alex909

Hi,
I'm new to this forum and was combing through some of the old threads and was alarmed by the tranny failure stories. I have a 1999 C43 with 41K miles on it that I just purchased used and was wondering if you guys could just outline some of the symptoms of when a transmission is going bad so that I can know what to look out for.

To start, I have a slight droning/rumbling/groaning at low speeds (under 25), is that anything? I thought it might be the tires. Otherwise, it's very quiet at speeds above 25.

I should also mention that the car will be driven very lightly, I can't speak for the previous owner though.

Thanks a bunch!

Alex

rguy

The biggest tranny failure symptoms I experienced were usually on on-ramps to highways. Sometimes it would be as if the car slipped into neutral for a bit. The car wouldn't accelerate at all, just coast to a stop. Pushing the accelerator at all would rev to redline just like neutral, but there would be no accompanying increase in speed. I could fix it sometimes by going between neutral and drive a few cycles, but it was definitely dangerous and this was an emergency maneuver to keep from getting creamed for going twenty on the highway.

baron

I had the exact same symptom with my car. What they found was that the solenoid for the tranny was defective. It was replaced (about $500 under extended warranty) and the tranny was fine since.

Baron

ProjectC55

Could be your tires.

Messerchmidt

if its your tranny and you have no more warrenty, try a bottle of lucas automatic transmission fix.

BrabusCClass

My tranny would slip a liitle under hard acceleration. Then again when it failed it just wouldnt go into D anymore and was stuck in P. Service advisor said my torque converter granaded. Good thing I have extended warranty and still have extended warranty on it. I hoping to get a rebuild on my motor and tranny before I sell it so the future owner doesnt have to worry about these things.