kindafast

car keeps stalling when switching gears. It used to be just first, then a few months ago it was after 2nd to 3rd switch, now it happens at 3rd and 4th and it's pretty scary when it does it during the later.

I was accelerating hard a few days ago and the cars stalls out of no where during the gear switch from 3rd to 4th. When this happens it feels like part of the car wants to keep going forward and the other stands in the same place

I think the transmision is going out.

1qikctr

I'm not sure what your saying, So, your car does not accelrate on 2,3 gear? it tries to go but its going really slow?

jturkel

maybe glycol contamination? what year is your C32? you might have the bad radiator

MASTERBENZ

HMMMMMMMM....722.6 TRANSMISSIONS ARE BULLETPROOF. CHECK ETC ACTUAL VALUES, AND CHECK THE PRESSURE FILLS.


-MAR-

hooleyboy

YOU MY FRIEND HAVE YOUR CAPLOCK BUTTON ON THUS STARTING A CAPLOCK WAR!

kindafast

Car is 02.
It stalls during that split second of shifting gears, not through out the gear.

I am taking it to the dealership soon for another reason. Should I just tell them to check the transmission or is there a specific way?

Yes, I have read the threads about the bad radiator. How much does the fix run if it already contaminated the transmission?

Thank you!

hooleyboy

MASTERBENZ YOU HAVE GREAT CREDENTAILS
Its always good to have techs chime in I wish they would do it more often

CLKCLK

+1000. He has a 02 and had never replaced the radiator before. If you don't care much, you can try to change the transmission oil only. Usually, you can get 4 1/2 quart out of the trans so it's about $60 + $15 for filter and gasket so about $75 you can be good to go for maybe another year or two before it's coming back again if your leak is not that bad. Of course don't blame me. The right way is replacing your radiator + trans flush.
Good luck

TemjinX2

mines a 02 and i replaced the radiator as preventative maintence and changed the fluid in the tranny. The fluid was pretty black, the oem radiator didn't look like it was going to leak, but i think the previous owner changed it because it was missing some hose locks when i took it out with splinter.

Anyways, my tranny is still strong and shifts perfect. i would check for glycol contamination.

kindafast

Is there a way to check whether the radiator was replaced?

Thanks for all the replies guys!

jturkel

maybe your dealer? i dont recall the price of a glycol contamination test, but i would recommend one. i dont think it would cost more than 150......potentially if you have full glycol contamination if could (i emphasize the could) require you to get a new tranny. do some searching. i recall reading something like that a while ago.....do you seem to be losing coolant slowly from the reservoir tank?

the 02s were the yrs that had that crappy f*ed up radiator. i think i had it but i had mine replaced a while ago with an updated stock unit.

alkrstev

Hey kindafast, I have replaced my radiator, torque converter, entiire transmission, tcu, sc pulley, idler pulley, heated seats (2 times), front suspension swaybar, and other things on my 02 c32 with 60k. I am still having the same problem. My car takes a long time to downshift. I have to basically floor the car for it to kick into a lower gear and accelerate. I absolutely hate it. If you stomp on the pedal half way, it feels like the supercharger is about to turn on and the car is about to accelerate, but it is not. It feels as if it is searching for the right gear. I really dont know what else to do to the car to fix it. I am going to take it in the mb dealership one more time before my warranty expires (I hate the $200 deductible I have to pay every time I visit). I am trying to fix everything I can on this car before my warranty expires (which is in about a month and a half), and go from there. I do not plan on getting another warranty since it cost me $3000 for two years the last time I did so with the above mentioned $200 deductible every time I take it in which was about 6 times in two years to fix major things. Please keep me updated on how you fix your problem kindafast as I am having the EXACT same problem as you. GOOD LUCK.

kindafast

Hey alk!
I am not sure we have the same problem, but you might know something I don't.

Check this out, though you probably already know it; to get the car to respond fast you need to downshift. To do that hold the shift knob to the left, if you feel the rpm didn't jump high enough do it again. It will respond momentarily.

As for the car responding slowly in Auto, mine does that too.

alkrstev

SRY kindafast, I see what you are saying. I know you have to push the stick to the left for the car to downshift for the fastest response, but even when I do that sometimes, the gas pedal still feels mushy and as you, the car is struggling to switch gears. However, how long is yours stalling for? Do you have royal purple oil in your transmission? Do you still have warranty? Good luck on your fixing your car. Nothing but problems with these cars.

kindafast

Nope, got it without warranty, the worst financial mistake I have made in my life.
+1
Great car, but too unreliable, they are selling for less than 10k now. When C32's came out the base price was 2k more than for an E46M. I havn't seen an E46M sell for less than 20k yet. I bet the depriciation is related to the amount of problems C32's have.
But I still love mine

alkrstev

Yeah, I love my c32 as well, and I cant afford another car right now, still gotta pay for this one. e46 m3 is a very nice car, but I drove a 6 speed convertible one, and it did not feel as fast as the c32. I was considering an 04 audi S4, but it was out of my price range at the time. I got my c32 for $24500+3000warranty+around1600 taxes=$29100 total two years ago. The e46 m3 I found at the time was around $26500 before everything. E46 m3s are getting cheaper now as well. You can get one for around 15-16k with decent miles. I would not be looking at the E46 m3's cause you can get a decent 2003 E55 for around $20-$27k.

kindafast

I guess they do sell for less than 20k then.
04 S4's are slower than C32's. the 99-01 S4 was the real deal, lots of moding potential, but I heard they were unreliable as well.

I wonder if the E55's are as unreliable as the C32.

c32AMG-DTM

GL with the tranny problems guys, doesn't sound like fun

As far as resale goes, yeah they're not good - but not quite as bad as we're making it out to be either. Can you find an abused, high-mileage '02 for under or around 10k? Sure. But a clean 2004 is hard to find, and likely will command $20k-ish, for the time being... that said, it is a far cry from the MSRP (while I'm not the original owner, I believe the window sticker for mine was $55,000+).

EDIT: kindafast, B5 S4's did indeed have tremendous modding potential (2.7 biturbo), if you were willing to sink MAJOR cash into the car ($10k+). As you mention, they're also notorious for reliability concerns.

60n5pt1

Makes me think that if this is a more than common if not typical problem with the 2002 C32s, shouldn't MBUSA have had a recall or exchange on the radiator? Or did I miss it.
I've got 92k on original radiator and so far so good and rarely experience the sudden forward lunge or jerking although it's occured a few times around 55k -60k miles.

trbo2nr

You are online!

Bob

That's good to know about the trans.