Just so you know, if your tranny is like mine on the 550 gasser, no real way to check fluid, because the drain/fill hole is capped on inside with a round plastic dam, that must.be knocked out into the pan thru the hole to allow fluid 2 drain out, but then you have to do the full pan off procedure for proper refill, and you dont want that dam floating around in there. They are not designed for fluid checks, only a drain, remove, clean, reinstall and refill. The dam has to be reinstalled on inside of pan with the pan off prior to reinstall. It can be topped off by pumping fluid into the drain hole (level surface + fluid warm, and Pentosin ATF 134FE...not the all-purpose stuff the avg shop has), but cant really get fluid out or check level. Id just service the tranny at dealer, and not bother with a local shop "checking it".

 

Point taken, and thank you for the information.

I guess the question will be "how will we get the vehicle to the dealer?" If the local shop can't get it to a point where it shifts automatically, I'll have to flatbed it two hours away. Fun.

 

Rent a UHaul car trailer?

 

Nahhhh... AAA Plus.

They owe me.

 

Porsche Cayenne
Genesis whichever model size is right for you
BMW X5
Lexus RX
Acura MDX

You haven't disclosed the city/metro/region you live, so can't offer a suggestion on which brands would have dealers nearest you.

 

New Bern, NC. Closest larger town is Greenville, NC

The Genesis looks nice, and we have a dealer just down the road.

ML250 is in the local shop today for a look/see.

 

From current personal experience...I HIGHLY advise against any Kia/Hyundai/Genesis product. Absolutely TERRIBLE service departments across the board. Company doesn't stand behind product well, and the same techs work on Genesis as work on Hyundai, which have become very overworked and underskilled as the labor rates Hyundai dealerships are paying the techs had declined, and the number of cars needing work has skyrocketed. If you are used to a Mercedes, you won't be happy with a Hyundai/Genesis product.

 

That's disappointing to hear @Leetom I certainly appreciate your input.

It looks like a nice car, but your statements are a sad sign of the times.

 

Ive had exceptionally poor experience at 3 DIFFERENT dealership service depts. One of the issues I was having (suspension squeek) the dealer referred me to Hyundai corporate to see if I could get a case opened to help them out, but the "expert" at Corporate explained that Hyundai doesnt work on anything unless the computer throws a code, "how would we know what is wrong if the computer doesnt tell us?". I explained to him that squeeks dont throw codes...he insisted, then, "no code, nothing wrong". LONG list of other problems with new Hyundai product too numerous to go into here (including sheet metal cracks, tranny replacement, suspension issues...). Service Manager at a different one confessed they cant keep techs (low pay)...major metro area, and only had ONE tech. He was resorting to hiring kids fresh out of high school autoshop to work on cars! Id NEVER consider another one.

 

I have some news from the local shop re: the ML250. He's a 'foreign car' shop, been in the business a long time, and I've been going there for years. (Read: blah, blah, blah.)

He's older and not a great communicator, so it was all I could do to wring accurate info from him. We'll have to take it for what it's worth.

First thing he asked was, "What did you have done at the dealership?" After I told him shocks & struts, he seemed to suggest that they had run the battery down, although he later claimed, "That's not what I said." Okay.

He said that the CEL was due to 'loss of communication between the cluster and the transmission." When I asked him to explain, he said that this gathers information about the car, the way you drive, etc., and that those settings had been lost.

He reset and went for a test drive and could not conjure the problem.

Especially since the battery may have been 'compromised' or run down, I asked -- and then insisted -- that he install a new main battery. (Applause to @chassis )

After checking to ensure that he uses the tranny fluid mentioned by @Tomlee , I'm having him do the transmission flush, clean and fill. I have faith. They are a good shop.

So, hopefully, it'll turn out that I got off light.... IF that was indeed the problem.

 

Thanks for the news. You have more faith than I would in a non-specialist shop doing an MB transmission fluid change. Hoping for the best for you! Please keep us updated.

 

Yeah, I know.

But logistics can be very difficult around here, being multiple hours and overnight trips to a dealership. The local shop deals with a lot of higher-end cars here, not like the owners have many choices, but we have our share of exotic cars that this shop cares for.

Heck, if it all this goes to schnitzel, I'll be at the side of the road contemplating what the next car is while I wait for my Uber. Having checked KBB, it wouldn't be a gigantic loss.

Let's not forget, too, that it was that two-hour-away dealer that likely caused this problem in the first place. Am I better served there? I've often gotten the sense that MB dealerships fix one problem, but another one comes up shortly after that brings you back. Sort of like a methadone clinic.

 

Update:

When we last left our hapless hero, the ML250 was in the local shop waiting for 'parts' to come in for a transmission fluid change and battery replacement.

