TORQUE CONVERTER- Need your help!
03-30-2005, 03:03 PM
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2003 Orion Blue CLK 500
TORQUE CONVERTER- Need your help!
I need some info on this. For the last year I have been hearing a grinding noise from under my 2003 CLK 500. I took it to the dealership and they stated that my four wheels were bent. I had just changed all four wheels because of them being bent. (Whole nother story) However I took the car back to my wheel guy and he fixed dents that I had in the wheels. Still heard the grinding sound. In addition, the grinding sound did not happen on a consistent basis, only when I accelerated. I just recently noticed that my transmission felt like it was slipping and high rpms. I took it back to the dealership and they stated that I needed a control unit for the tranny. They fixed that and they still found a problem. They just called back and stated that I need a torgue converter and also a radiator because the fluids mixed. This sounds like the grinding problem that I have been getting for the past year. Anyone else have this problem?
03-31-2005, 05:44 PM
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Exact same problem as you, although I took the car in about 1 week after the grinding began...
Car was in the shop 2 weeks and received a new transmission, control unit, torque convertor, and radiator. The cause was a broken coolant line in the tranny, which resulted in coolant mixing with the transmission fluid. If you look around the forums, you'll find 5 or 6 other people with the same problem.
My car had 29,500 miles on it. 2003 CLK500. Still have faith in Mercedes engineering?
Car was in the shop 2 weeks and received a new transmission, control unit, torque convertor, and radiator. The cause was a broken coolant line in the tranny, which resulted in coolant mixing with the transmission fluid. If you look around the forums, you'll find 5 or 6 other people with the same problem.
My car had 29,500 miles on it. 2003 CLK500. Still have faith in Mercedes engineering?
05-09-2005, 04:15 PM
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2003 CLK 320
Originally Posted by 500AMG
Exact same problem as you, although I took the car in about 1 week after the grinding began...
Car was in the shop 2 weeks and received a new transmission, control unit, torque convertor, and radiator. The cause was a broken coolant line in the tranny, which resulted in coolant mixing with the transmission fluid. If you look around the forums, you'll find 5 or 6 other people with the same problem.
My car had 29,500 miles on it. 2003 CLK500. Still have faith in Mercedes engineering?
Car was in the shop 2 weeks and received a new transmission, control unit, torque convertor, and radiator. The cause was a broken coolant line in the tranny, which resulted in coolant mixing with the transmission fluid. If you look around the forums, you'll find 5 or 6 other people with the same problem.
My car had 29,500 miles on it. 2003 CLK500. Still have faith in Mercedes engineering?
Same here. Just got my car back after 2 weeks. They replaced the control unit, coolant expansion tank, radiator, transmission and torque converter. 
According to the service report they only "cleaned" the cooler lines I just called my service advisor to find out why they weren't replaced, since MB's story is that the deterioration in the coolant line cause the contamination.
02-27-2008, 11:34 AM
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2004 Silver CLK500
Same problem here, seems like this is pretty common with W209s
I had started noticing a grinding noise coming from transmission around 2 months back. The car at that time had 88,000 km/55,000 miles. First I didn't pay much attention and attributed it to occasional icy pavements that we start having at the end of October here in Toronto. However, the noise seemed to come only between 55-75 kmph (35-47 mph), and was more pronounced when car was travelling uphill. The transmission also seemed to be slipping in between gears.
So I took it to dealership around Christmas for Service B and asked them to take a look into this problem. It was snowing heavily during those days and they couldn't take it out and drive enough to recreate the problem.
This time, I took it to different dealership (all dealership in Toronto are run by MB Canada, and have centralized records for every car under warranty). The headlamp washer pump wasn't working and I mentioned the grinding noise problem as well. The Service Technician went out for a drive with me, and we were able to determine that there was something wrong with the transmission. Yesterday they called me and said that the transmission fluid was mixing with coolant and will need to keep my car at the shop for the rest of the week. Not sure if they are going to replace the coolant line, or the whole transmission. I will keep you guys posted.
I am glad that I bought the extended warranty just five months back and it covers all the repairs for transmission and headlamp washer (washer pump had died). Anyways, this is the first major problem for me in three years. Seems like W-209s have this sidespread transmission problem that could show up in lot of cars.
So I took it to dealership around Christmas for Service B and asked them to take a look into this problem. It was snowing heavily during those days and they couldn't take it out and drive enough to recreate the problem.
This time, I took it to different dealership (all dealership in Toronto are run by MB Canada, and have centralized records for every car under warranty). The headlamp washer pump wasn't working and I mentioned the grinding noise problem as well. The Service Technician went out for a drive with me, and we were able to determine that there was something wrong with the transmission. Yesterday they called me and said that the transmission fluid was mixing with coolant and will need to keep my car at the shop for the rest of the week. Not sure if they are going to replace the coolant line, or the whole transmission. I will keep you guys posted.
