i was changing my illumination shifter on my 2001 xkr, just bought it owned it for a week now, but I did not unplug the battery first.

got the shifter switched now getting asc & trac not available codes and engine stuck in failsafe mode. Switched old shifter back and got same error messages. Car no starty. This is my daily driver as I am young and only own this car and a truly crappy dented neon, pink no less, so I am trying to get it back and running as quickly as possible.

I called a good European mechanic shop here in atlanta and they said the cars computer may be in "anti-theft mode" and the codes can be cleared for a fee.

I am curious if I disconnect the battery and press the horn to drain any power in the system will that "hard reset" the computer.
I bought and obd II sensor and tried to clear codes that way; but they would not clear.

I know there is nothing wrong with the car as it was driving flawlessly until I changed the illumination shifter. I had no error codes at all until I changed the illumination shifter (why, why, why - if it ain't broke bad don't fix it)

thanks for your help in advance in clearing the engine codes.

ss

 

I`m not sure what you mean by the illumination shifter. Maybe you interrupted a connection some where. These cars do not like many changes and will let you know very quickly if you did something it didn`t like! The best way to reboot the computer is to disconnect the pos cable for a few seconds and then touch the pos cable to the neg battery post for a quick second. Then reconnect the pos cable to the pos post. You will have to reset any memory functions, such as the radio and windows. I am in Atlanta also and can recommend a good mechanic if you need one.

p.s. You must remember that you have a high end performance car and it is not cheap to maintain.

 

'preciate your response.

the illumination shifter is the box that lights up on top of the transmission that say p, r, n etceteras.

i would love to have the contact info for your mechanic if you could post it in such a way the moderators don't think it is an advert I would love to have it.

i will test out your computer reboot technique Wednesday

i know it is a performance car and not cheap to maintain; i may have to sell it but I am going to try my darndest not to get to that point

 

Make sure you didn`t cause an interrupt to the switches on the indicator console. The cruise switch and the sport mode switch are there too. Your car has a Mercedes 5 speed transmission. With the car in normal mode, it will start out in 2nd gear and save some mpg. With the sport mode engaged, it will start out in 1st gear. It will always move to first gear in normal mode if you press the go pedal to the floor.

I don`t think recommending a good shop, member-to-member is considered advertising.
Buckhead Road Britannia
3190 Roswell Rd., N.W
Atlanta, GA 30305-1850
404-266-1699
404-237-1683

Let us know how you make out.

 

the frickin' mechanic at the place where I sent the car to get detailed
jumped the card from the solenoid (those were his exact words; lord knows what they mean)
and all the error codes cleared and the car started right up.

what the hell.

I will call your mechanics and price the illumination shifter replacement and have them just give the car a good once over.

On an unrelated note I find myself just looking at the car sometimes... this car has a nice shape. Man, I hope I can afford to keep her.

 

hey Lew,

one quick question, my car says xkr on the back; however, when i did a carfax title search the car came back as an xk8.

the dealer says pop the hood and see if the engine is supercharged, so I pop the hood and I realize I have no idea how to tell
if the engine is supercharged.

Is there any part on your xkr that say xkr so I can tell if mine is an xkr or an xk8?

 

No xrk(r) expert but when you mash the gas you should hear the supercharger whine. The motor should have a big bulge on the top with a pulley attatched to it.

 

The word SUPERCHARGED in on both sides of the engine. There should be two vents on the hood also. Front badge will have supercharged on it.

Sounds like you have a weak battery. This causes all kinds of crazy error codes.

SUPERCHARGED



VENTS ON HOOD

 

sadly, i have an xk8 not an xkr ... but i still love it.
the prior owner must have added the little xkr tags.

i am getting the illumination shifter changed by a pro

cost: $400 for the part
cost: $182 for the labor

total: $582

 

BTW, how about posting a picture of your car.