They did something to address the shifting problem, but nothing they said seemed specific. They couldn't replicate the problem on the road after doing... whatever.

Based on input from here and a chat with my usual Service Advisor at MB, I had a change of heart and rescued the ML250 from the local shop and scheduled those services at the dealership. (When I mentioned to the Advisor that I was having the transmission fluid change locally, I could hear her cringe on the phone.) The car seemed to be behaving well, so we took the risk of driving 2 hours to the dealership. We left it there and got a loaner.

When they were looking at the shifting issue, they couldn't find anything related, as the local shop had cleared the codes. I called back to the shop asking if they had a printout or some other record of the codes, and they couldn't/didn't/didn't want to come up with anything. So, there was nothing much for the dealership to address on that issue, and the car was behaving normally.

They did the transmission oil change, and replaced the main and aux battery. Good to go.

We got the car back last Friday, June 26th. We drove it back from the dealership (2 hours) without a single issue. We drove highway speeds to a local town for some mountain bike riding, no issues. Errands around town, no issues.

Wait for it...

Driving back from a trail ride today, at highway speeds, we felt a noticeable surge, the RPMs went up higher than usual, and she was hesitant to upshift to higher gears. Again, I was able to shift with paddle shifting, and the car handled the downshifting just fine. At this stage, the car is not really driveable without stress.

Stopped at the grocery store, turned off the car. On starting up, no issues on the short ride home. No CEL.

This is highly disappointing, very discouraging, and utterly aggravating considering all that we've done in the past few weeks. And here we are, pinned at home, unable to trust the vehicle for any long trips. Oh, and my SA is on vacation for the next week, of course.

So it's not the batteries. It's not the tranny fluid. What could it possibly be?

 

Intermittent conductor plate issue. It controls shifting.

 

That sounds expensive.

Can you tell me a bit more about this, and how you've come to that conclusion? (It helps me to communicate with the dealership.)

Thanks

 

Dealer should be able to test it electronically. But maybe not if it's only intermittent. Still I think it would show up. It sits on the bottom of the trans under the pan. They can and do go bad. Yes it's expensive. Ask them if they tested it.

 

Keep your cell phone handy on video record standby, and next time it does it, take a video for dealer. Show dashboard RPM oddity, your shifting issues, speed etc (slow camera pan so they can clearly see all indicators). Due to size of the video file, may not be able to email it, or upload to dealer, but possibly upload to YouTube, and provide your dealer with the link to view. Texting it usually downgrades video so much it isn't useable to recipient. No clue what could be causing it, but if you can get it to do it for a few drive cycles, it may store new codes for the dealer to retrieve (that the indi shop cleared).

 

Thanks, @Leetom, I'll do that.

We'll be taking her out today to see if we can replicate the problem, and possibly generate a CEL. I have a message in to the dealer.

It certainly is 'intermittent', but I can't count on the vehicle for any long trips until this is addressed.

Thanks

 

Yes, this.

 

Well, I hope it's this, because it wasn't that, or that. Having taken care of the other variables, I imagine this is the next place to look.

We took it out for a road test today. It didn't take long to replicate the problem. I'll post a link to video when I can get it worked up.

One characteristic: Once the problem occurs, it stays active until further notice. But, if I shut the car down and give it a couple of minutes, it goes back to normal. Such was the case today, as usual. And, I should add, the transmission issue only shows up from time-to-time. Most of the time things seem normal.

One question: If the vehicle is not acting up, is it okay and safe to drive? As in, getting it to the dealership? Or, is this something that might suddenly go kaput?

 

It will just go into limp mode.

 

If it was mine I would drive it to the dealer and address any surprises that happen, if they happen, en route. Worst case is a flatbed is needed if the car breaks down halfway to the dealer.

It’s your personal decision whether you would do such a thing given your personal abilities and resources. No one can advise you on this.

 

Well, we made it there & back last time, so I'm inclined to give it a go. Now, if the dealership would just call me back.........

 

For those interested in what this issue looks like, here's a video on YouTube.

If you're pressed for time, the issue occurs at 1:35. Everything is normal before that.

I'm not sure why I can't embed the video, but click the "Watch on YouTube" item below.

 

Lockup clutch is slipping. You are holding gear and steady rpm, but rpm jumped higher. This is classic lockup clutch failure. Question remains whether the failure is hydraulic (conductor plate) or the clutch friction plates.

"Reluctant" shifting is inconclusive. If the lockup clutch is failing, shift rpm will be higher than normal. You are able to paddle shift, and the transmission downshifts normally from the video. So the hydraulic system is not completely failing.

Try a "very brisk" acceleration with the rpms up to 5000rpm, in other words wide open throttle entering a freeway until the max speed you care to achieve. What happens then?

This transmission needs work.

Great video btw.