Well guys, I have a 2003 C230 Kompressor Sedan...about 35,000 miles now. Today this problem kept happening:
I would put the car in reverse and when i let go of the brake and continue on to gas...the car doesn't go anywhere...it continues sliding as if it were in neutral. This happened about three times today. I see a parking spot, so I put it into Reverse...and I gas to back-up...but all my car does it sit there and rev like I'm in neutral...and many people were giving me funny looks----> .

Anybody else have this problem?

If it makes a difference at all...I drive in the W mode aka C mode (for you later model owners).

Does your car exhibit the same problems in "S" mode?

How many miles have you?

35k, lol its in your qoute

i was going to say "transmission slipping" but after only 35k miles .... no way

Might want to get your tranny fluid changed. MB recomends a flush at 40K miles.

you said before you are over weighted

you might have it in "Rev" mode instead of "Reverse"

hey man it sounds like your tranny fluid is low, the way the auto tranny works is just like putting two fans in front of each other and turning one on. the air movment caused by the ON fan turns the other one too. in an auto tranny the ON fan is turned by the engine a OFF fan is turned by rotating fluid ..so no fluid no fan rotating and no ration to the wheels. it would make sense that it only happens in reverse for now cause reverse requires more gearing and hence more power to turn. anyway there are no guarantees that this is the problem, it could be slippage, ut its an easy chea way to start.

As already mentioned, check your tranny fluid...good bet that it is low - possibly leaking. Prolly a good idea to get that checked out ASAP! I had a similar problem with my Trans Am last year - when i put it in reverse and gave it gas it would rev a bit then the tranny would bite and i would go backwards. I also noticed that delay when i would pull from a dead stop...Anyways turned out the tranny fluid was low since the car had been sitting for a while previously.
Good luck

so I've got double the mileage but haven't experienced anything? Then again, I've always kept close maintenance of her...

Ah, got it all right! That's exactly how it is. I have been planning to get a tranny fluid change/flush but I'm trying to see what fluids I can use because I have heard that the MB Tranny fluids cost about $150!!! I was like .

Damn, 10 replies already. Thanks a lot for the quick feedback guys!

This may sound way but...how do I check my tranny fluid levels? I've opened up a few covers...I see Power Steering Fluid, the coolant, windshield wiper fluid...but where is the tranny fluid?

Brabus_X2....

$150 is not bad at all for a transmission fluid flush...

I believe they charge about the same price on other cars such as Honda Civics and the like. Gotta do your homework before acquiring the car.

On a side note, I sympathize with you that 35K miles does seem somewhat premature for transmission issues, but if you live in the city and have frequent short trips, I don't find it unusual.

You need to buy the dip stick from MB to check the level.
A tranny flush should run you about $300-350 at the dealership.
BTW, arent you still under warranty?

$150 just for the fluid.

Oh, I was well aware of what I was getting into when it came to maintenance costs haha. I said that I have heard the fluid ITSELF costs $150. I also do live in the city...and most of the miles are city driving (If anything, 10,000 of those miles are highway/freeway). Also, yeah I see 35,000 miles as way too early for any problems at all on any car.

NO!!!!!!

You can't check your fluid without the "magical" dipstick tool that you have to buy. You can get one here: http://www.samstagsales.com/mercedes.htm MB Part# 140 589 15 21 00

I would also check for leaks, as if your fluid is low, it is leaking from somewhere.

Ahh, the fluid costs $150.

Honestly, that doesn't surprise me, considering that the fluid probably costs $20/quart (or liter) and the car's transmission can probably consume several liters.

I'd check the transmission dipstick first, if it's missing a bit, I'd top off the fluid first to confirm if that was the problem. If it was the problem, then I'd go forward with flushing the whole system.

Back to the fact that the car only has 35,000 miles; that's truly way too early to have transmission problems. Although the car is no longer under warranty, I would not be ashamed to go back to the dealer and tell them that under the circumstances they should waive the parts cost since this problem is unusually premature. If they don't do something about it you should mention that you would have to reconsider acquiring a Mercedes as your next car and you may consider another marque.

If your service advisor is truly uncompromising, I can refer you to mine who may possibly be somewhat more accommodating.

Thanks again for all the replies and advices guys.

As for the fluid leaking. I do not notice any puddles in my garage nor driveways. (I actually do look every time i move out) Also...if it is leaking from somewhere...I would assume it is the infamous '03 defected Valeo Radiator that supposedly leaks some coolant into the transmission fluid and the transmission itself. This can possibly explain where my tranny fluid is going...but I haven't even obtained this magical dipstick tool...

Fortunately...my personal mechanic (maintains my jap. SUV) has a MB shop next to him...literally next door...I will give him a call tommorow and ask what price he can get me my transmission fluid for...along with the price of doing a flush through him.

I agree that 35K miles is too early for there to be transmission problems, but it happened to me and my car has only 21K miles. I hope i am the exception and that all you need to do is add more transmission fluid/fix possible transmission fluid leak.

Before my car was finally diagnosed with coolant in the transmission, a transmission leak was found and fixed, and a corroded valve body conductor plate was discovered and replaced. So i had multiple problems that were addressed.

When you get your transmission flush, I strongly recommend having the ATF tested for glycol, just to rule out any coolant contamination.

From bViC's post, https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...ighlight=valeo

the part numbers for the glycol test (i don't know if these part numbers are still current) are

glycol test kit part #1 A000 989 00 09
glycol test kit part #2 A000 989 00 14
ATF sample container W000 589 49 98 00

and the instructions on using them can be found at

https://mbworld.org/forums/showpost....83&postcount=3

The other option would be to do what paulv has done and send ATF sample to an independent lab for analysis...see post # 6 at

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...ighlight=valeo

Good luck and hope everything turns out ok.

How is your car when shifting in Drive? If it shift erratically and slow then yeah probably the fluid. If it drives just fine and do that only on reverse then you might have tranny/ clutch problem.

Mileage is not necessary correlate to the problems. My friends car were brand new and got tranny problem. THe car wont shift on first gear!! There was a factory recall on tranny on my car as well, however it probably because it is assembled in Thailand.

Nonetheless, try the fluid change thats the cheapest and most simple way to fix tranny problem, if the problem still persists then prepare to shell out some bucks.

lets say you have extended warranty do you guys know if changing your tranny fluid is under warranty??? i needa change my ASAP

i got like 54K on my car and it says service car in 900 miles for service A. If i bring my car for service A i'm pretty sure they will only change the oil do you think they will flush my tranny??? or i will have to tell them damn i might just bring my car somewhere.... it just sucks that i am in upstate NY right now i dk if i can trust them just because i dk what type of tranny fluid they put in there dk if that matter or not but i wanna play it safe what is a good brand????

neither service A nor B include tranny flush, its an extra service that isn't even mentioned in the recommended service intervals...cost about 400 CDN here in vancouver, and you can't DIY cause you need a special pump to get all the fluid out