PoonerElRay

I have an auto but on the weekend I went to the dealer to test drive a 6-speed for the hell of it. I noticed that when I downshift each time, the car brakes itself automatically. I've never had that done to me with any other car. Why is this?

SoCal240/6

Huhh?

The car doesn't put the brakes on when you downshift. The car does slow down, because you are in a lower gear. It is using "engine-braking" to slow down. Same as every car for the past 100 years. Ever see the signs on long downhills "Trucks Use Low Gear"?

Your automatic will do the same thing. Take your foot off the gas, downshift the transmission, and the car will slow down.

truelove

not an answer to your question, but another question for you. i noticed you have a capri blue coupe. i just ordered one. what do you think of that color and do you have any pics.

PoonerElRay

SoCal:

Yes, I understand engine braking, that happens to my car too. The car thrusts forward a little and you feel it slow down. Doing that too much, is that bad for the car?

When driving the 6-Speed and downshifting, the car did engine brake but I also heard the tires screech, meaning the brakes attempted to slow the car down too.

TrueLove:

Capri blue is awesome. Still getting compliments even after 4 months. In daylight the car looks dark blue/purple, at nite it looks black. Pics are below. These are old photos taken at 1 month.

http://www.csportcoupe.com/forums/sh...=&threadid=123

zpeed

I never heard of such a thing as a braking when down shift . May be you down shift it to too lower gear and let the clutch off too fast. Wheel might lock up for a moment.

SoCal240/6

Nope. Didn't happen.

If you downshift clumsily enough, you might get engine braking to "screech" the tires.

But, if your foot is not on the brake, the brakes did NOT attempt to slow the car down. Just didn't happen. Nope.

Boo2

Try slipping the clutch. Maybe u are just popping it. Being a manual driver, it's hard to adjust your habits when you get an auto. I am constantly engine braking when I drive. Wish they made a manny for my car.

PoonerElRay

Yep, I think that's what happened in my case. I remember I didn't slip the clutch, just released it fast.

avlis

Remember: brake pads are cheaper then clutches.

PoonerElRay

Yes, I know. It wasn't my car. It was the 6-Speed demo that I tried it on.

I don't normally drive standard so I didn't know how to release the clutch properly. The only other standard that I've driven are Dodge Omni and Toyota Celica.

The Celica's gear shifts are smoother I felt.

Boo2

But along the same lines, the tranny is covered under warranty, brake pads aren't.

avlis

I don't trust the service kids to replace an oil filter, nevermind a transmission.

hokusbenz

clutch PADS are not covered under warranty.

AndrewK

Yes you definately just popped the clutch out. I've done it couple of times when I'm coasting with the clutch in and forgot I'm also in gear.

merc-it

yeah when i test drove the 6 speed (i didnt know whether to get auto or 6 speed, because originally i wanted the 6 speed) the shifts werent that smooth and it was a little jolty. i drive stick on my brothers rsx type s and the shifts are way better so i ended up getting the auto. what do you guys with the 6 speed think?

speedfrk

I personally have a 6sp and it is terrible on the 1st to 2nd shift, but I drove an 03 model 6sp and it felt perfect. Luck of the draw. I actually don't really enjoy driving my car because of the shifting problem, but Mercedes swears it is normal. I'm trying to decide what to trade it in on. I just don't have time to mess with Mercedes anymore.

MarkL

And this, boys and girls, is why you should never buy a demo vehicle

AndrewK

speedfrk - you know that I've been having 6-speed troubles since I got the car, but something wierd happened today. I was trying to get a 'chirp' into second and shifted it pretty hard (did it a couple of times), and now the 1-2 seems to have lost some of its notchyness and the other shifts seem better. Can anyone explain this? Is it just the shifter loosening up?

speedfrk

Andrew, my car shifts better if I rev it higher also. In fact, the harder I drive it, the better it shifts. But I can't drive like that all the time, and when I drive it normally, it goes back to shifting bad on the 1st to 2nd shift. I think it may be getting a little better in general but I have 8000 miles on it now, so I think it is pretty much broken in. Let me know if yours stays better from what you did. Strange way to fix a transmission

AndrewK

Yeah, very strange! Even at low speeds it felt like it was better. I'll report back after driving it a few more times.

zpeed

I just have service A and complain that 3- 2 is hard to down shift when I came to the turn at the service center. Of couse they find nothing wrong. When I shift from 1-2, I have to pull a little bit to the left and down that make it easier than pull the gear straight down.

blueC230K

3th- 2nd is not the worst....2nd-1st is the WORSTmad: ...it's almost impossible until u reach 5 mph...i know that there's a safety lock for the 1st gear...but it just way way too low for the speed...

BIG sheesh....if u do rev match b4 u downshift.....it won't jerk back and u can't feel it....let go the clutch slow and i think it will be better

MarkL

Safety lock? I don't think so. When you shift to a lower gear the synchronizers have to work more to align the gears so they can mesh. The "lock" you're feeling is the resistance of the synchronizers. If you're going too fast they just can't mesh unless you double clutch to control the intermediate shaft speed.

DCXdynodog

Hi Guys,

Nice forum here, great info!

My story may help a bit... I just take delivery of my new C230K last week. I go through the orientation routine and the car seems perfect, too good to be true, so I drive off the lot (or should I say try to drive) and 1st gear is hard to find. I finally get into 1st, take off into traffic and almost get killed cause 2nd gear just won't happen, nope, no way. So I pull over and try all the gears making sure the clutch is on the floor... no help, 1st and 2nd gear are not right.

I immediately go back to the dealer (100 yards or so) and the service manager comes to me (after they look into it) and says it's a software issue and the have a patch for it but it will take all afternoon to fix. is my reaction cause I do have a degree in Automotive Technology and had my first gearbox apart when I was 17. So I quiz him a bit and let him have some rope. Later in the day, they call, tell me they found "a bad part in the trans, have to dissassemble the trans to repair, but feel it's best to replace the entire unit".

Now, what's interesting is that I had trouble shifting into 2nd gear on a test drive of a different 2003 C230K and somewhere on a forum (maybe here, can't remember) I read a story of a person whose dealer told them verbatim what I was just told minus the "software issue".

Reading about your troubles with 1st and 2nd gear, combined with my experience, leads me to conclude there are a lot of defective gearboxes out there, MB knows about it, and *IF* enough noise is made about it, they will address the issue by replacing the unit.

Make some NOISE out there!

I will let you know how it turns out, I am hoping that the issue is known and the replacement units have had the "defect" corrected, which for me would make the choice of letting the dealer install a new gearbox a better choice than getting a different car.

Of course, this is speculation on my part, but...if it... looks like a duck, walks like a duck, swims like a duck and smells like a lemon...

Hopefully we get some more data from others with similar issues, tell us your shifting stories!

dog

speedfrk

dog, definately keep us up to date on your car! BTW do you work for DC? I'm so sick of my trans problems, I'm ready to trade it on something else. Maybe the new G35 coupe. I love the c230 but I just don't have time to mess with Mercedes about trying to get this thing fixed. I think you are right about there being lots of bad or even marginal transmissions out there. And MB knows about it, too.