I am glad that I bought the extended warranty just five months back and it covers all the repairs for transmission and headlamp washer (washer pump had died). Anyways, this is the first major problem for me in three years. Seems like W-209s have this sidespread transmission problem that could show up in lot of cars.
03-05-2008, 06:30 PM
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2003 Benz CLK500, 2000 Wide Body Honda Accord V6
Hey guys,
I had/have the exact same problem, I actually just got my car back recently from the stealership and I still notice slight grinding/vibration sounds, which I've been disputing, 3 visits after the completion of new torque converter, new rad, flush lines, etc and they still have not corrected it. They are saying that there is tension in my exhaust, which is bs, and I also have never had exhaust problem prior, and they have adjusted the exhaust 3 times so far, and still does the same noise. It really degrades the driving experience and I was going to bring it in again this week, to get them to work on it again but I've been too busy. The mechanic has told me that he has fixed the problem on every visit, and on my last visit I even got the notes from the mechanic that they can no longer hear no abnormalities, and that the transmission shifts fine. Also my car on WOT feels like crap, the way it chooses gears, etc. Later this week when I have a chance I'll post my whole experience from when I first noticed the problem and keep you posted on the outcome. -I have a 2003 CLK 500 with 57,xxx km.
I had/have the exact same problem, I actually just got my car back recently from the stealership and I still notice slight grinding/vibration sounds, which I've been disputing, 3 visits after the completion of new torque converter, new rad, flush lines, etc and they still have not corrected it. They are saying that there is tension in my exhaust, which is bs, and I also have never had exhaust problem prior, and they have adjusted the exhaust 3 times so far, and still does the same noise. It really degrades the driving experience and I was going to bring it in again this week, to get them to work on it again but I've been too busy. The mechanic has told me that he has fixed the problem on every visit, and on my last visit I even got the notes from the mechanic that they can no longer hear no abnormalities, and that the transmission shifts fine. Also my car on WOT feels like crap, the way it chooses gears, etc. Later this week when I have a chance I'll post my whole experience from when I first noticed the problem and keep you posted on the outcome. -I have a 2003 CLK 500 with 57,xxx km.
03-05-2008, 06:51 PM
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CL500 216
This fault known as the Valeo issue affects the following cars
Any car the 203,211 and 209 up to 30-09-03 fitted with a valeo radiator could be affected.
The fault humming and droning at 1500-2000 rpm when pulling lightly.
The cure is a new torque converter and rad. the testing for the fault is done with glycol test strips and the fluid in the box.
Modified cars have a white sticker on the oil cooler
Any car the 203,211 and 209 up to 30-09-03 fitted with a valeo radiator could be affected.
The fault humming and droning at 1500-2000 rpm when pulling lightly.
The cure is a new torque converter and rad. the testing for the fault is done with glycol test strips and the fluid in the box.
Modified cars have a white sticker on the oil cooler
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03-05-2008, 11:00 PM
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2004 Silver CLK500
Great info Television. I got my car back after four days at the dealership. Here is what the invoice says regarding the problem.
They performed "Glykol Test" and checked Transmission Oil quality. Found glykol volume at 400mg/l (spec value at 100 mg/l). They replaced engine radiator , and flushed out Torque Converter and Transmission. When they performed road test, the droning noise was still there. They opened up the torque converter and found metal shavings inside the transmission. They ended up changing the Torque Converter and Transmission, and that fixed the problem.
Yensen, you have the exact same problem that I had. The difference between the old and new transmisson is like night and day. Definitely take it back to the dealership and insist on taking a drive with a technician and let him feel what the transmission is doing.
Good luck.
Zee
They performed "Glykol Test" and checked Transmission Oil quality. Found glykol volume at 400mg/l (spec value at 100 mg/l). They replaced engine radiator , and flushed out Torque Converter and Transmission. When they performed road test, the droning noise was still there. They opened up the torque converter and found metal shavings inside the transmission. They ended up changing the Torque Converter and Transmission, and that fixed the problem.
Yensen, you have the exact same problem that I had. The difference between the old and new transmisson is like night and day. Definitely take it back to the dealership and insist on taking a drive with a technician and let him feel what the transmission is doing.
Good luck.
Zee
03-06-2008, 06:34 AM
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Astra SRi - drive other mb's
Same here
[QUOTE=Television;2692283]This fault known as the Valeo issue affects the following cars
Any car the 203,211 and 209 up to 30-09-03 fitted with a valeo radiator could be affected.
-MorrisMan'91 , Our '03 CLK 270CDi had the same problem in late '05, needed new torque converter, transmission, radiator, hoses etc. i think. Thank god it happened before the warranty ran out!!
Any car the 203,211 and 209 up to 30-09-03 fitted with a valeo radiator could be affected.
-MorrisMan'91 , Our '03 CLK 270CDi had the same problem in late '05, needed new torque converter, transmission, radiator, hoses etc. i think. Thank god it happened before the warranty ran out!!
