S-Class (W220) 1999-2006: S 320 CDI, S 320, S430, S 500, S 600

Why may cars transmission strain when the car reaches 90c?

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Old 08-21-2018, 10:23 AM
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Mercedes S430
Why may cars transmission strain when the car reaches 90c?

2002 S430 Mercedes Benz. I have change the water pump, flush the radiator and replaced thermostat. The fan kicks on near the 90c mark. When the car reaches the 90c mark the transmission strains in the 1st and 2nd gear. At 80c the car runs fine.
Old 08-21-2018, 01:13 PM
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99 E55, 00 S500, 01 CLK55, 01 E320, 04 E320
Hey, I might be wrong but your radiator cools transmission oil as well. And based on your work with "cooling stuff" you either did something wrong or damaged something and now transmission aint getting cooled.
Old 08-21-2018, 01:40 PM
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Originally Posted by BigArt
2002 S430 Mercedes Benz. I have change the water pump, flush the radiator and replaced thermostat. The fan kicks on near the 90c mark. When the car reaches the 90c mark the transmission strains in the 1st and 2nd gear. At 80c the car runs fine.
ok first of all Why did you flush the coolant and water pump and thermostat ? Was there an overheating problem or other issue ?

the transmission cooler is built into the radiator . You might have a bad radiator
Old 08-21-2018, 01:44 PM
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Car running hot

This problem has going on for a while. Change pump and flush radiator because i thought that was the problem. The thermostat was change about a year ago. The transmission fluid have been changed also.
Old 08-22-2018, 02:15 AM
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Flushing a bad radiator doesn’t fix it . You probably still have a bad radiator even after the flush
Old 08-22-2018, 10:02 AM
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Modern vehicles, including your W220, are designed to operate at a coolant temperature of 90 deg C.

This brings up several possible questions...
Is the coolant temp gauge correct?
Is the transmission cooler operating correctly?
Is the coolant circulating correctly?
Is there another problem with the transmission that causes it to malfunction at what should be its normal operating temperature?
Old 08-22-2018, 12:00 PM
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most cars have barely enough cooling.In the days of ordering a towing package you got more rows in the radiator,and extrenal trans cooler. The w140 with large v12 even cooled trans seperate in the cool air. I use a extra cooler with my 722.6xx,I don't want trans temp to be radiator temp.
Old 08-29-2018, 01:10 PM
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I have replaced the radiator, water pump and thermostat. Filled with water the temp gage stayed between 80 and 85c. Drained the water and added antifreeze temp gage goes back to 90c. When car reaches 85 to 90 c the trans mission starts to strain in sec and third gear. If the car remains at 80-82 trans run fine.
Old 08-31-2018, 03:32 AM
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Originally Posted by BigArt
I have replaced the radiator, water pump and thermostat. Filled with water the temp gage stayed between 80 and 85c. Drained the water and added antifreeze temp gage goes back to 90c. When car reaches 85 to 90 c the trans mission starts to strain in sec and third gear. If the car remains at 80-82 trans run fine.
get a lower temp thermostat
also called a tropical climate thermostat
Old 09-04-2018, 10:03 PM
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99 E55, 00 S500, 01 CLK55, 01 E320, 04 E320
maybe air got trapped inside?

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