FraKctured

Greetings All:

About a month ago, started noticing a rumbling/shuddering from the rear on my '06 C280 4M when doing tight turns at very low speeds (parking etc). My brake sensors came on around the same time, so I thought it must just be the rear brakes. I replaced the pads all around, and the noise was still there, getting a little worse.

Anyone have any experience with this? Warranty passed (should have bought the extended, but I screwed up, I thought they said 75,000, not 50,000--my mistake). I'm at 59,000. To replace the oil is about 90 minute job, plus oil, so I'm guessing around $300. But if that doesn't work, replace transfer case, which sounds like a big bill.

Any chance of making a pitch to the dealer to fix this? If it was identified as a design or equipment/material problem in January, 2009, seems like there should be some liability on their part to fix it, even if the warranty is over now.

Anyway, thought I'd post the Technical Service Bulletin in case others are looking for answers on this issue.

Thanks for any info.

FraK

henry418

Thanks for the bulletin, I also have this problem.

You should definitly talk to a service advisor about this, as it seems like it was MB's fault.

FraKctured

Apparently, the grinding causes metal shavings to come off in the transfer case, which will eventually destroy it. Very bad.

Kar don

awesome! I wish I saw this a few weeks ago when I was under warranty.

FraKctured

Had the fluid changed today--total cost was $181 of which about $30 was for the MB fluid. Noise and shuddering is gone, so it seems to be fixed as suggested in the TSB. My mechanic said the fluid in there was really filthy. Might be a good idea to have this changed regardless of whether you're having symptoms.

I didn't bother with the warranty stuff--if it needed a new transfer case, I would have though, but for $180, it didn't seem worth it.

Cheers!

kcheng86

So you just flushed out the break fluids

FraKctured

No, the transfer case fluid. Brakes are fine (I'm trying ceramic pads for the first time, so far, so good). I'm not sure why, but the fluid in the transfer case breaks down completely, and the gears in there just grind themselves into oblivion. Glad I caught it early--not sure what a new transfer case would cost, but I can't imagine it's cheap!

henry418

Dealer said I have to change the whole transfer case. As of now, I have extended warranty and they're checking to see if transfer case is covered by the extended warranty.

Tom P.

Same problem just started on my '06 C280 4Matic. Thanks very much for this info. I will contact my dealership.

FraKctured

If I was under warranty (extended or otherwise) I'd push them hard to replace the transfer case. For this to start happening so often that there was a TSB put out in January 2009 (meaning that the issue appeared well within 2 years for '06 models!) is quite telling. Clearly an issue with the design or materials (fluids) used, not driver error or neglect of service schedule.

I'm surprised this isn't an official recall yet--how often does a failure have to occur before they acknowledge it and fix it?

Tom P.

Ok... just got back from the dealership. They flushed / changed the oil or fluid (whatever is in there) in the transfer case. The vibration / shuddering at low-speed, full-lock turn is gone. The tech said to see how it behaves over the next week or so and if the vibes come back they will install a new transfer case under warranty.

FraKctured

Excellent! So far, the fluid change is working well for me, hope yours is the same. Glad you got it done under warranty.

Keep us posted.

FraK