Transmission Issues

Aug 10, 2013 | 08:41 PM

mitchell05

Thread Starter

Newbie

Joined: Aug 2013

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C230 Kompressor

Transmission Issues

Hey guys, I have a 2004 C230 Kompressor with 53,500miles. The issue im having is that, when I accelerate or turn a curve the car skips. I would like to know if that's the transmission? I just had a full safety inspection and that issue didn't come up

Aug 11, 2013 | 09:31 AM

marcanders

Junior Member

Joined: Dec 2010

Posts: 50

Likes: 2

From: Castle Rock, CO

2021 GLE AMG 63S, 2022 GLC, and 2013 ML350 4Matic

I doubt they looked at the transmission fluid on a "safety" check. I think yours might be due for a transmission fluid flush and new filter anyway if it has yet to be done.

Aug 11, 2013 | 10:35 AM

jkowtko

Super Member

Joined: Mar 2012

Posts: 968

Likes: 62

From: San Francisco, CA

2005 c230SS

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitchell05

What do you mean "the car skips"? Accelerating and turning a curve are two very different things. Please be more specific about the conditions and the symptoms.

(... And to echo Marcanders' comments, a fluid flush after 50k miles will help improve tranny performance and prolong its life ... but wait until after you've dealt with this problem in case there are larger tranny issues to deal with first.)

Aug 11, 2013 | 07:30 PM

marcanders

Junior Member

Joined: Dec 2010

Posts: 50

Likes: 2

From: Castle Rock, CO

2021 GLE AMG 63S, 2022 GLC, and 2013 ML350 4Matic

I was going to mention the Valeo radiator problem, but I thought that was only till 2003 and I didn't want to be that guy spreading panic. I was affected by the Valeo radiator on my 2003 C240. I had the same problem you state when accelerating how the car would skip and shake and it ended up being coolant in the transmission which will ruin your tranny and cost $4000 to fix if not corrected. If caught quick enough, it was just a tranny flush and a new radiator which was like $800 at my indy shop. The problem is transmission has a fluid line through the radiator to cool the tranny fluid and a design flow would have it leak and get coolant in the tranny. This caused my skipping and if I didn't change the radiator and flush the tranny fluid, would have ruined the tranny. Then I read on another forum how they were talking it went through cars manufactured up till Sept 2003. Does this affect your car? I know you have a 2004, but when was it made? Check to see if it has a Valeo radiator. This post shows how to identify it: http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/sh...42&postcount=3
and this one talks about how if it is a Valeo radiator... get it fixed ASAP! https://mbworld.org/forums/2254029-post59.html

If it is not a valeo radiator and is a Behr brand radiator, forget everything I said so I am not they guy spreading bad info.

Last edited by marcanders; Aug 11, 2013 at 07:32 PM.

Aug 12, 2013 | 01:41 AM

Drummajorc

Junior Member

Joined: Aug 2012

Posts: 54

Likes: 1

From: Portland, Oregon

W203 C320, W208 CLK 320, w209 CLK 500

Quote:

Originally Posted by marcanders

Then I read on another forum how they were talking it went through cars manufactured up till Sept 2003. Does this affect your car? I know you have a 2004, but when was it made? Check to see if it has a Valeo radiator.

Good to mention, and indeed true, my dad's clk was a '04 model year but built in '03 and started showing symptoms of the radiator issue which we had fixed. I can only assume the 'skip' to be the sign of coolant leaking into the transmission. If you don't let it go on for too long then you should be good with a full flush of the transmission and a new radiator without the defective design. But again, check your radiatior to see if it is the valeo model, in either case you'll probably want to have the transmission looked at to either fix the problem/figure out what is wrong.

Aug 12, 2013 | 04:40 PM

mitchell05

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Joined: Aug 2013

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C230 Kompressor

Thank you guys for all your responses. I'm going to take the car to the Mercedes Dealership here in West Palm Bch so they could check it. Hopefully it just needs a transmission fluid flush, because more cost friendly. Other that issue, the car is running great!!!