don’t touch the valve body . Do a trans service with new atf134 fluid , conductor plate and 13 pin connector . Make sure the Tcu isn’t filled with fluid and clean it if it is . 90% chance this will solve your problrm

 

Thanks for the advice

 

Hey, i wanted to give everyone an update. I had the shop change the conductor plate along with the plug, the oil and the filter. The transmission stopped slipping after the maintenance was done. I wish i could have pinpointed the problem because im not sure if i fixed the problem or not. In the back of my head ill be wondering if the tranny will give out while im driving. Im going to put some more miles on it and change the fluid and filter one more time in a week or two. Thanks for the help guys.

 

Glad it worked what’s the mileage on your car ?

tranny usually lasts 180-220k miles on these cars

it’s possible just new fluid would have fixed it but conductor plate and 13 pin connector is routine maintenance on these cars so it would be needed eventually

 

My cars has 106,318 miles on it. I plan on ordering one of those tcu for it soon. When I full throttle and let off the gas the car jerks. What do you think is causing that?

 

Have you checked/cleaned the TCU as has been repeatedly suggested?

 

mine do that too , don’t drive like that

 

Vacuum leak for the turbo bypass. The hose goes along the... top left when looking at the engine?

You can fiddle it back in there somehow, but a good idea is to replace all the vacuum system lines. That surge is residual turbo pressure not getting let off.

 

No, i haven't checked the tcu. I plan to just change it out with one of the mkultra ones.

Ive recently changed out all the vacuum lines with thick walled silicone lines. I had to remove the intake manifold to get to them and that was a pain to do. I have also replaced one of the blow off valves with a turbosmart one on the passenger side. Drivers side has a A/C line in the way so I couldnt get to the bolts. I plan to have my mechanic drain the freon and remove that line so i can put the other bov in soon. I doubt its the vacuum lines but I can adjust the bov. Do I need the spring to be stiffer or softer? Its been so long since I've messed around with turbos I forget.

 

My guess, and it’s only a guess, is that your TCU is full of fluid, has been for some time, and you’ll be getting that TCU sooner than later. But drive carefully with the new fluid for a few hundred miles before you start running the full brunt of twin turbo V12 power through it, particularly since you have no idea what state your TCU is in. That’s sort of asking for a new transmission.

I mean, the transmission (and plug and harness) have all been sitting behind TT V12 heat and pressure for 20 years in whatever climate. If your conductor plate was done chances are so is the TCU. If new fluid and filter give the trans more time you won, but don’t tempt it with WOT power on a guesswork electrical component.

maw

 

I just ordered a stage 1 tcu from mkultra. I was reading on their website about the black series tune, and that sounds exactly like what I want. It's only $75 more, but im not sure if it'll work with the v12tt. I'll let you know if my tcu has oil in it or not when I swap it out next week.

 

Thank you for keeping us updated with the progress , so many people never bother to update the forum

 

My pleasure. Actually I forgot to respond for a few days because I was busy. I'm glad I did. Everyone here has been super helpful. I can't believe a tuned tcu is only $250. I believe the cheapest tcu tune is sold be kleeman and they want $600, weistec is $700, eurocharged wants $1500, and renntech wants $3000 for it. I really wish renntech would come down with thier prices for the older cars. I want to try the hand held tuner but idk if I want to spend $2000 for it. Is there a company like mkultra but for ecu's? I bought 2 ecu tune files from 2 of those websites that sell tunes for every car. I didnt feel much of a difference until I installed the manual boost controller. Its much faster than the stock tune. I need to install my electronic boost controller so I can see how much boost im pushing. Right now I have no idea how many psi im running, I just know the car is way faster. Thanks for all the great info guys

 

I feel like all the TT V12 guys were using Eurocharged back in the day, but I can't remember what for. You'd have to go and troll the W220 AMG forum. If I have something useful in my files I'll share it but I can't imagine you'll need more power or throttle response once you get that transmission working correctly and can keep it in the fat of the power band.

