Checkin only for owner who has the tranny busted

[J Irwan]

I am hoping with starting this thread I can get some count as how many people has their transmission went south on them.
In my opinion this ridiculous to be such common occurence that happen on such car like MB regardless AMG or non-AMG in which indicate there might be some design/engineering flaw in term of durability.



I'll start my self.

model : 1997 C36
mileage at the time tranny show some sign: 83,772 (at the time I experience the flaring that just got worse)
driveable at the time: yes but the flaring got worse.
solution : new tranny at 83,904
coverage: aftermarket warranty.



PLEASE only reply if you have the issue


Regardz,

[1SIKBNZ]

model : 1999 C280
mileage at the time tranny show some sign: 65,000 (APPROX)
driveable at the time: yes, but problems began to increase
solution : new tranny at 66,000 (approx)
coverage: Mercedes payed half, car was out of warranty)

[Eiknujrac]

model : 1998 C280
mileage at the time tranny show some sign: 90,000 (approx.)
driveable at the time: yes, so far so good
solution : haven't fixed yet
coverage: unknown

1sikbenz: did you just whine to MB till they gave in and payed for half?

[jnenad16]

Originally posted by J Irwan
PLEASE only reply if you have the issue

[nokia8860]

model : 1997 C280
mileage at the time tranny show some sign: 75000 No warning car suddenly went into limp mode from a starting from a stop and would not shift out of 1st. CE light on.
driveable at the time: Drivable only on 1st gear
solution : new tranny at 75000
coverage: my bank account.

[DEF-C]

Originally posted by J Irwan
PLEASE only reply if you have the issue

[Eiknujrac]

Originally posted by J Irwan
PLEASE only reply if you have the issue

[Dr.Drew]

model : 1997 C280 Sport
mileage at the time tranny show some sign: 90000 KM
driveable at the time: right blown no drive ability
solution : New transmission upgraded 5 speed model different blueprint then old blown 5 speed
coverage: aftermarket warranty. + 800 cash

I wrote letters to mbusa, head office in germany and mbcanada, no help they basically told me to f'off

[Sulaco]

Car: 1994 C280
Appx mileage of first signs: 35k
Drive-able at time: For about 6 months major slippage in first gear (as if I were riding the clutch alot). Then, total failure.
Solution: rebuilt tranny
cost: $1,384 cash money.

Keep in mind, I bought this car in 1999 with 14k miles. It had been sitting in some big company's private garage from 95 till I bought it. Never cranked, never washed, never anything. My assumption was aging of the dry cluthces plus a good 20k miles of a fresh, 16yr-old driver who liked to show off the mean burnouts his mini-benz could do. After rebuild I drove it as mean and irresponsible as ever, but I've had NO more problems since the rebuild. Never had it flushed, either

[yusuke280]

model ::
1995 C220

mileage::
(at the time tranny show some sign) was aronud 29000 KM. Its now 31500 KM.
(Yes, its a 10 year old car with ONLY 30000 KM on it.)

driveable at the time::
its automatic, but there are some transmission problems.
(extremely minor though) If you warm up the car (Run for around 5 minutes) this won't happen. But at start, the car will "choke" a little but from first to second gear.
The other problem is that the car will not change gear from 3rd to 4th unless it goes up to 5000 rpm. (That's wierd isnt it? I'm not flooring it, it used to change ni around 3000 rpm.)

solution::
its nothing really major. my car is currently at maintainance, let's see what's the problem in a few days.

coverage::
not known yet, the maintainence cost is $1100 HKD.

[c55m8o]

It never completely went, but was rebuilt 4 times under warranty. It all started @ about 15K miles when my clutch paks were so loose I could sit stopped @ a light with my foot off the brakes, and the car would not move. What I'm left with at the present time is I get a double (sometimes tripple) shift from 1 - 2 mostly when cold, and it shifts too slow under hard throttle, and too fast/hard under soft throttle. As it's no longer under warranty I'm not touching it. I hope it goes so I can buy a new, later model tranni replacement.

[aruba]

1994 c220
the car took some time to change from 2 to 3 and did not reverse right away
solution bought a new transmision

[davis449]

Year: 1995
Model: C 280

I can't give any specifics of the symptoms or how it started because I didn't own the car when it happened. The people who owned it before me had all the records for the car and going through them I found out the entire tranny was replaced at 30K miles. I wish I could read the specifics, but the car was sold and I no longer have them.

