New user - Need help diagnosing the problem with my S55
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SL55
New user - Need help diagnosing the problem with my S55
Hi guys, new forum user and recent S55 purchaser (first time benz owner too). My car is a 2006 model with 60k miles and in flawless condition. I could not be happier with this thing in all aspects. I came out of a 2008 LS460 and am very happy with my choice.
Moving right along. Recently my car started giving me a slight problem that I hope won't end up being costly. I figured I'd run it by the board before going any further. Here's what happens. Upon acceleration from a stop there tends to be a slight hesitation most of the time. The best way I can describe it is this. Imagine if you were sitting way back in your seat, foot barely touching the accelerator and you nailed it from a dead stop. The force would cause you to slide back in your seat pulling your foot off the pedal which would cause the car to slow down, pushing you forward again back onto the pedal, which in turn would cause you to slide back off the pedal, etc etc. It's a very slight bucking maybe 1 or 2 times but after that, smooth as glass.
Does this sound even remotely familiar to anyone that has had some S class experience? I did some searching around here and found nothing similar. I could have searched the wrong terms, however.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Looking forward to having a long relationship with this baby.
Here are a couple of pics
Moving right along. Recently my car started giving me a slight problem that I hope won't end up being costly. I figured I'd run it by the board before going any further. Here's what happens. Upon acceleration from a stop there tends to be a slight hesitation most of the time. The best way I can describe it is this. Imagine if you were sitting way back in your seat, foot barely touching the accelerator and you nailed it from a dead stop. The force would cause you to slide back in your seat pulling your foot off the pedal which would cause the car to slow down, pushing you forward again back onto the pedal, which in turn would cause you to slide back off the pedal, etc etc. It's a very slight bucking maybe 1 or 2 times but after that, smooth as glass.
Does this sound even remotely familiar to anyone that has had some S class experience? I did some searching around here and found nothing similar. I could have searched the wrong terms, however.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Looking forward to having a long relationship with this baby.
Here are a couple of pics
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SL55
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2020 AMG GT-R PRO
It's your torque limiter kicking in. Best way to maximize your car's performance and get rid of the jittery throttle contact Jeremy@OETuning.com
He's a sponsor here and he does ECU Tuning for a lot of cars. I would suggest you contacting him.
He's a sponsor here and he does ECU Tuning for a lot of cars. I would suggest you contacting him.
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SL55
It's your torque limiter kicking in. Best way to maximize your car's performance and get rid of the jittery throttle contact Jeremy@OETuning.com
He's a sponsor here and he does ECU Tuning for a lot of cars. I would suggest you contacting him.
He's a sponsor here and he does ECU Tuning for a lot of cars. I would suggest you contacting him.
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No problem. It is completely normal! The hesitation in the throttle is your ECU Torque Limiter trying to cut down the power and preventing you from going too crazy. No issues really it's completely normal.
It just means you got a heavy foot!
It just means you got a heavy foot!
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1. It started doing it out of the blue one day
2. I drive like a 70 year old woman
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Buick T-Type, 70 cuda, S65 and a very FAST Truck!
Could possibly be a motor mount going bad. The motor torques over against the mechanical limits and you feel a bang or hesitation. I am assuming from your description that it happens under very low load conditions, is that correct? What about large accellerator imputs?
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SL55
Could possibly be a motor mount going bad. The motor torques over against the mechanical limits and you feel a bang or hesitation. I am assuming from your description that it happens under very low load conditions, is that correct? What about large accellerator imputs?
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From: Covington, WA
'96 SL600, '05 S55 AMG, '06 C230
Droppolo - Are you sensing any serious vibration or what may be perceived as 'stuttering' of the car as if there is a deep, rapid-fire metal-on-metal banging? If so, try accelerating moderately quickly on an interstate onramp and allow the engine to gain higher RPM's. While watching the tachometer, do you perceive any of the unusual symptoms at a particular RPM range? Focus especially in the range of 2,000 to 3,000 RPM. Then try and maintain a steady speed at that RPM range. Does the symptom subside greatly when the engine is at the steady speed, driving steadily down the road?
My '05 S55 exhibited these symptoms and I had to replace all 3 mounts (2x engine and 1x transmission). Symptoms disappeared immediately. While I still need to find the root cause of my 2,500 RPM vibration (I think I know what it is), the horrible driving sensation is gone.