But to answer your question, none of the ECU stuff was ever as cheap or easy as the TCU -- TCU is a much simpler tune.

maw

 

I tried to find a tune file but had no luck so I bought one for $150 and the second one I bought for $25. I havent tried the $25 one yet. Putting a tune on the ecu is really easy. The part that's a little difficult is reading the ecu with ktag. Make sure you buy those grabbers that grab the leg of the chip. I soldered mine and messed up the contact for both chips. Both chips contain the same file, so you don't need to read both chips. To write you need kess v2 and a laptop. Pop the hood first and on the driverside (left side?) of the fan, reach straight down. The plus is on the side of the fan. Unplug the fan or it'll drain your battery. Idk why but the fan runs on full power when you program the car. In the program just look for your car, make sure the ecu is me2.7.1 and follow the directions on the program. If writing fails, then just do a restore but put the tune file in instead of the factory file. If you want I can send you my tune files. Im not sure if they are vin specific though. You can but knockoff of the ktag and less v2 for pretty cheap. Here's a link to the pdf that has the pinout for the Bosch me2.7.1 follow the pinout, plug ktag into pc, follow instructions on the ktag program. I also included a picture of the grabbers I was talking about.

 

I'll take whatever files you have. I love to experiment 😋

 

@maw1124 I just got the tcubut I havent put it in. The website says its really important to complete the adaptation procedure. Did you complete it on yours? Im gonna have to find a large parking lot to get this done at from what I've read. Some parts aren't very clear. Am I supposed to shift at 1800rpm or 2400rpm? Do I let it coast back down to idle or do I apply the brakes? The write up on the mkultra website doesn't describe the process thoroughly enough. I'm guessing have to go from idle in 1st to 2nd, then idle 2nd to 3rd, then idle 3rd to 4th, and finally idle 4th to 5th. Do each phase 10 times and keep the car idling for 10 minutes then im done. How do I tell if the process is complete? Its a bit confusing. Thanks maw

 

I'm afraid I'm not much help here as I have a different car and a tune from a different company. I also had someone else install it, and while they may have had some initialization process I don't recall them telling me anything special (or charging me for it quite frankly). I just got in the car and drove off. Of course these learn your driving habits over time but that's just as you drive it. I recall MKUltra having good service though (from reports) so I'd shoot them an email. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful here.

Cheers,

maw

 

Thanks for the response. I'll get back to you guys after i do the learn in process and give my thoughts on the stage 1 tcu. Also I'll let you guys know if oil has wicked up into my ild tcu

 

180k+ on 722.9 06 S430 .. Anyone done a fluid - filter job for first time this far along?

 

if the transmission had no problems don’t do it .

 

Why hasn't anyone mentioned how tough it is to get the tcu out? It took me about 30 minutes to get that sucker out. There was no oil on my old tcu. As for the performance of the stage 1 tune from mkultra, its better than stock but im still a little disappointed with the performance. I tried my best to do the drive in process like mkultra suggested, i went from 1st -2nd at 2300rpm, came to a stop, and repeated that 5 times. I did the same all the way to fifth 5 times per gear, but in 4th gear, getting it to shift at 2300rpm is not easy. You're doing 80+ mph by the time it shifts into 5th gear. I did what I could, im not sure if the tcu calibrated itself. Im not too worried about the calibration, im more interested in the performance. There is definitely an improvement. The car used to feel like it wasn't downshifting when I went full throttle at 30mph. I tested it a bunch last night and its definitely downshifting just not far down enough. It doesnt push me into my seat like it does when I full throttle from a standstill. I rented a dodge charger with a hemi in it and that thing was super responsive. On the highway, if I wanted to cut someone off, I full throttle and in the blink of an eye im in front of them. The s600 and the charger are around the same weight. The s600 has way more hp and torque. It doesnt make sense to me why the s600 isn't as responsive as the dodge charger. I'll see about getting the stage 2 tune and let you guys know how that goes, but for now im just happy I didnt have to get a new transmission or rebuild mine. Thanks for all the help everyone