Hello! I'm really having some trouble getting my 2002 E320 started, and in my searches I came across a lot of useful posts on these forums. I have already gotten a lot of help from the people on the benz world forum, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to get more eyes on this before I give up and get the car towed to the mechanic.

First of all I have made a crudely edited video summary for everyone's viewing pleasure, it is a 17 minute video but the last 11 minutes or so are just me messing around with STAR. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUv-KTYq7fA

So to summarize the situation here, I bought a 2002 E320 a few months ago and it ran fine. I went to start it one day a couple months ago and it is stuck in hard limp home mode and won't go out of second gear. I proceed to buy a replacement conductor plate, plug for the transmission housing, and a STAR diagnostic system to clear the fault codes. Once I have the STAR I clear the codes to get the car out of limp mode and am able to drive it to my uncle's shop with no problems. I then replace the conductor plate, plug, filter, and pan gasket. I bolted everything back together and replaced the fluids and tried to start the car. Car would not start, but I was able to get it to start periodically with a combination of various battery packs however. Not wanting to take up and more of my Uncle's time I decided to drive the car home the next time I was able to get it started with the battery packs figuring I just needed to replace the battery. I have since replaced the battery however, and have been unable to get the car started at all for over a month now, even with jump packs.

Things I have tried:
Checked all fuses in front left fuse box, fuses on k40, and fuses by the battery. All are good.

Replaced the battery.

Crossed the starter relay to see if the starter works properly, starter works fine when key is in accessory position so the problem must be electrical I'm thinking. Starter relay itself was also good, showing about 73 ohms. (all of this is in the video)

Key turns to all positions and locks/unlocks doors remotely with no issue. Also don't see any "alternating lights" on the mirror that I have read about.

The right display on the instrument cluster properly displays every gear.

I have triggered the alarm and disabled with my key, still no start.

I have tried starting with the anti tow button on and off. No start.

Tried starting with foot on break, foot off brake, in neutral, nothing works.

I actually tried disabling ESP through the instrument cluster because STAR was showing an error in the ESP. I following the instructions here How to switch off ESP, ABS & BAS systems - Mercedes-Benz Forum . I was unable to find the option to turn ESP off that was mentioned there however so I don't think I actually changed anything.

STAR Reports:

A clear scan from star has shown no errors except a D2B error under audio, a steering angle sensor error under ESP, and a tele aide error for the last month. My latest scan however only showed the audio error which I believe is due to the missing CD changer.

I did an "initial startup" under the motor electronics section and it goes through the whole coding process fine, it then comes to a page that says "drive authorization: Immobilizer active" and proceeds to abort the process. This is the only indication I have gotten from Star that anything is wrong with my car. (all this is in the video as well)

I am truly at loss for what to do next. It will probably cost a fortune to get this thing towed to the nearest benz dealership about an hour away and then another fortune for them to fix it. I'd like to avoid that at all costs if possible. If anyone has any ideas for things I could try to get this car started I would be more than happy to hear them. Thanks ahead of time.

Oh and sorry for the double post I think? I tried posting here last week but I never saw my thread show up so this is my second attempt. Hopefully I'm not breaking any rules or something .

https://www.google.com/search?q=crank+shaft+position+sensor+symptom&oq=crank+shaft+position+sensor+symptom&
It might be the CPS sensor, but I'm not sure if it could register a check engine code to be seen by Star or OBDII reader.

You turn the key to start, and what happens?

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Prost!

Do you have a different key to try? What happens if you try to start it with it in neutral? What fault codes were there before you got it out of limp mode?

Go into EIS with your SDS and look at actual values. Does it show you what key was last used and what key is in the ignition now?

This information will help figure out what is going on.

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Mercedes Benz Master Tech - Retired

You need to be a bit more clear, the engine won't crank or the engine cranks but won't run?

97 SL320 and Hirnbeiss sorry for the lack of detail. When I try to start It does a partial crank and then stops. You can hear exactly what I am talking about right here in the video https://youtu.be/JUv-KTYq7fA?t=4m11s . The car behaves the same way when in the neutral position. Earlier in the video I show crossing the starter relay terminals (sorry if I am using the improper terminology). When the terminals are crossed the car cranks endlessly when the key is in the accessory position but there is no start. You can see this here https://youtu.be/JUv-KTYq7fA?t=2m11s .

Unfortunately I did not record what fault codes were showing up prior to my first wipe (yea pretty dumb of me) I figured at the time that they would reappear if it was a real problem. Didn't know that my car wouldn't start after the transmission work though =(. I'll make another post tomorrow with EIS actual values. Thanks for the help!

