1stmbenz

Hello everyone

I am experiencing a lag when I shift from Drive to Park or vice-versa. Not too sure where to look, the transmission shifts beautifully when driving. I had my transmission filter and oil changed a few months back. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I was told it maybe a band or something like that.

qdessa

I have a 95 e320 with 125K - it does the same thing. I previously had a 87 300D with 150K that had the delay also. Do they all do that? Or...

fritza2tt

I have this lag problem also when I first start out in the morning: I shift into drive and after a while the car starts to move. Had the transmission fluid and filter changed, made no difference. There are a couple of other quirks as well, when I slow down to 20 mph and then try to accellerate, the transmisions downshifts with a very pronounced 'clonk'. It used to do the same shifting up. Found cacuum leaks, replaced hoses and it fixd that part. Wish we had a real transmission expert on line who could answer some of these questions. ?

shdoug

My '95 E320 has a good 2-3 second delay going into drive, maybe a bit more going into reverse. The fluid looks like it just came out of the bottle and it was changed a year ago. I don't think it's a problem.

shadowgriffen

That "clunk" you hear is a sign of a bad flex-disk.

If you're going to replace it, I suggest you do both front and back.

fritza2tt

Thanks 'shadowgriffin'.

xudeck

Yeah I have that delay problem too, I wonder why and how we can fix it !! What if you had to make a quick getaway...there is no way you can do that in our cars. lol

h22freak

as far as i know, the delay is caused by the automatic clutch that is already worn out
it will be ok after they are all (12 of them, if not mistaken) changed
mine used to delay in reversing
after i changed the clutches, it's fine now
hope it helps

cheers

mgw_300e

I hate to tell you guys this, but that lag is a sign that your trans is on the way out. Once it's bad enough that it's lagging and clunking, there's not much for it except for a rebuild. Start shopping for a good price now, while it's still driveable. Don't pay more than $1500 for the work.

Good luck! Oh, BTW, the repair is totally worth it!

shadowgriffen

Damn, thats pretty blunt.

LOL But true nonetheless.

mgw_300e

well, i don't mean it in a haha bishes kind of way, there's just no other way to say it.

It's kind of like when they have to tell someone they have cancer, telling them that they have a nice smile doesn't really lighten the blow.

shadowgriffen

good point, but not everyone needs a trans rebuild.

Because he has a slight delay in shifting, or a "clunk" doesnt mean his trans is garbage.

A good trans/flush, filter and oil, flex disks and mounts should help out BIG time!

My trans has 230K and feels stronger than any other car I've driven, I have service records and there was/is never any indication that it was rebuilt.

just my .02

mgw_300e

yes, the clunk is probably the flex discs, but the lag is the trans. If changin the ATF and filter doesn't fix it, then it's because the reverse clutches are shot. I asked about 8 different mechanics and other knowledgeable MB types and they all said the same thing. The slight lag will eventually become a huge lag. Mine went from slight to 4-5 second in about 8 months, so there's time to start saving up for the repairs.

Definitely do the basic maintenance first!

dragonfli_VF

any ya'll got part numbers needed to get this done right?

since I'll be doing my head gasket and water pump swap when I do this, might as well knock everything out in one fell swoop, no?

one issue off topic, but since we are on the topic of gear selections,
why do I have to put my car in neutral just to start it? I like the security benefits but sometimes it's just annoying.

shadowgriffen

That is completely abnormal

You have a bad NSS.

Neutral safety switch.

shdoug

There's no way I'm spending $1500 on a trans rebuild for this car. I bought it because it's supposed to last forever. If I wanted to rebuild the trans I would have bought a Taurus. I should be able to get at least 300,000 miles out of the transmission if I don't do something stupid to it like neutral drop-shifting. So, what will happen to it over the years? Is it just going to stop working altogether? The lag is much shorter when it's warm, and it shifts much smoother warm, too. How much lag is normal?

mgw_300e

I drove mine for 8 months once it started to lag between P and R, R and D or P and D. It always drove great once it got into first gear. Maybe you don't need a rebuild - mine went 200k miles before it needed it, Henry's apparantly at 250k+ and he's never had it done. Just pay attention to it. Here are the symptoms I had:

1. Lag before shifting into Reverse or Drive
2. No problem once in Drive
3. Warm weather - short lag
4. Cold weather - long lag

I spent $1245 to have my trans rebuilt and now it drives like new! The mechanic said the reverse clutches were metal on metal with little metal shreds everywhere.

I guess if it already needs a rebuild and you just keep driving it, it's not like it'll need a super duper rebuild, so if you don't want to rebuild it, just keep going. Mine got pretty bad, but I also had it rebuilt in January, so it was cold, too.

Bigpete123

I think 300k on a transmission is an unreasonable expectation. No offense, but good luck finding ANY car that will consistently do that. According to my mechanic, these transmissions are rated for somewhere around 200-220k. IMO, anything better than that is lucky.

I had my transmission rebuilt recently. I had the lag when shifting into reverse which I was able to drive on for over a year... but over the course of a month, it progressed exponentially until the car simply stopped shifting into reverse all together. My car was at 192k miles. All other gears worked perfectly.

I did tons of research on this topic and talked to many experienced mechanics and transmission shops. This is the #1 indication that your transmission is on it's way out.

shdoug

Thanks for the response, Matt. I only plan to put 7,000 miles a year on this car so if I can get another 35K or so without putting a ton of money into it I will be happy. Do you know what causes those reverse clutches to wear or what can be done as far as driving habits to extend the life? Maybe I should stop drag-racing Pontiac Sunfires...

mgw_300e

what i did was just let it lag. i waited until i could feel it hit the gear before i'd try to move. i think that what causes it is buttloads of miles and i don't think that once it starts there's really anything you can do about it - other than baby it that is...

i think the way to get the most miles out of a trans is to be the only owner and take care of it properly the whole time you own it.

bjay51d

I really hate reading on this site.It always seems as though i have whatever syptoms everyone else has.no matter what the problem..What a POS

jeffreyli86

Sorry can't resist.

Anyway, I guess the W124's AT gearbox has to be rebuilt sometime in its life because it is pretty inevitable that, for cars of this age, the gearbox will fail...

To make you feel better, my gearbox died when I have 60k on the clock and a fully rebuilt gearbox has been put in... The seals has now begun to leak again and my car has a mere 90k on the clock.. Now that's more of a POS I reckon!

And it's not due to my driving either. I baby the car most of the time however, I reckon it is the frequent stop-start traffic that we get in the city (Hong Kong)... Anyone back me up on this?

Cheers,
Jeff

h22freak

i would....
same here in Indonesia Jeff...
mine was rebulit a week ago
and it has 76000 km on the clock
but that was the first rebuilt on the car

shadowgriffen

Well I do ALOT of highway driving, as I'm sure the person befor me did, so it could very well be that my 230K equals out to a texan's city driven 180K.

That and they way I drive (something like an old lady ) helps as well LOL

jeffreyli86

Yeh. I guess so then. I'll try to refrain from taking my W124 to the city as much as I do now

Oh and just a note. My odometer readings are in KM as well... The car is run in Hong Kong.. That explains the short lived gearbox I guess