037 "left rear wheel sensor" code and the dash lights showed: Check Engine, ABS, Tire Rotation and Traction lights...and they wouldn't go off after restarting engine.

I'll skip the sad parts, but finally got it to an MB dealer and they simply pulled the code and replaced the left rear wheel speed sensor. Have only put 10 miles on it since than w/o problems. I hope the problem is now fixed.

Also, as hindsight, when this starts to happen, perhaps putting the transmission into manual shift mode might help. Stop/Start/Put in drive then left tapping the shift knob will shift down to 3, then 2nd then first. Right tap to shift up. Manually forcing the transmission from 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th as you accelerate might work around the transmission having fits if you can stop and then downshift to first gear before a right-turn...might be a short-term workaround to all the banging. I've not tried this (and hope I don't).
 

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Aggie

2010 Roadtrek SS Ideal
A few weeks ago, my 2010 2500, from stop turning left onto a very steep uphill paved street my transmission seemed to miss catching 2nd gear, did some really strange noises. Let off on accelerator, it “caught” a gear and climbed the hill as expected. Been fone in a few hundred miles since..
A few months ago my Chev minivan syarted shifting really hatd, immediately after attaching my Ultagauge. After several hard slam / bang shifts I got to a private trans shop. Said hard slam wouldnt hurt anything for a few hundred miles. Something about a hydraulic valve closing making the disconcerting sound.
Disconnected the Ultragauge, cleared codes and van shifts good thousands of miles later. Haven’t re-connected the Ultragauge to verify it was the cause.
Maybe like a flyswatter hitting the wall ? Big noise, no harm to wall or swatter. Hopt theres no flies in my transmission ?
 

tma1

New member
Same Problem I described on 7-9-2018...except left turns.

9/2/2018: Well, on a return from a trip to FL, I did a left turn and started having the same problem. Same dash lights came on as above. This time the ODBII Code was C003A. I found that this translated to “right rear wheel sensor”. I was able to nurse the unit home, but it did have the same problem after left turns a couple of times. I failed to remember my hint above about manually controlling the gears, so I don’t again know if that would be a workaround.
The big issue here is that there is a safety issue: If you make a 90 degree left or right turn (depending on which sensor went out), the Sprinter starts shifting between gears rapidly and with great noise. You have no choice but to manually put the Transmission into Neutral. At that point, until you stop the vehicle and turn off/on the engine, the transmission will not go into gear an you are basically stuck costing to a stop. If you pulled out onto a busy intersection and had this problem, you would stop traffic and may get rear-ended. This is not acceptable. The Sprinter’s computer obviously doesn’t take into consideration that changing gears multiple times per second is not good and thus the speed sensor must be bad. There should be a threshold limit that if exceeded, the computer would ignore the sensor….go ahead and turn on the dash lights, but don’t try to destroy the transmission….and don’t leave the poor drive a “sitting duck”.

I've submitted a problem case with the NHTSA If you have a Sprinter 3500 experiencing the same thing, submit an NHTSA.gov "Report a Problem" report also!!
 
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Uncle_Jeff

New member
I've been experiencing a similar issue on my 2013, 2500, 144. The street in front of the house is steep and requires a full stop and a hard LH or RH turn. It seems like the van struggles to find first or second gear and has even stalled a few times. The GF just reported that she got a sensor light (she said yellow exclamation point ! in a triangle) and the van stalled.
Is there a way to clean the wheel sensors and prevent this from happening?
 