97 SL320 and Hirnbeiss sorry for the lack of detail. When I try to start It does a partial crank and then stops. You can hear exactly what I am talking about right here in the video https://youtu.be/JUv-KTYq7fA?t=4m11s . The car behaves the same way when in the neutral position. Earlier in the video I show crossing the starter relay terminals (sorry if I am using the improper terminology). When the terminals are crossed the car cranks endlessly when the key is in the accessory position but there is no start. You can see this here https://youtu.be/JUv-KTYq7fA?t=2m11s .

Unfortunately I did not record what fault codes were showing up prior to my first wipe (yea pretty dumb of me) I figured at the time that they would reappear if it was a real problem. Didn't know that my car wouldn't start after the transmission work though =(. I'll make another post tomorrow with EIS actual values. Thanks for the help!

It definitely sounds like a problem in the drive authorization circuit. You have the "immobilizer activated" message. See this thread on a W220: Possible immobilizer problem? - Mercedes-Benz Forum

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Prost!

EIS does show when the key was last used and that the key is in the ignition now. Here is a quick video of me going through the actual values on the EZS, ME, ETC, and ESM in case it helps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ch5-3hXz1A&edit=vd

I read through that post Hirnbeiss, it looks like he didn't have proper key functionality like I do, but I may have a similar problem it looks like. Hopefully I don't have to replace the whole ECU, EZS, key, etc.

Unfortunately I do not have an extra key to try. What should be my next steps to narrowing down the problem? Thanks.

"This video is unavailable"

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Prost!

hahaha yea my apologies, I had the video set to private. It should be good now.

I have looked at the videos and I understand what is happening.
It looks like everything is ok with the key, eis, and esl, and I am not convinced that the problem has anything to do with the drive auth system.
The fact that this never occurred until you did the conductor plate is what concerns me. If you haven't already done so, re-inspect the transmission electrical plug very carefully with a flash light. Make sure no pins or sockets are bent or pushed back in the connector and inspect as much of the harness as you can see under there for obvious damage. Make sure you plug back in everything you have unplugged on the entire vehicle before proceeding. If all that is ok, try to turn the key in the ignition and hold it in the start position for 5-10 seconds and see if the starter will run.
I noticed in the video that when you bridged the starter relay and turned the key on the starter was cranking the engine but the tachometer needle was not moving. This suggests a possible problem with the crankshaft position sensor, its plug connection, or wiring.
In theory, you should be able to turn the ignition on, position 2, then bridge the 87 and 30 terminals of the starter relay and that engine should start. Note: looked like you bridged 86 and 30 in the video to get it to crank when the key was turned on.
Hook up the star diagnosis, go into ME2.8, actual values, look at engine speed. You should see 200-300 rpms when the starter is turning the engine over. If there is no rpm value, you need to try a crankshaft position sensor.
Note: Because the tipstart function relies on the rpm signal to know when to stop cranking the engine, a bad sensor can cause a start interruption.
Usually you can just hold the key in the start position and it will keep cranking.
Check it out and report back

One note with watching the tach during cranking. Many electronic dash cars don't register during cranking.

Ravansfan As your car got the electronic shifter Can you reset the shifter on this model ? Some you need to go through a sequence to re set the gear shift .I am not sure about your car .Any one know .

The car started! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nVPBeHRAp4

Thank you Junkyarddawg for asking me to go under and double check my work.

So I ended up going under the car and rechecking my work at least with the plug housing thing. It all looked pretty good on the outside, but when I took the plug out of the housing the contacts were all doused with transmission fluid. I ended up plugging it back in temporarily until I get yet another new housing thing and the car started right up in neutral, I was able to get it to start again in park afterwards. All in all it seems like roughly 8/10 starts start fine. I did get a couple partial cranks again though. I have no idea how fluid got on the inside of the plug, the only thing I can think of is the parts I used may not have been genuine (purchased on ebay) and did not seal properly. Even with the fluid on the contacts though, I don't know why the car would not start rather then just go back into limp mode like it was prior to all this work.

Oh well, I guess first up now is purchasing an actual genuine mercedes replacement plug housing thing. I might get a new conductor plate too since the ebay parts definitely seem to be faulty. Does anyone know of a good place to buy that won't break the bank?

Thanks again for all the help! This has taken forever getting it started again, but hopefully the cause of the problem is actually known and fixable now.