Low-cost torque converter fix
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 89
Likes: 9
From: Birmingham, Michigan
04 C32 AMG (sadly sold), 05 CLK55 Cab, 08 R350 4Matic, 15 GLA250 (sadly bought), 75 VW Westfalia
Low-cost torque converter fix
Hi all, just thought I'd document an issue I was having with my '08 R350 4Matic and the cheap solution I found. Issue was pretty severe shaking from the transmission after torque converter lockup (I have about 185K miles on the car). Was pretty sure it was simply the torque converter failing. Searched for replacement parts, and cheapest I saw for the TC was about $1,300 (not from a dealer of course). I forget why but I was looking on eBay and stumbled on 'Starparts7', who it turns out offers a service of rebuilding torque converters for all sorts of vehicles. The price for my car was $231 with a 2-day turnaround. I worked out a deal with my indy to pull it and ship it and then reinstall it for $1000 (part of which was to pay for taking up a hoist for a few days), so the total ended up being $1,231. I can't even imagine what a dealer would end up charging, my guess is they would have said I need a new transmission, but regardless the fix is cheap and perfect, car drives like new. Just fyi...
