c230K415

So I have ~60,000 on my 2003 C230 (1.8L supercharged motor, m271) and this week I had to park outside because I was moving stuff around in the garage. Out of all the times I drove this week I noticed some consistent problems. I do warm-up's religiously. On the first start-up of the day the car sounds very hesitant to start, while cranking up I can hear the motor struggling to start as if it had no fuel in it. Also, my transmission has been very jerky. As it shifts and "grabs on" to the next higher gear I feel the car wobbled back and forth a bit (as if you dumped the clutch on a manual transmission car) and from standstills it has a very jerky start (as if you kind of dropped the clutch while starting out from standstill). Can anybody tell me what's going on? I don't notice any leaks, and all fluids are still topped off.

W203E35

my car did stuff like that but they reflashed it. Now I only get hard jerks which we came to the conclusion it was the Torque Converter.

60,000 miles is pretty good. DO you run your car hard?

c230K415

I'm usually a calm driver, but when I make a quick pass I guess I can be considered quite spirited. =\. So what did you do with your torque converter, or did you just leave it be?

W203E35

We'll I still have warranty so i'm going to take it in Monday. But I would wait till the master come on for more info. I'm sure you know the masters of this forum

But mine was jerking all the time. I would accelerate then feel this lag and boom it would jerk and go. As if it kept slipping. But they reflashed it and it works now. Except the 2nd to 1st to stop jerk which is from Torque Converter.

Good Luck

Glyn M Ruck

Has the car thrown a CEL, Have you downloaded codes?

Have you checked the cam sensors for oil leaks?

Has the car been properly maintained? Age of plugs, fuel filter etc. etc?

TruTaing

++ on what glyn said.

+

I believe the trans fluid + diff fluid is listed as 100k service intervals (what my manual says), but I believe both of those got down graded to 60k intervals (newer manuals)...

When I had my trans fluid flushed it made a VERY big difference in how my car shifted - it shifted quicker and at lower rpms (100-200 lower)... This was felt very often when rolling (foot off the gas) down hill and the car wouldn't shift into third, but after the flush, it would very quickly shift into third without any issues. Starting to move out of park was much smoother also.

The diff fluid is an easy one to do also for some peace of mind.

holycaoAMG

funny thing, i have the EXACT same problems happening to my car, but its a 01 C320, with the m112 engine. Just had the valve cover gaskets replace (left and right), clean the MAF, new belts, new oem air filters, new mobile 1 syn oil, did a throttle reset and its always been up on maintainance, and i rarely drive it hard, always give it the proper warm up and everything. whats cause the hesitant start up?

my transmission has been extremely jerky as well. around what price is for a complete tranny flush at an indy shop i can expect?

TruTaing

If you're not throwing any codes, try the things i suggested. I have an 01c320 also.

holycaoAMG

its not throwing any codes. i know my tranny problem is due to not flushing the fluid. how much can i expect to pay to have someone do the job?

c230K415

No codes thrown so far. I've maintained the car quite well. I did the cam sensor leak fix (where you just put in that extension harness for the wiring) at about 29,000 miles. Around 32,000 miles I changed the transmission fluid. I change the air filter every 15,000 miles and oil w/filter (Mobil1 0w-40 european formula and oil filter from the factory) just about every 6-8,000 miles. I guess I should go do a tranny fluid + tranny fluid filter change and see how my luck goes with that. Anybody know of a good indy with a good price to go to for that in the Bay Area?

Thanks for the input everyone.

Glyn M Ruck

OP & holycao - When you say no codes - do you mean no CEL or no stored codes without CEL? If just no CEL get an OBDII/CAN scanner & look for stored codes.

Do as Tru says - we do a 60,000Km tranny flush in South Africa not 60K miles.

Problems relating to plug wires & coil packs could be there but you need to pull codes.

TruTaing

Wow glyn, thats MUCH more often than our suggested maint....

Glyn M Ruck

Yeah Tru - MBSA is pretty conservative - 15,000Km engine oil change with 229.5 oils & fleece filter & 60,000Km tranny changes. My tranny flush is due in 10,000Km time. My change is a smooth as new & I want it to stay that way.

holycaoAMG

Its not throwing any codes from the OBDII and theres no check engine light, just checked again last week with the scanner, again no codes, maybe its something temporary? i am still wondering if anyone knows how much i can expect to have a complete tranny flush. anyone know?
btw, thanks Glyn and Tru for the insite.

Glyn M Ruck

5 or 6 quarts is all you are likely to get out. You can't drain the torque converter.

holycaoAMG

sorry glyn, but what i meant was, how much (money) can i expect to pay to have a tranny flush at a shop or dealership?

TruTaing

IF you are just after a flush, I wouldnt imagine more than 2 hours of labor on it.

My shop WAS able to flush out the fluid (including the torque converter) and put in a new trans filter for 3 hours of labor, iirc.

Flushing out the torque converter involves unhooking one of the trans lines going into the radiator and catching it as one turns the car on/off quickly. I haven't done it myself, but thats what I've been suggested... :x

I chose to have a trained shop do my trans filter/fluid replacement only because I read about how finicky the transmission was with a variable difference of only a few 100 ml of trans fluid from E's thread.

holycaoAMG

oh i see, around 3 hours of labor.
for my stealership, thats about $100/hr= around my expected value of a lil over $300.
thanks Tru!

TruTaing

considering thats a dealership... 100/hr sounds much better than my 140/hr. Good luck!