FWIW and food for thought.
Cheers,
Jeff
My '05 S55 exhibited these symptoms and I had to replace all 3 mounts (2x engine and 1x transmission). Symptoms disappeared immediately. While I still need to find the root cause of my 2,500 RPM vibration (I think I know what it is), the horrible driving sensation is gone.
FWIW and food for thought.
Cheers,
Jeff
Last edited by MB-Dude; Aug 11, 2011 at 06:06 PM. Reason: Wrong qty. of transmission mounts
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SL55
Droppolo - Are you sensing any serious vibration or what may be perceived as 'stuttering' of the car as if there is a deep, rapid-fire metal-on-metal banging? If so, try accelerating moderately quickly on an interstate onramp and allow the engine to gain higher RPM's. While watching the tachometer, do you perceive any of the unusual symptoms at a particular RPM range? Focus especially in the range of 2,000 to 3,000 RPM. Then try and maintain a steady speed at that RPM range. Does the symptom subside greatly when the engine is at the steady speed, driving steadily down the road?
My '05 S55 exhibited these symptoms and I had to replace all 3 mounts (2x engine and 2x transmission mounts). Symptoms disappeared immediately. While I still need to find the root cause of my 2,500 RPM vibration (I think I know what it is), the horrible driving sensation is gone.
FWIW and food for thought.
Cheers,
Jeff
My '05 S55 exhibited these symptoms and I had to replace all 3 mounts (2x engine and 2x transmission mounts). Symptoms disappeared immediately. While I still need to find the root cause of my 2,500 RPM vibration (I think I know what it is), the horrible driving sensation is gone.
FWIW and food for thought.
Cheers,
Jeff
Thanks for the reply
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From: Lexington, KY
I'm a new owner as well, and experience the same sensation. I thought I had a tranny issue, but have been assured by both the Dealer and my Indy that it's the torqe limiter. I think you'll get the same answer. Good luck!
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From: Tennessee
2005 S55, 2002 E430, 2007 CLK350, 2006 SL55, 2003 SL55
If it has happened out of the blue, can you tell if it is worse when the car is cold..and I mean the transmission fluid?
There is a baffle that is there to smooth the power transmission that can go bad...it looks like a black light bulb and serves to baffle the fluid through the pumps somehow. I have read of other users replacing it on this forum. My 2005 car does this a bit when cold but it goes away fairly quickly. If you dont see the yellow triangle flash on the dash when you experience the delay it may not be the torque control cutting power.
The baffle can be replaced as DIY, i have read, but I havent tried mine.
At 60K miles, you might want to change your tranny fluid anyway...that is a good time to replace the baffle.
Let me know if you want me to get you more info.
You have a goegeous car by the way...great color!
Mike
There is a baffle that is there to smooth the power transmission that can go bad...it looks like a black light bulb and serves to baffle the fluid through the pumps somehow. I have read of other users replacing it on this forum. My 2005 car does this a bit when cold but it goes away fairly quickly. If you dont see the yellow triangle flash on the dash when you experience the delay it may not be the torque control cutting power.
The baffle can be replaced as DIY, i have read, but I havent tried mine.
At 60K miles, you might want to change your tranny fluid anyway...that is a good time to replace the baffle.
Let me know if you want me to get you more info.
You have a goegeous car by the way...great color!
Mike
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SL55
If it has happened out of the blue, can you tell if it is worse when the car is cold..and I mean the transmission fluid?
There is a baffle that is there to smooth the power transmission that can go bad...it looks like a black light bulb and serves to baffle the fluid through the pumps somehow. I have read of other users replacing it on this forum. My 2005 car does this a bit when cold but it goes away fairly quickly. If you dont see the yellow triangle flash on the dash when you experience the delay it may not be the torque control cutting power.
The baffle can be replaced as DIY, i have read, but I havent tried mine.
At 60K miles, you might want to change your tranny fluid anyway...that is a good time to replace the baffle.
Let me know if you want me to get you more info.
You have a goegeous car by the way...great color!