[Sulaco]

Originally posted by aruba
1994 c220
the car took some time to change from 2 to 3 and did not reverse right away
solution bought a new transmision

Mine did that before the rebuild and has always done it after the rebuild. Unless this hesitation between 3rd and 4th was more than 1/4 second it does not bother me. It's ALWAYS taken a second to go into reverse. Always. The old 300e did it, and the new C240 does it (but not quite as much delay).

I'm struggling to figure out if all three of those transmissions are ruined/behaving badly. Or, perhaps they're behaving completely normal (even though I've been abusing this one for 4-5 years now without problem).

One of which means you wasted money. The other means my family has incredibly bad luck (or Mercedes makes a terrible car).

[mis-u-jerr]

Hey, looks like I picked the right time to check in after 1.5+yrs

No catastrophic loss, always drivable.
This is a somewhat different problem than the "usual" failure, but will report it anyway.

Clunky 1-2 shift, would hit rev limiter under full throttle, then back down, then shift.

If you want real specifics, I will have to go look it up but from memory:
32K sun gear
~40K most everything... freewheel falling apart, clutch packs replaced, he said basically everything but the center shaft.
But after it was "fixed", it developed an extra whine when it hit 4K+.
Is it fixed now? I dunno, I don't want to beat on it now for fear of it breaking...

[Alps]

model : 1997 C36
mileage at the time tranny show some sign: abt 61K tranny died without warning!
driveable at the time: no - had to be recovered back home on tow truck.
solution : new tranny
coverage: my own money !!!

[coolcarlskic43]

Originally posted by J Irwan
PLEASE only reply if you have the issue

[mis-u-jerr]

Originally posted by J Irwan
PLEASE only reply if you have the issue

[coolcarlskic43]

Originally posted by J Irwan
PLEASE only reply if you have the issue

[J Irwan]

Please reply only if you have the transmission busted.


PS: Jeff tracks his car regularly..... so 5K might explain that.



Regardz,

[knvs]

model : 1998 C55
mileage at the time tranny show some sign: 83k without any warnings.
driveable at the time: yes, but tranny fluid was leaking and I had it towed back
solution : Still in shop being looked at...
coverage: don't konw yet.....

How much does it cost to replace tranny or to rebuild it.

[mis-u-jerr]

Originally posted by knvs
How much does it cost to replace tranny or to rebuild it.

I didn't pay, but I think it is in the $5-6K range...


Think it had anything to do with the 55 engine?

[NCC43]

Looks like I just joined the club (the busted tranny club, that is)

1998 C43 AMG
Problem began at 55k miles, but it sounds a little different than the others I've seen here - sounds like a can of rocks in Park or Neutral; persists in 1st thru 3rd gears, but goes away in 4th and 5th. Its still driveable, but I can feel it in in the shifter handle.

It happened when I pulled out of a parking lot and stomped the gas - no previous warning. I don't manually shift (okay, not much anyway), and simply let the tranny shift on its own...heard too much about this problem!

It's in the airport parking deck now - I am going to try to baby it to the indy mechanic when I get back. We shall see - I already know that a reman tranny is going to run about $2700 plus labor. I have an aftermarket warranty. I want a manual tranny!

UPDATE: Okay - so now it isn't driveable...acts as if it's trying to go into Park as I come to a stop. Next It locks up, and can only be moved by putting it into neutral - of course, then it pops back out and has to be put back in D. This sucks...its at the mechanic now.

[knvs]

Originally posted by mis-u-jerr
I didn't pay, but I think it is in the $5-6K range...


Think it had anything to do with the 55 engine?

I doubt it. The C43 and the E55 uses the same tranny. I found a E55 tranny for much less. I may end up going with that.

[kameraguy]

model : 1997 C36

mileage at the time tranny show some sign: ~90,000

symptom: slipping transmission when cold, rough shifts when warm, rough idle, engine revs would have a "surging" pattern between 500 to 1000 back to 500rpm when slowly idling forward at about 1mph

problem: failed clutch pack

solution : replaced clutch pack.

coverage: aftermarket warranty (thank GOD, the best $2500 i've ever spent)


current status: @ 133,500 miles now, transmission is acting up again, but this time due to transmission leak most-likely due to poor transmission reassembly from this original repair. I need to keep an eye on transmission fluid level and top off every 4 months or so

My next car will be Japanese! hehehe, J/k...


not