The car randomly misfires and goes into limp mode with a flashing check engine light. This has occurred on roadways and the vehicle loses all engine power. My engine code, 272920 30 183997272.920, falls into a known range of balance shaft gear problems with this motor. There was previously a settlement by the manufacturer to repair the motor but I was unaware of this settlement before purchasing this vehicle as there was no official recall. I am being told the repair requires pulling the motor out which is quite a high cost. The problem has been confirmed by an independent mechanic inspecting the camshaft timing. There were no other indicators of this failure before the check engine light came on and flashed.
Mercedes Benz C230 won't shift problems
18 of the 657 owner complaints about the Mercedes Benz C230 describe stuck in gear or won't shift, most of them for the 2007 model year.
- owner complaints
- 18
- worst model year
- 2007
- typical mileage
- 77,015
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
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What owners say
My car went into limp mode. Well after I spend 2000. And 2 years trying to figure out what was going on with my car. Come to find out. Water was getting in and it messed up my whole system. I just put every part on this car is brand new. Trying to figure this out. Now for nothing. I read somewhere. That I'm not the only one with this issue. That mercedes. Needs to make it right. What do u think
I purchased a 2007 mercedes benz c230 sport from a private seller. I soon learned that the vehicle was in limp mode. The dealer said it was the transmission conductor plate. After hours of research, I discovered several owners of a mercedes with the 772.9 transmission have been experiencing the same issue. I ended up paying $2500 for a new tcu from mercedes benz.
While driving on a city street in stop and go traffic, I noticed that the car was not shifting gears. The tachometer would rev high but the vehicle would not accelerate in accordance with the revolutions. Once traffic freed up from a stop and go 20 mile/hr the car would not shift gears and remained in limp mode. I brought the car to my mechanic who confirmed it was a transmission problem. The current quote to replace the 7 speed 722.9 transmission is $2800 parts and labor.
At 115,000 miles the vehicle started experiencing issues shifting from park to reverse or drive. Once in reverse or drive, it won't shift back into park. The car must be turned off in neutral position or wait up to 5 minutes before shifting back into park. Once engaged in reverse or drive there is no problem with the transmission's operation.
My car went into limp mode going down the street, had to have her towed to starmotors, the code came up as internal speed sensor and transmission control module, it is known to mbusa about this problem and they need to fix it and not cost out of my pocket
Transmission will not shift, goes into limp mode. Turn the car off, wait a couple minutes, restart the car and it drives fine. This first happened may 2015 with 66,000 miles. Our mechanic told us this is a very common mercedes transmission failure. We choose to replace the fluid, and it did seem to help. Now we have 79,500 miles and it goes into limp mode once a week. The fluid was supposed to last 100,000 miles. Our mechanic said the fluid we changed was clean. This is a very dangerous situation, a known mercedes defect with the transmission electronics. The next step if we decide to keep the car is to replace the transmission conductor plate. Never again will I buy a mercedes. This car has been babied by my wife, and has less than 100,000 in 9 years. Any japanese automobile would have easily provided double the life before failure. This is totally unacceptable to be facing thousands of dollars in repairs to a car with on 79,500 miles.
On several occasions I have experienced my vehicle going into limp mode due to the same transmission problem that everyone else seems to be having. It has happened when pulling away from an intersection, trying to overtake a slower vehicle, trying to get up to speed entering the interstate, but nothing particular seems to trigger it. Fortunately, I have always been able to pull the vehicle to the side of the road, shift to park, and shut the vehicle off and restart it, which would fix the problem. Until now. After the last time it happened, the vehicle will not reset. It is stuck in what appears to be second gear. I can't believe that mercedes benz has not been forced to recall the vehicles equipped with the 722.9 transmission. I have researched this on the internet and it appears to be a problem world wide. It has caused accidents resulting in injury and death and it is clearly a safety issue. The problem is caused by a defective transmission control module which is located inside the transmission, on top of the valve body. Mercedes refuses to sell the part to anyone other than mercedes repair shops. My car only has 85,000 miles on it, I bought it used 6 months ago.
The mercedes benz c230 with 69,000 miles has after coming to a stop - I would place foot on accelerator and the vehicle would barely get moving would move slowly and would not shift out of low gear. It would barely move. On other occasions the vehicle would not go and the vehicle RPM's would rev beyond normal RPM's. This could happen also at any speed. I feel that this is a dangerous condition and the following parts have been defective and mercedes is controlling the use of these parts because they know that they have an unsafe design and can prove to be hazardous to drivers.. I went to have the vehicle repaired at a local very reputable third party dealer and mercedes benz would not sell the necessary repair parts to any non mercedes dealer. It is my opinion based on reading about this particular vehicle that the transmission speed sensors have a faulty design as well as the transmission valve body and the hydraulic control unit. I would suggest that this be investigated by the highway safety board and provide for a recall of these items and notify all owners of vehicles. Mercedes benz is aware that they build a unreliable and unsafe power train for this vehicle.
There is a known manufacture defect in the m272 engine. The engine balance shaft sprocket was made of soft metal which causes the drive sprocket to wear prematurely. This wear causes the timing of the engine to become off, which then causes the car to automatically go into limp mode. In limp mode, the car suddenly cannot be driven over 20 MPH and the engine has to be shut off and restarted to exit limp mode. I approached a mercedes benz dealership and the estimate for the repair was over $7,000! This engine defect causes the car to go into limp mode and is very dangerous.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Mercedes Benz C230 won't shift
Which Mercedes Benz C230 years have stuck in gear or won't shift problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2007 (13 complaints) and 2006 (5 complaints).
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