pointman

OK, some of you might remember that I was complaining about a lack of power and hard acceleration. I thought it was the pump gone bad again... took it to the dealer and they couldn't replicate. Its not a constant issue, but it happens enough to annoy me bad.

Basically, if cruising real slow and easy.. the stomp on it to pass or whatever, the car just won't rocket. I am starting to think the car just isn't downshifting. If I let off, then stomp it again... I usually can get it get up and go. Off the line, just stomp on the throttle I have never had an issue.

Is this an actual problem? Anything I can do? Its been to the dealer for this several times with zero results. Any help is appreciated, as always.

kindafast

Are you using manual dofnshifting? By shifting the knob to the left? You can also hold it to the left for 1-2 seconds for the system to put you in optimal gear for 3500~4000rpm Works everytime against those lousy manual/SMG M3's

hooleyboy

You need a trans reset. I know what your talking about....mash the gas and no kick down 2500rpms....blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. reset he trans with the trans reset trick (search for transmission reset)

pointman

I never throw the shifter around. Its an automatic so I never messed with it, or cared to. I have never needed to do that to make the car downshift.

pointman

Just did that... thanks. Will see if it helps.

pointman

Did the reset... still got the lack of downshift. For sure its the tranny not kicking down, cause when I manually do it... works fine. Is there a solution for this?

D_Star

Pointman,

Did you find out what was wrong with the car? I have this problem along with some hesitation and rattling noise from the engine area under acceleration. But what you mentioned is what frustrates me the most! When the car feel like it doesn't downshift and I punch the gas, I can also hear a drone coming from underneath the car. My car does not show any warning codes. I have had my tech look at the car. He hooked it up to a reader(I don't know which one), but did not get any codes. He took some sample of the coolant and transmission fluid, and saw no mixing in the fluids. He recommended taking the car to a MB dealer and have them scan the car with a more up-to-date system, but I am still waiting for my appointment.

alkrstev

Having the same exact problem as you guys. You have to floor the gas pedal (push the kick down button in order to get a downkick). Otherwise, the car gets up to speed very slowly and its very annoying. I have ran out of options of what I can do to fix this. Simply, at cruising speeds, you push the gas half way(or more sometimes), and the tranny will NOT downshift, and the car goes very SLOW until it catches up to speed at higher rpms. I hate it, and I think that maybe a sprint booster will be the only option to be able to take care of that. What I hate the most, is when you very slowly push the gas almost all the way (without getting the downkick button and at cruising speeds) the car struggles to get up to speed. Please let me know how this turns out. I also get a slight surge when I try to accelerate from a cruising speed of 30-40 mph. Also, to the addition of problems, my gas pedal feels very soft. You can easily push it a 1/3 of the way with only putting your foot on it.

pointman

Hey guys. No one could find my issue. I paid for a transmission fluid change... and all is good again.

rockjock

Just had a tranny flush last weekend as well-and it has helped a lot (fluid was still pink when drained)-mine was the thumpy/jerky at lower speeds-
someone post the link to the tranny reset-I searched-and sweet mother of pearl-I cant go through all those.....
thanks!

loudandheard

I'm having the same trouble with my c32. I've done the reset and I've even tried manually shifting, but it seems like the car won't speed up like it use to. Some times it works well for a few minutes and then it doesn't want to accelerate quickly any more.

I thought it might have some thing to do with the tranny, but I can't figure out how to tell. I've manually down shifted and it still feels sluggish, so I thought that would rule out the tranny.

I have been hearing a weird sound when the car first starts up. Sounds like some thing is rubbing before it engages. I was thinking it might be the supercharger clutch, considering I just changed the pulley baring recently, but it only happens occassionally. Maybe it has some thing with the supercharger clutch not engaging.

Maybe we should set up a poll to see how many cars this is happening to and find out the mileage and symptoms.

I have 2002 with about 100k on the odometer.

alkrstev

Hey pointman, could give us some more detail on how much changing the tranny oil cost and also which kind oil did you use? Royal Purple perhaps? Thanks. So, the car easily downshifts now?

pointman

I believe it was about $450-. And I used whatever the dealer uses, as thats where I service it.

ScottW911

There are actually several threads that list the ECU reset in the first post.

For the 29th time, it works like this:

1- insert key in ignition and turn to 2nd position (do not start)
2- depress gas pedal to the floor and hold it there.
3- wait 5-10 seconds, then turn ignition switch off.
4- release gas pedal after tuning ignition off.
5- (optional step) wait 2 minutes before starting.
6- go light up the ESP light with fun launches.

This process just clears the adaptions from the ECU and returns the car to the fresh-from-the-factory feel. It has reduced the tranny jerk in my car for several days at a time.

alkrstev

O, ok. You went through an MB dealer. Do you think anyone else besides a MB dealer can replace it for cheaper? I mean, $450 is a lot for a tranny flush. How much was the oil itself? Sorry for all the questions, I am just trying very hard to fix this problem (along with multiple other ones) on my c32.

ptirado961

You can use a pneumatic fluid pump to change your tranny fluid as well as your engine oil fluid. Just get a couple Liters from the dealer, suck out the fluid from the Transmission Fill tube (back/left of engine when standing in front staring at engine). Measure what you removed, and replace. For a more exact service you can get a transmission dipstick measuring tool, but they are pricey.