I finished replacing the conductor plate in the tranny today.
Removed 1.3gal fluid,(way more than the 3-4L expected), only refilled with 4L, thats all I had on hand.

Old fluid was dirty with particles and few micro specs of metal, but nothing serious, just incredibly dirty.

After re-installing everything, I started it up, shifted into D (which was noticebly smoother already), and slid slowly out of the garage. I stopped to back up and Reverse, and no go. Then back to D, no go again. There was no engagement by the tranny into any gear, nor was there a clunk when doing so.

So, it seems to me that the valve body isnt engaging, its electrical, or an acuator. My tranny electrical connector did have a little oil in it, but it wasnt flooded, I cleaned it thoroughly before reinstalling..

Any ideas would be great right now!!

Thanks,
Chris

Even if you disconnect the electrical connector there will be 1 gear going forward. That is a mechanical connection.

Have you correctly checked the fluid level?

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Doc,
I KNOW its low on oil since I only put back about 3.5L and I removed about 5.5L, so we are 2qts low.
Could this indeed be the problem? Not enough hydraulic pressure in the system to actuate the valve body?

R and D feel like N, engine revs, absolutely no lurch or movement.


**new thoughts
There were 2 areas I thought of and checked.
1. Metal lever which slides into gear slot, its seated as when removed.
2. Sliding piston with orangy/red plastic square piece on end.
It had to be pushed in/retracted into valve body, in order for the entire assembly to go back into the tranny. (i noticed when i removed the valve body, it slid out slowly)

update:

Correct oil and tranny now functions in R and D. Just need to get the reset done.
Has anyone had any success with any independents anywhere?!
My MB dealer is 25 min by highway and at 30mph and a lot of backroads its quite a haul.

Thanks,

Chris

Why 30 MPH???

because the tranny is in limp mode, 1st gear only, at 3500rpm its about 30mph.

You posted previously:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but with the ATF level "correct", the vehicle engages R and D normally, and reaches 3,500 RPM @ 30MPH, but won't upshift?

Now, it won't even engage R or D, and the engine just revs??? This is getting confusing. Is the ATF level correct or not?

When the dipstick said overfilled but i replaced nearly as much as i removed, it engaged R and D but first only due to limp mode.
When I removed oil because dipstick said it was overfilled but it was the same I had removed in the drain process, it now doesnt engage R or D.

So it appears that the dipstick reading is incorrect or there is too much splash to read it well.

But how can it be full with only 3.5L when I removed 5.5L ?

Had computer cleared today, car is back to normal. Thanks for all the help.
Independent shop with Snap on with MB module was able to correct this.