MB had a rash of trans controller failures on the early 1998 E300s. I had a very early one - it was the MBUSA press loaner car. The trans computer failed around 1.5 years in. In limp mode the w/s switch controlled whether the car was in 1st or 2nd gear. When mine failed I was only a couple of miles from the local dealer, so I flipped it over to the W setting and limped to the dealer. Part of the trip involved driving on a freeway access road with a 50MPH speed limit. I recall not being able to go that fast because I didn't want to rev the engine continuously above 4K RPM.

So if you can manage 45MPH at ~3K RPM, I think you are in 3rd. I do recall reading there are failure modes where the transmission simply stays in the current gear rather than reverting to the 1st/2nd LHM. Unfortunately don't recall any specifics about what can trigger one failure mode vs. the other, if I ever knew.

- JimY

Update,

I started the car, it did turn a little slow but started ok. Put it in reverse and there was a two second pause before it engaged, backed up to turn it around and put it in drive, went into gear and started in first. Drove a mile or so and it appears to be shifting properly. Went back to the house, put it in park, then shifted to reverse and got immediate engagement, then to drive and immediate again. Left it running and pulled the codes, only P0700 (bullseye TMA) showed up. Cleared the code and came in here to write this. Will go for a few mile drive now and see whats what. Back soon. Thanks to all for the help.

__________________

Muleears
'07 E320 Bluetec 133K my DD
'04 Jaguar XJ8 VDP, 34K
'10 Hyundai Accent 60K Grocery Getter
'02 VW Golf soon to be on the road again
'97 E300 Diesel Son's DD
'61 VERY tolerant wife

Hampton Roads, VA USA

Gone but not forgotten:
'67 250S 95K
'86 300SDL
'87 300D Turbo, 364K! R.I.P.
'98 E300 Turbodiesel, 213K
'02 S420, 164K
'01 Prius 138K

Drove it about 7 miles. Seems all is well. I'll add to this thread if something else crops up. Thanks for the help. I was really worried there for a while

__________________

Muleears
'07 E320 Bluetec 133K my DD
'04 Jaguar XJ8 VDP, 34K
'10 Hyundai Accent 60K Grocery Getter
'02 VW Golf soon to be on the road again
'97 E300 Diesel Son's DD
'61 VERY tolerant wife

Hampton Roads, VA USA

Gone but not forgotten:
'67 250S 95K
'86 300SDL
'87 300D Turbo, 364K! R.I.P.
'98 E300 Turbodiesel, 213K
'02 S420, 164K
'01 Prius 138K

What do you think the origional cause was???

__________________
84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel