Hi everyone, i have searched the forum but i cant seem to find a duplicate of the issues as of late that i'm having with my E320. The car currently has about 200K miles on and it has been running like a champ for the past 7 years I own it. My wife is the primary driver and she has been telling me for a while an issue that does not happen often and when i drove the car i did not experience it till now. Today it was particularly bad.

So what I experienced are 2 issues and both issues seem to manifest when cold:

1. It only happened once to me once, it stuck into second gear and would not upshift. I pulled into a parking lot, put it in reverse, then back on D, problem gone.

2. What is happening with increasing frequency now, but still not all the time, is that when it upshifts, sometimes, it will "kick" quite violently, like there is no vacuum. This also happened a couple of times as the tranny shifted down, but mostly on the upshifts.
Now the scary part is that when its doing that, it almost stalls the engine so, you accelerate normally then bang it happens, the car stops accelerating, engine almost dies and then its up and goes again. That can be dangerous in the traffic so I'm very concerned at this point.

It seems that when the tranny is in operating temp, there is no issue.

Please help and thank you.

 

The standard answer is to get the codes read. But it sounds like your fluid (and filter) may need changed.

 

HI FRIENDS,
I NEED HELP TO SOLVE MY FOLLOWING PROBLEM FOR MY 1997 E-320 CAR.
RECENTLY I WAS LESINING ON MY TAPE WITH ENGINE SHUT OFF, ALL OF A SUDDEN IT STOPS. I STARTED THE ENGINE BUT FIND THE FOLLOWING PROBLEMS:-
1.I CANNOT CHANGE THE RADIO STATION.
2.MY WINDOW IS NOT WORKING.
3.WHEN PUT IN DRIVE, IT GOES WITH A JERK.
4.GEAR IS NOT SHIFTING FROM 1ST GEAR.
5.RADIO AND WINDOW WORKS FINE WHEN THE ENGINE SHUT-OFF.
I TOOK IT TO MY MECHANIC AND HE SAID IT IS VALVE BODY PROBLEM AND NEED REPLACEMENT. MY DOUBT IS, HOW VALVE BODY FAIL WHEN ENGINE IS SHUT AND HOW IT IS RELATED TO WINDOW AND RADIO OPERATION. I THINK THERE IS SOME ELECTRIC PROBLEM.
ANY BODY CAN HELP PLEASE.

KARTIK
SROJBNRJ@HOTMAIL.COM

 

Thanks for your reply. I checked the voltage and found 12.2 volt.

 

I would get the codes checked and could be a simple fix after that - I had a similar problem with my 97 E320, would not change out of first gear first thing in the morning, unless I selected neutral and then shifted back to D (while driving). Only did it for a day or 2 before I took to a mechanic and he simply reset the computer/ software and fixed it (not sure exactly what they did, but it was quick and cheap) - that was over 2 years ago, no problems since.

Cheers

 

Update:

Took the car to my local wrench who mainly repairs/maintains W210's so plenty of experience there. I asked him to do a tranny fluid change to which he agreed that it could the the culprit for all the issues I faced.

Having read that MB fluid should be used, I asked him about it and he swears by "wolf's head" synthetic fluid on all Mercs. I was a bit apprehensive, but I trust him due to his experience.

So fluid changed, new filter and gasket. It was obvious that the fluid in there was past its expiry date and it was also quite low. On the pan there was very fine particles, but with the current mileage it was expected.

So fluid changed, he warmed up the car, rowed through all gears and at op temp he checked and toped up the fluid.

Off I went then, first impression was that on 2nd gear downshift to a stop i had a hard kickdown constantly. Not as hard as it used to be on occasion, but noticeable non the less and kind of concerning as it was obvious that the only thing changed from before was the fluid.

Drove the car for 100K that day and the next day my wife took it to work. I told her about the hard downshift and asked her to keep an eye on it and let me know. Apparently it did not do it on her way back from work at all. She drove the car for the past week and yesterday I drove it as well.

I must say that now its smooth, no hard kickdowns, smooth upshifts, really really nice. All and all i think the issue now is dead and I'm quite surprised really at the results of a simple fluid change...

Like everyone says, just do it every 60K or so

 

I suspect your fluid may have been a little bit low before you had it serviced. That could have been a factor

 

Hi Friends,
I checked the DTC today and found P0560,System voltage malfunction. Pluto was suspecting the voltage before, thanks for your guess. What is the next thing I should do? Should I replace the battery, though it show 12.2 volt?

 

Hi All,
I checked all the fuse, all are fine. I tried to erase the code but it is not erasing, means the fault remains there. Now I plan to replace the main battery first. So, please guide me the procedure to change the main battery and reset the computer after change.
Thanks.

 

The battery is under the rear seat. Check all connections to it for tightness and no corrosion. Replacementnis straightforward, but you will need your radio code, reset windows and sunroof, and turn the steering wheel left right to clear the BAS/ESP light after replacement.
How many miles on the car, and how many years on the battery?

 

Just to be clear, 12.2 volts is low, especially if the car has been run shortly before the reading. A well charged 12 volt battery should show at least 12.6 volts. The alternator should put out at least 13.5 volts when the car is running. A good time to check the battery is a few hours after a significant run, say an hour, so it is well charged. After it sets a few hours the surface charge will dissipate and you will get a true reading on the voltage that will allow you to determine the batteries condition.

 

Hi All,
Thanks for the reply. I brought this car on Nov 2010 and the milage now 240000 km. I don't know when the battery was last replaced but I see the battery is original Mersedez Benz battery.

 

Hi All,
This is the recent update.
I replace the battery with MAXX-H6. The DTC P0560 was earesed and there was no DTC but the operation problem like no gear shifting and no operation of radio and window when engine running is still there. When I put back the old battery the DTC P0560 came back.
Anybody can help me?