Hello all,

My 1998 E280 has been acting sluggish lately, the engine goes to high rpms and the car hardly moves and some times not move at all, what would be the problem? your help is highly appreciated.

 

could be a lot of things. I'd say one of the first things to check is the MAF (Mass air flow) sensor.

 

transmission has gone south
Don't drive it,have it towed to a shop and checked over before more damage is done.
ohlord

 

oh i'm sorry, i read that completely wrong lol. I thought you said when you are moving, the rpms move slowly up. Yeah, your tranny is messed up lol

 

busted tranny. better have $5000 around

 

It must have something to do with the tranny, Frankly I overacted in my initial post the car moves and changes gears but driving feels like when I get the air condition on but double the power loss.

Some times when I turn the engine off and on again the problem goes away, I'm sure there is something wrong because this car used to have so much agility and now from time to time it feels like driving a truck, my apology guys for not giving much details in my initial post and again thanks for your help.

 

seems like limp mode.any check engine light?several things from maf to brakes to trans modules can trip the limp mode so if a cel report back.if not you need to get it checked at an indie shop and report back with results before you let them do repairs,sometimes it helps to have it looked at and then diy the repair .
good luck

 

Well I figured out the 2nd gear sometimes got stuck but the problem goes away when i restart the engine. also the car was on winter mode, on summer mode it feels much lighter.