MB AutoTransmission Problems

marcusturbo · 19-10-2013, 11:04 PM

2010 MB Titanium Auto(not Powershift) TDCi - 76k

I was out for a drive in the car today and all was going well. Driving down the freeway at 100km/h with the cruise control on. All of a sudden the crusie switches it's self off with the big red triangle being displayed. Leave it off for a bit then switch it back on. Just get it set to speed and it does the same thing again.

Just as it did this there was another beep beep and a new message, Transmission Service Reqd. The car lost all power and just start coasting & not in any gear. I was lucky that I was beside my exit, as the car slowed down the box picked a gear. I got to the traffic lights and had to stop. I managed to pull away but it was in 3rd gear with reduced power & no tacho. I limped the 20km home and parked up, after i made sure that my son had open the garage door I didn't have to stop. It was not a nice drive home.

Got in the garage with engine still running, still got warning lights, selected P with a swift movement, all ok. Went back to R and the whole car jolted badly then did the same again with D. Back to P and switched the engine off. Let it sit for a minute then switched the engine back on. Warning lights have now cleared and the box selection is smooth as normal. Did a small reverse in & out of garage as not brave enough for a longer drive as I had to go out.

Not sure what the hell went wrong or still is but it's going to the garage on Monday morning.

Has anyone had something similar happen.

WILDB · 19-10-2013, 11:29 PM

How old is your battery?

marcusturbo · 19-10-2013, 11:58 PM

Original.

Yellow_Festiva · 20-10-2013, 01:34 AM

Perhaps that's the issue then. My Focus diesel did the same thing and it was a Jan 10 model with factory battery and less km than yours.

Happened after Ford changed the radio, drove out of the service dep and the transmission went nuts. Went straight back and they said it was a sign of a battery on the way out. Put it down to them working on it all day and possible leaving doors open.

2 weeks later wouldn't start. Having said that, mine is the powershift.

Get your battery checked... I had no warning other than the transmission issue. One day it cranked first go, the next morning it was cactus.

WILDB · 20-10-2013, 02:15 AM

The no tacho issue makes me think it would be quite likely to be a battery issue.

As above, I would be getting the battery checked and go from there.

AlanD · 20-10-2013, 10:41 AM

Hi Marcus,

Lots of MA owners have had difficulties with their cars that have been battery related. Often it occurs when the battery terminal voltage level falls to some threshold point. In the worst cases it results in a complete shutdown that requires a dealership visit to get things working again - a simple battery change doesn't fix the problem in some instances.

But given that your problem occurred whilst driving leads me to wonder if the cars charging system is working properly - because if it is then you would expect the voltages would be at the required level - unless the battery has got some shorted cells which might affect the car's running voltages. The battery check will easily determine if this is the case.

Also it's possible the battery is 4 years old (or more) allowing for the transport and holding intervals from Belgium to Oz. Our Mondeo gets a new battery as soon as the 4 year mark is reached mainly for peace of mind - although thats no real insurance as it is possible that you get a bad battery from a new purchase.

Even if the battery appears to be OK, I would be swapping it for a replacement. It is a simple enough job, but you need to keep the electrical system powered as you make the change. I put up a thread about this in early 2012. If you want to read it then go here:

http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11357539

It's much cheaper than getting a service centre to do the job by a factor of more than 30% based on the feedback to the thread.

Hopefully you will get the problem resolved quickly.

Cheers

marcusturbo · 20-10-2013, 04:52 PM

Thanks for the answers. It does seem strange that the battery is causing these problems. But have read through this forum and the UK one, low battery voltage does seem to upset the car in a whole manor of different ways, suppose thats the price we pay for lots of electronics.

Car has not moved in 24hours. Just enter diagnostics through the dash and it shows battery voltage at 11.8V . Started the engine and this quickly jumps to 14.5V

I think that given it's age, it's time for a new battery. I will still be taking it to the garage tomorrow and see what codes it has logged and just for giggles, a quote to replace the battery.

Yellow_Festiva · 20-10-2013, 05:37 PM

Battery for the Focus was around the $250 mark fitted by the Ford roadside people (NRMA). If memory serves it was 600cca and had a 3yr warranty.

I think Ford wanted just under $300.

Shopping around may save you a few dollars, I think Repco had a slightly lower spec battery for the $220 mark with 2yr warranty. Of course, you had to fit it yourself.

