i8hotdogs

Hello All - My 03 E500 transmision started having problems yesterday morning. I thought it would go away after restarting the motor but it didn't. On a normal acceleration, the car starts jerking back and forth before shifting to second gear. Same thing occurs from 2nd to 3rd. After 3rd, the car picks up enough speed and seems to smooth out. I also accelerated hard around 55 mph and the car starts to jerk before taking off. Another thing I noticed is that once I am cruising around 60 mph, I here and feel vibration coming from the rear, it is like when you run over the groves cut into the sides of the road so it will wake you up if you are falling asleep. I also heard a quick low pitch hum once in a while. I am taking my car into the dealer today, I just wanted to know if anyone else seen this before.

Thanks

benzboy

I drive the same ride as you. No transmission issues. You should have it looked at soon. We still enjoy the free maintainance

Yonask

I have the same problem with my car. I've taken it to the dealer twice for that issue and both times they replaced the transmission control unit and its yet to correct the problem. I plan to bring it back in once more...... I will cross my fingers!!

konigstiger

TSB:
P-B-27.55/50a FEB05 Harsh Engagement Possibly Followed by Droning/Buzzing…
Up to Production Date 9/03 - Incomplete adaptation of the torque converter, the transmission (EGS) ECU software or glycol contamination of the automatic transmission fluid.

i8hotdogs

Thanks for all of the feedback. I hope this incident did not cause any serious problems. I will definately post my results for everyone once I get the car back, who knows when that will be.

Thanks

chairman

they probably should change the transmission fluid and filter. As stated above if there is contamination of the transmission fluid according to the TSB this will eliminate that as a source of the problem.

How many miles on the car?

i8hotdogs

I have 39,500 miles on the car. I am pretty pissed about the whole thing. On my way to the dealer yesterday, the whole rear of the car was vibrating and making a loud grinding noise when i was going 58mph at 1900 rpm. I took it up to 60 mph and the grinding/vibration went away. Drop it back down to 58mph and accelerate very lightly, its back again. It also did the same thing at 40 mph. The service manager was seemed to be concerned about the grinding noise. He also told the rental office to extend my 3 day loaner policy from the get go. This didn't make me feel good at all.

RJC

Yikes, I thought this just affected the CLK's, there are quite a few reports of internal radiator cooling lines leaking which causes coolant to get into the transmission which then requires radiator, all cooling lines and transmission replacement...not good.

i8hotdogs

Hello All - I got a call from the dealer for an update. Bad news, unfortunately they were aware of a design flaw in the radiator that will leak the radiator fluid into a perfectly good transmission and kill the thing. If MB was aware of this defect, why did they not do a recall? The are currently replacing my radiator, transmission, and torque converter that will cost them over $10,000 to complete the repairs. This is complete BS on a brand new car with $39k miles. After countless trips to the dealer for repairs, this one takes the cake. If anyone else encounters this problem, sorry, it won't be pretty.

RJC

I agree a recall should be implemented asap...it would be so much better for MB's customers to just have the radiator replaced than put us through:

1) The torture knowing our trans will/may fail at any time
2) The out of service time for a week
3) Possible collateral damage occuring with a full trans replacement

MB are you listening????

OB_330CiC

same description, cars vibrates from rear at shift point and more so when on an incline(load shift to back)..it feels like the transmission is shuttering...I have an appt on Weds, by wife 03 E500 only has 40k miles!...this is my 3rd Mercedes and probably my last one until they get their quality act together

RHBENZ

I had similar problem, jerking during shifts. I took the car for service, they found traces of coolant fliud mixed with transmisison oil. They so they replaced the transmission, and flushed and replaced radiator.