WizBandit

New member
Just thought I would drop some info here... My wheel sensor issues were finally fixed with a replacement ABS/ESP computer. It is located on the back of the ABS pump under the hood right in front of the driver. This ESP unit has all 4 wheel sensors coming into it along with the yaw rate and lateral acceleration sensor (a 6 wire sensor said to be under the drivers seat), a gyroscope that measures a vehicle's angular velocity around its vertical axis. The SAS (Steering Angle Sensor) also goes to the ABS/ESP unit. The ABS/ESP computer is attached to the CANBUS network in the Sprinter 3500, the HUB for CANBUS is located behind the passenger side kick panel. I read rain coming in the passenger side from a window left open can get those connectors wet and cause corrosion & issues. The ABS/ESP computer is responsible for sending wheel speed information to the TCM aka Transmission Control Module/computer. Loose one rear speed sensor and get the stooges ABS/ESP disabled, loose both and get stuck in limp mode. Mine seemed to have issues with the CANBUS circuit in the ABS/ESP and not the 12 wheel sensors that were replaced. Now the wheel sensors can get flaky by rotor rust and metallic brake pad dust sticking on the sensor. I have pulled them many times and cleaned them off.

I bought the iCarSoft MBII code reader scanner and it reads the 2013 + Sprinter ABS/ESP computer. I do know the ABS/ESP module off a 2500 Sprinter won't work as I discovered there is "Coding" in the ESP for GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight) and wheels, duals, size, etc. I tried a 2500 ESP unit and cleared the CANBUS errors but had a big red BRAKE warning light and stooges were on. Dealer will not re-code the unit, at least my local won't.

I now keep a spare set of wheel sensors and a used ABS/ESP module in my toolbox. Easy to change on the road.
 
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D

Deleted member 109908

Guest
Hi,
I also have had the same problems has you all have had with the speed sensors going bad and have been to the dealer to have them replaced few times now limping in. Could you help me with clarifying how to pull the sensors and clean them, its not clear to me if the sensor can just be pulled out with taking the star nut off with the wheels still on the back, it seems hard to jack up the back and take two wheels off ? Do you need a special socket to fit over the star nut ? See photo attached, I think this the speed sensor mounted on inside of inner wheel, Can i just pull this out with the wheels on and clean it and put it back in ?
Thanks for any input or help clarifying.
D for disappointment in MB.
 

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WizBandit

New member
I use a 1/4" deep socket on a 1/4" drive ratchet, it fits perfectly. If the sensor has not rusted in you can gently pull it out. Clean the end off with a paper towel and some rubbing alcohol. I also clean the hole out with a small toothbrush, like for small kids, don't push too far in though, spin and clean the rust out. I use an air blow on my shop compressor fit into the hole the sensor fits in, a few 60PSI puffs and a cloud of brake shoe dust will blow out all around the wheel. I put a real light coat of silicon grease, aka light bulb grease, on the sensor to keep it from getting rusted in place in the future. Hope this helps, sorry for the late reply...
 

Yosarian

New member
I use a 1/4" deep socket on a 1/4" drive ratchet, it fits perfectly. If the sensor has not rusted in you can gently pull it out. Clean the end off with a paper towel and some rubbing alcohol. I also clean the hole out with a small toothbrush, like for small kids, don't push too far in though, spin and clean the rust out. I use an air blow on my shop compressor fit into the hole the sensor fits in, a few 60PSI puffs and a cloud of brake shoe dust will blow out all around the wheel. I put a real light coat of silicon grease, aka light bulb grease, on the sensor to keep it from getting rusted in place in the future. Hope this helps, sorry for the late reply...
You previously mentioned that your dealer wouldn't clear your code. Just did a quick scan with my new reader, so I can't speak to all of its capabilities just yet, but bought one that was recommended elsewhere called a Scan Gauge II and I'm pretty sure it's supposed to include that capability. I registered for their loyalty program on-line and got free shipping and a 15 or 20% discount I seem to recall, so total was about $125 or so from Auto Zone.
 

WizBandit

New member
Oh my MBII Scanner will clear codes just fine. It takes a dealer to re-program the ESP Computer from a 2500 to work on a 3500.
Oh, BTW, on a trip to NC in August I had another Right Wheel Sensor failure in GA. Stopped at a SAM's Club whilst 98 degrees in the parking lot and changed it. I keep a few dozen in the tool box now. Nice to have a cool shower after 20 minutes sweating under the RV before continuing down the road.
 

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