The NRMA guy didn't want to use the radio code saver via the dash power outlet due to the 'temperamental electronics' so either try and keep power to the radio of have your code handy.

marcusturbo · 21-10-2013, 10:22 PM

Took the car into the garage this morning unbooked, obviously, and they were quite happy to take it in, good start at 0730hrs. Gave them an exact copy of my story from the top of this thread and they ran with that, saves telling the story again. I also asked them for a quote to replace my battery.

They phoned me about 1030hrs and said that yes the battery was reading a bit low and needing changing. They also said that due to the voltage problem it had caused a quite a few issues with the ABS brain and also the PDM, said they needed reprogamming and also updating. $256 to change the battery which has a 3 year warranty and also also do a full software upgrade on the whole car, total cost $420.

I'll get the car back tomorrow night and see if I can get a list of all the codes that came up and see what they say. They said that the cruise control went first due to a problem with the ABS. From there the car lost more settings and thus went into limp mode with 3 rd gear selected to get me somewhere.

It does all make sense, maybe not money wise, but with all the electronics on these cars running in tip top shape things do wrong having read a few posts on here.

My concern is that the gearbox is fine and hasn't gone badly wrong.

ope126 · 21-10-2013, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marcusturbo

Took the car into the garage this morning unbooked, obviously, and they were quite happy to take it in, good start at 0730hrs. Gave them an exact copy of my story from the top of this thread and they ran with that, saves telling the story again. I also asked them for a quote to replace my battery.

They phoned me about 1030hrs and said that yes the battery was reading a bit low and needing changing. They also said that due to the voltage problem it had caused a quite a few issues with the ABS brain and also the PDM, said they needed reprogamming and also updating. $256 to change the battery which has a 3 year warranty and also also do a full software upgrade on the whole car, total cost $420.

I'll get the car back tomorrow night and see if I can get a list of all the codes that came up and see what they say. They said that the cruise control went first due to a problem with the ABS. From there the car lost more settings and thus went into limp mode with 3 rd gear selected to get me somewhere.

It does all make sense, maybe not money wise, but with all the electronics on these cars running in tip top shape things do wrong having read a few posts on here.

My concern is that the gearbox is fine and hasn't gone badly wrong.

Glad to hear that things are looking on the up!

I have been doing a bit more research on the whole battery thing and have found that batteries can be stored up to 18mths (depending on the type / but mostly European sourced car batteries) prior to installation at time of assembly. So if your car is 2010, but was built in say June 2009 you could have had a battery that was manufactured in Jan 2008. Which could actually make the battery over 5yrs old now.

Just food for thought for all out there...

AlanD · 22-10-2013, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marcusturbo

They phoned me about 1030hrs and said that yes the battery was reading a bit low and needing changing. They also said that due to the voltage problem it had caused a quite a few issues with the ABS brain and also the PDM, said they needed reprogamming and also updating. $256 to change the battery which has a 3 year warranty and also also do a full software upgrade on the whole car, total cost $420.

Hi all,

It's this sort of thing that really gives me angst

.

Here we have a vehicle that appears to be just inside or outside the manufacturer's warranty period and a fundamental part of its equipment suite (battery) is in the process of failing (apparently). The result is the car starts to malfunction and throws a bunch of error codes and cannot be used in a normal way.

The fix is a $400 plus bill from the service centre that involves a software upgrade - perhaps. In my experience many Australian service centre personnel do not have the training or experience to really get to the cause of these kinds of problem as they seem to be limited to attaching a piece of diagnostic equipment and advise that the fix is a software reload or upgrade.

The question is - WHY?

The fundamental software code that runs the car is (or ought to be) in non volatile memory and getting things back to "as delivered" ought be no more difficult that pressing a reset button. Or a battery disconnection/reconnection process. You know - like you do on your computer, or modem.

Also, software upgrades ought to be a no cost activity. If an upgrade is necessary then they got it wrong initially and fixing the problem should be the manufacturer's responsibility not the owner's. Everyone who runs a Windows based computer (Macs too I guess) will know that fixes for the operating system are automatic if you enable this function and have a web connection at power on. My XP based computer is still getting fixes 10 years after the software appeared

If the advice that the falling battery voltage causes software faults is true than someone needs the sack in the manufacturer's engineering department. A lower than normal battery voltage might cause the car to enter "limp" mode, but fixing the battery problem should dump the fault codes into background storage ( so they can be looked at later if needed) and then clear them from the system to return the car to normal.

Why should the consumer have extra cost to get a car back to its "fit for purpose" state just because a normal (batteries are going to fail, and sometimes in the battery guarantee period) situation arises. Please don't tell me that the manufacturer isn't aware that a battery failure is not a frequent occurence.

End of rant - apologies to all.