aquinob

Car has been pretty trouble free since I bought it about 3 years ago with a thousand miles shy of 30K. Now has about 64k on it and while pulling out of a parking lot, it initially went into drive but then once out of the parking space, it was engine revving and no moving. Waited a couple of minutes with the car idling, shut it off and restarted and after a couple more minutes, tried again and this time it shifted into gear. Each time, the indicator on the dash said it was in gear but you couldn't feel the thunk of the gears engaging. Driving it home about 5 miles, it didn't seem like it was shifting normally but it did make it. Not sure if it made it into the top gear, was doing over 2k on tach at about 60mph.

Transmission was serviced by the dealer when I bought the car at about 29K, so the plan was to do the next 40K service around 70. I'll take it out again tomorrow and see if anything is better or worse. Anybody have any thoughts, common problems? Car is 2wd.

Thanks.

kajtek1

Checking fluid level would be good start.
Any codes?

aquinob

I'll hook up the reader tomorrow, no CEL or dash lights showing. No fluid level to check AFAIK, no tranny dipstick.

aquinob

Took it for a test drive this morning. Seemed to run fine. Checked for codes with std odb2 reader, nothing stored. There is a local indy shop in Norfolk I've used in the past, will call tomorrow to see about taking it in. If nothing is found, I'll still have them do the 80k transmission service now.

kajtek1

Did you observe the temperatures?
ATF at colder temperatures shrinks and with low level, it might get to the point of being too low for transmission to work. Once warmed up- it will still work.
Standard OBD will not pick MB transmission codes, so when extra service never hurts, I would check the codes and level before going any farther.

aquinob

Temps were on the colder side, probably around 30 degrees. Ran the car all day yesterday, not a bit of trouble, drove to work this morning as well without any signs. Still planning on having it looked at and having the flush done. I do most of my own maintenance, but generally won't touch a tranny issue, esp one of these where you have to have the star system hooked up in order to do the job by the book.

kajtek1

I do my own maintenance just to avoid such situation. Your symptoms looks highly like the guys doing your last service underfill the transmission.
I am getting ready to service my 2 cars this season and procedure calls for cold fill up and then coming back after long drive and open the plug to drain excessive fluid. when transmission is hot.
Did not hear about any mechanic doing part 2.

aquinob

I spoke to the dealership that sold me the car and did the first change. He looked through the service history while I was on the phone and didn't think it was due for another drain and fill. I did ask about the cost, he quoted around 500. Indy shop quoted 350. Car has been fine since the first incident. He mentioned something about the on board electronics self correcting the transmission, not sure about that. I may swing by the indy shop today and talk to them and see what they think.

kajtek1

TALK IS CHEAP, but might not get you anywhere. If you go to the shop, have them check ATF level.