Won't shift out of 2nd gear.

Everything's been fine, no prior issues. Yesterday it was extremely wet and today everything is froze and covered in ice. Drove home fine yesterday.

This morning I start it up and the battery light is on.

I go to drive it and it won't shift. At first I thought it was stuck in 1st gear, but upon further observation I think it is actually 2nd gear. Turbo seems to be working.

Manual shift also does not work.

I shut the sprinter off and turned it back on. No battery light. Now if I rev the engine, battery light comes back on. It will also shift at low speeds manually and automatically. As soon as the rpms start getting 2k or so the battery light comes on and again it won't shift.

I currently have a heater under the truck trying to defrost maybe a possible iced up sensor. idk.

Any ideas on this guys?

Sounds like the TCM (under the drivers seat) - Transmission Control Module - is forcing you into its Limp Home Mode. It could be related to lack of voltage (is your alternator charging? Is your battery going bad?) - Sprinters are very sensitive to under voltage conditions.

Battery is new.

The alternator has been replaced 4 times in the last 2 years. I wouldn't be surprised if its going again, although in the past it was a bearing failure that you could hear weeks ahead of time. It also never had this symptom even when it was being drove with complete alternator failure and battery power only. But this could be the time.

Been researching and its not looking good. I didn't see how to test anything or fix the problem.

Looks like I have to get it towed to the dealership.

Have you CHECKED the voltage w/ a good digital VM at the battery in neutral/park with the engine at, say 1800rpm?

A good alternator should be at 13.8-14.3 volts I would think.

Why would you need 4 alternators in 2 years? That in itself is a red flag.

Ditto what bobinyelm and jmoller99 said. Just because the battery is new does not mean it is charged. All your symptoms are similar to when I drove my Sprinter to a dead stop (in the driveway fortunately) on a dead battery and dead alternator. Nothing operates the way it is supposed to when the voltage drops too low.

bobinyelm said:

Why would you need 4 alternators in 2 years? That in itself is a red flag.

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Update..


You where kinda right. The problem was a wire disconnecting off the alternator. No idea what wire, just know it was a loose connection. (I'm assuming it was my fault sense I installed the alternator last.)

Trick said:

Update..


You where kinda right. The problem was a wire disconnecting off the alternator. No idea what wire, just know it was a loose connection. (I'm assuming it was my fault sense I installed the alternator last.)

Click to expand...

There is a thread now more than a couple weeks old with links to New Bosch alternators from amazon, this apparently have a good reputation.

Thanks for the alternator tip.

The alternators I have had fail on me where purchased at and replaced by NAPA Autoparts. Each time it failed it was the bearing. Hopefully it was just a bad batch and I won't have to mess with it a few years.

Trick said:

Thanks for the alternator tip.

The alternators I have had fail on me where purchased at and replaced by NAPA Autoparts. Each time it failed it was the bearing. Hopefully it was just a bad batch and I won't have to mess with it a few years.

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Hopefully Napa stood by their product and replaced them for free under warranty?