Mike
There is a baffle that is there to smooth the power transmission that can go bad...it looks like a black light bulb and serves to baffle the fluid through the pumps somehow. I have read of other users replacing it on this forum. My 2005 car does this a bit when cold but it goes away fairly quickly. If you dont see the yellow triangle flash on the dash when you experience the delay it may not be the torque control cutting power.
The baffle can be replaced as DIY, i have read, but I havent tried mine.
At 60K miles, you might want to change your tranny fluid anyway...that is a good time to replace the baffle.
Let me know if you want me to get you more info.
You have a goegeous car by the way...great color!
Mike
Thanks for the compliment!
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From: Tennessee
2005 S55, 2002 E430, 2007 CLK350, 2006 SL55, 2003 SL55
I'm not sure what the whole repair cost was, but the part was not too expensive..maybe $150...it was called some type of compensator..I'll try to get more info and post it here.
Mike
Mike
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SL55
I found a Mercedes mechanic who is mobile and fully equipped for anything up to a 2011. Comes very highly recommended by some auto repair shops in my area. He said he knows exactly what it is and will be out here Monday afternoon to check it out. I'll post the results when he's done.
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SL55
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SL55
Ok well here's the diagnosis. Feel free to discuss or offer your thoughts.
The local benz dealer here has a mobile service so I had a tech come out and take my car for a spin. He spent about an hour with it doing a full diagnosis which included a check of the torque convertor and a few other things he suspected. They all turned out to be working fine. The official diagnosis is the super charger clutch. He said that all super charged cars have this issue although some are more pronounced than others and mine was as clunky as he has seen. He found that by driving the car in manual transmission mode that it was much smoother. After that he did some adjustments to 1st and 2nd gear (whatever that means) which reduced the bucking by about 75% and to what I deem tolerable.
The best part about it is that they didn't charge me a single dime. Never thought i'd see that but he stated that his boss told him to comp this one in order to gain future business. I found that to be very professional.
Thanks for all the advice!
The local benz dealer here has a mobile service so I had a tech come out and take my car for a spin. He spent about an hour with it doing a full diagnosis which included a check of the torque convertor and a few other things he suspected. They all turned out to be working fine. The official diagnosis is the super charger clutch. He said that all super charged cars have this issue although some are more pronounced than others and mine was as clunky as he has seen. He found that by driving the car in manual transmission mode that it was much smoother. After that he did some adjustments to 1st and 2nd gear (whatever that means) which reduced the bucking by about 75% and to what I deem tolerable.
The best part about it is that they didn't charge me a single dime. Never thought i'd see that but he stated that his boss told him to comp this one in order to gain future business. I found that to be very professional.
Thanks for all the advice!
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So I'm glad he didn't charge you anything for the so called adjustments because if they charged you I'd get on his *** immediately.
If something was wrong with your supercharger clutch you would know it for sure, you don't get any "bucking". The hesitation and bucking isn't even a symptom for a supercharger clutch failure.
But like i said, I could be wrong,
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SL55
I could be wrong... But from my understanding you can't just adjust 1st and 2nd gear and reduce bucking, and not being offensive but it sounds like a load of bull on his part.
So I'm glad he didn't charge you anything for the so called adjustments because if they charged you I'd get on his *** immediately.
If something was wrong with your supercharger clutch you would know it for sure, you don't get any "bucking". The hesitation and bucking isn't even a symptom for a supercharger clutch failure.
But like i said, I could be wrong,
So I'm glad he didn't charge you anything for the so called adjustments because if they charged you I'd get on his *** immediately.
If something was wrong with your supercharger clutch you would know it for sure, you don't get any "bucking". The hesitation and bucking isn't even a symptom for a supercharger clutch failure.
But like i said, I could be wrong,
As far as the clutch goes, he didn't state it was a failure, just the the buck is caused by how the clutch operates. Some cars do it worse than others. After further investigation, I did find that I was only getting one 'buck' upon accelerating. The 2 or 3 that followed was a result of my foot on the gas pedal during the initial buck.
That all being said, whatever he did definitely had a tremendous affect on the problem. It's barely noticeable.
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No worries! I'm glad at least it was sorted out from the sounds of it so cudos to you!
I'm sorry if I sounded a bit of an a** but yah, just glad you have everything figured out
I'm sorry if I sounded a bit of an a** but yah, just glad you have everything figured out
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