C-Class (W203) 2001-2007, C160, C180, C200, C220, C230, C240, C270, C280, C300, C320, C230K, C350, Coupe

Transmission slips into neutral

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Old Aug 27, 2017 | 11:57 PM
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2005 C240 4Matic
Angry Transmission slips into neutral

My 2005 C240 4Matic slips into neutral after I coast down a hill (about 3/4 mile long). The other problem is that sometimes when I change to drive, it takes a while to actually go into gear so that the car can move.

Recently the shifter was changed after the car would not start (it was stuck in gear)

Any suggestions? The car has 222000 miles.
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Old Feb 20, 2018 | 01:04 PM
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2005 C240 4Matic
I found the solution to my problem. Hopefully my experience will help others.

The car was low on automatic transmission fluid. After adding transmission fluid the problem has gone away.
The car has over 230,000 miles so going forward I will check the fluid level at regular intervals. The pan looks like there might be a small leak so if the fluid levels drop in a short time I will repair the seal.
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Old Feb 21, 2018 | 02:33 AM
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Old thread, but good information. I can definitely attest to that weird transmssion shifting into neutral issue being caused by low fluid. I thought my transmission was about to go but a fluid change fixed the problem. The mechanic also found that the pilot bushing (I already had it replaced once) was leaking again. There's a 3rd version of this part.

Last edited by slammer111; Feb 23, 2018 at 05:19 AM.
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Old Feb 21, 2018 | 02:31 PM
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Just saw this, and immediately thought trans fluid. The downward angle was exacerbating the problem.
The bad news is that you may have fluid leaking into the transmission wire loom. OR the radiator.
Did you replace the orings on the trans connector? You need what Mercedes calls the 'Pilot bushing"
which is a totally erroneous name, its the orings with a plastic piece since they
don't sell the orings separately. Part number 2035400253.
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