DWP

Our '03 E500 has only 15K on it (and no particular transmission problems to date, apart from some uncertainty in choosing the right gear at low speeds - lordy, I miss having a manual transmision) so it's good to know what we can look forward to. It's due in soon for routine maintenance; do you know how they detected the coolant mixed with the transmission oil? Did they eyeball it or is there a more sophisticated test? I'm thinking of asking the service writer for a preventive check for coolant leaking, if that's possible. Kind of like a PSA test at an annual physical ...

rjm

Sure sorry to hear about another transmission problem with Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Particuarly a "known problem" that probably should have been addressed with a recall. My 2001 E-430 transmission went out at 32,000 miles. A transmission seal leaked fluid into the harness that powers the Transmission Control Module causing it to fail, disabling the transmission. It would go only in 1st gear. By shutting the car off, and restarting it, I was able to drive it to the dealer in "limp-home mode." It took a week to repair and the bill was $3000...luckily covered under the Extended Warranty I bought at time of purchase. I have since sold that car and bought a new Lexus LS-430. I spent enough time in the MB Garage over the past 4 years....I think I finally had enough. Best of luck with yours...I hope the repairs go well for you.

BudC

What's your opinion of the Lexus...pro and con? How about Lexus service?

rjm

I like the Lexus much better. Much nicer seats, audio system, climate control system, and driveablity is every bit as good, if not better than the Mercedes. Quality throughout seems to be much better and dependibility should be much better down the road. Haven't had any occasion to use the Lexus service yet, so can't comment on that. I sure hope the guy on this thread gets his transmission fixed OK...MB should have stepped up and did a recall on this problem but the fact that they didn't seems to be indicitive of the direction MB is going in these days. Hopefully their quality will improve in the future and they will once again produce a quality automobile.

OB_330CiC

Well I have an appt tomorrow to have the E500 checked out..I'll let you know how my experience goes...the wife has had it and wants to go car shopping this weekend..Lexus and BMW are on her list

OB_330CiC

Well, worst fear came true..the dealer advised today that the transmission has glycol contamination. They will have to replace transmission, radiator, TCU and everyhting else in the path...sux..only 40k on my wifes E500.

I hope no one else has to go thru this...I don;t understand how Mercedes would let a simple radiator problem fester until it wrecks a perfectly good transmission....it must make some business sense to someone...

Has anyone written directly to MBUSA on this issue?

BudC

The current 3-valve engines had harmonic balancers that came apart and damaged parts of the engine. This was a widely known problem that generated a very long thread on a similar forum. MBUSA stonewalled the issue even though Mercedes went through several iterations of balancers trying to fix the problem. MBUSA eventually paid for fixing the problem if people complained to their dealers. They never did admit to the problem.

BTW, it took the threat of a class action suit and getting the Feds involved before anything was done about it.

I should add that my experience with BMW is that they are more likely to have design problems than Mercedes but they seem to do what they can to resolve the issues. They replaced a whole lot of V8 short blocks when they had the alusil problem. Some issues never got resolved. My 318I had a single O2 sensor on one of the exhaust manafolds. This was a severely flawed design and a Service Manager admitted it to me and told me to disconnect the O2 sensor on my car to get it to run OK. It sure messed up my fuel mileage.

ATS

Does this TSB affect the 7 speed transmission? Also, how can you check for this? Take the rad cap off and look for white build-up?

RHBENZ

I insisted that it was the transmission jerking, not engine bogging(?), so they drained the oil. I don't know if they knew or just looking for possible metal shavings. There might just be enough trace for someone who knows what to look for since the coolant is green

edit: Like post #18, all those parts were changed at 38k miles.

BudC

M-B coolant has never been green. It's always been an amber color.

RHBENZ

I never looked, so I don't know But I know for sure that oil and coolant don't mix, unless MB coolant has the same elements as tranny oil.

X72

I bought a gallon of the MB coolant at an auto parts store (Q1 03 0002), and it is light yellow in color. However, the coolant in the car's expansion tank is blue-green (more blue than green). The MB coolant I bought is made in the USA. So my conclusion is that either the coolant made in Europe is a different color, or that MB simply adds in some additional anti-corrosion chemical to the coolant at the factory which gives it the blue-green color. Would love to hear more from others who may have more info.
William
2003 E 320

BudC

The M-B coolant you get in the US is made in the US to Mercedes specs. It has a low ph factor and is amber in color. I've been buying it for years and have a couple of gallons in my garage.

I don't know what Mercedes puts in at the factory nowadays.

Just a side note, never permit tap water in your cooling system or anywhere else in your car. Tap water has ruined more cooling systems than anything else. Always use a 50-50 mix of M-B coolant and distilled water.