akmatic63

Hello everyone, new member here. I have a 2006 S65 which I purchased in Early December of 2014. Car is originally from the Chicagoland area, but it was garage kept and never driven in winters. A really clean car all around and i HAD to purchase it when I came across it, even though I was originally in the market for a w221 600. I drove about 1000 miles on it since i had it, so it is currently at 60k.

The car needed new front rotors and pads, the dealer had changed just the pads and left the rotors, resulting in a horrendous squealing noise and braking wasn't good. My good friend works at MB so he hooked me up with a good discount and I got the front pads and rotors done for $1900 w taxes (indy quoted $2500, MB original price around $3300).

Plans for the car: I plan on keeping it stock as it is my daily driver. Just need to get the front wheels balanced, need to order a new key as i only have one. I might add K&N filters but still haven't decided. I also was thinking about doing a resonator delete but still haven't decided yet. I ordered LED license plate lights to change out the yellows. Planning on getting the tints done in the spring time when the florida sun gets sharp. Overall a clean car that doesn't need anything at all!

Issues: Had some issues with the transmission earlier, where it would sometimes feel like it was slipping in gear when i was going uphill, and once after i went on a 60 mile trip, the presafe inactive message came on and the transmission was in drive but the car was acting as if its in neutral. Turned the car off and on, and put tin drive, it lurched forward and was driving rough. Dropped it off at MB (when i had my brakes done at the same time) they checked it out only had old random codes, fluids were fine, they said nothings wrong. When i got it back, after some research i ran the TCU reset procedure (hold accl in w car off wait 2 mins etc) and so far haven't had the issue again, except once i accidentally downshifted while the car was stopped into 1st, and i upshifted back to normal drive (all in "C" mode) car lurched, but drove fine and haven had any issues since for the past few weeks....

It won't let me upload any of my high quality SLR cam pics... so here are some iphone ones

Quadrobenz

You made a great purchase, I hope you continue to enjoy the car. $1,900 for front brakes and rotors is a really good price. Some easy things to consider. Many owners, me included, have added a custom ECU tune. It makes the car even more fun and in my experience increases the fuel economy slightly. There are several vendors who sell the re flash, I used Eurocharged. I also got a wood/leather steering wheel with contoured hand grips from DCT. When you replace the tires consider installing 255's front and 285's rear, you will like the result. They fit on mine with no issues.

shardul

iTrader: (1)

congrats looks nice!!!

open IC circuit reservoir cap and see if it has water in it. If it doesnot then the dealer has to pressure bleed all the air out of the system.

akmatic63

Thanks! got lucky with that brakes lol. Love the car hope to keep it for a long time, might stop daily driving it when it gets to around 90k miles. I currently have the 255/285 set up and love the aggressive look. I have eurocharged on my c63 and they are great, probably something ill do down the road! Ive been thinking about getting the trans flushed, but as far as i know it hasn't been done (according to MB records) and they recommend it at 39k...

Quadrobenz

I recall having the trans flushed around 45k miles, it has 80k on it now. I also had the engine mounts replaced because they were collapsing and the trans mount replaced, all around 60k miles.

MJ50

congrats on ur new purchase...

gregwang168

Congrats and welcome to the 65 AMG club!

I had my transmission serviced when I first bought it at around 55k miles, because the previous owner had parked the car for almost 4 years, so I highly recommend that you have the transmission serviced to avoid anymore future issues with the transmission.

You might also want to replace the transmission mount at the same time since it is very in-expensive and will only take about 10 to 15 minutes while the car is lifted on the lift at the shop. AutohausAZ have the best prices on the tranny mount, it's on sale at 50% what I paid for a year ago.

Here is the link: http://www.autohausaz.com/search/pro...0Trans%20Mount Get the OEM one made by Lemfoerder.

Enjoy your new ride as I have for the past 1 1/2 year that I have owned mine and will do for years to come! Thank God the previous Owner took the big hit on the depreciation from $ 180k when new so I don't have to! Cheers!~

DarthVader2

Nice car!!! Enjoy!!!

Good choice on the color!

akmatic63

Thanks everyone! Going to get the trans flushed as soon as I can. I had the transmission issue pop up again today, same circumstance as the last time where I was driving in C and my finger hit the downshift button and I got it back to auto mode but then the car was shifting weird again where it felt like as soon as it did the first shift the revs would drop and then off a stop the car would shudder. Eventually the check engine light came on, pre safe inactive etc..

I have a little pocket code reader which had 2 codes: P0730 cnf and P0730 pnd both with "gear ratio incorrect"

Also to note: It was colder out today- high 50s. Most of the issues I read up on regarding the issue seem to be related to the cold but they go away when the car warms up.. Could it be the valve body / conductor plate related? I do feel like it has something to do with me accidentally downshifting as thats the only time the issue came up..

Notes: Car did have plug drain leak before purchase which they had replaced. Last time I was at the dealer 2-3 weeks ago, they said the fluid level was good.

any help or advice would be great! Thanks

DarthVader2

I always drive my car in "S" mode. They should call the "S" mode as "Normal" mode and "C" as the "Winter" mode. Because in the "C" mode the trans does not start in 1st gear but rather in 2nd. These cars have a rear axle ratio of 2.65:1 so I want as much gears as possible from the trans when I take off. I know the motor is a torque monster but still, I don't want to stress 2nd gear when I'm taking off.

The weird shifting you're experiencing seems like a low fluid situation and you mentioned "incorrect gear ratio" error code which seems to point to the trans is slipping in gears.

You also mentioned the drain plug had a leak (I'm assuming trans drain plug?). Who knows how long that was leaking? May be it had leaked too much fluid and the previous owner didn't noticed? Hopefully, there were no damage done to the trans from being low on fluid.

I would definitely have the trans fluid level checked again. I know you said the dealer told you it was good. If it was me, I would have the mechanic physically/visually show me that the trans fluid level is good.

akmatic63

Drove the car to the office today, no issues driving and shifting perfectly normal.

I was thinking the same thing.. i really need to order the trans dipstick, i might swing by the mechanic again today have it checked again and see for my self. Maybe the car wasn't warm enough when they checked it either. If the fluid levels check out, how can i make sure the issue isn't valve body related?

VMAX7

Do not do a flush! Only do a drain and fill. Replace the filter also.

Drive in S mode, C mode starts the car off in 2nd gear, more stress on the car.

Congrats and good luck.

akmatic63

The car has been driving normally the last 2 days, I took it to MB on monday, fluid levels were good he said the codes from he CEL were just stored codes from sunday and cleared it and they went away. He said if it happens again without me hitting the manual shift to bring it in and the next step would be to drop the pan and see whats going on in there.

I actually just returned from a near 45 mile drive on the back country roads- mostly cruising at 50-55 a lot of steep hills and curving roads. Car drove perfectly fine, no rough shifts, no rough shifting off the line, no shuddering no lurching, nothing.

Even yesterday, i drove the car in "M" mode shifting manually through the gears in my neighborhood to about 40 mph, shifting up and down, no problems no slipping nothing. The issues so far on 3 different occasions only occurred when I was in either C or S and shifted down with the paddle shifter.

akmatic63

recent developments; when on a near 300 mile trip from orlando to west palm beach, mostly cruising between 85-95 on the turnpike. Parked the car while watching the drag races, car was parked at a small hill/slant with the front a bit higher. came back 2 hours later, put the car in gear, pressed the accelerator, car jerked/shuddered immediate CEL, car was driving rough like how it did before. Slow acceleration, guess limp mode? Pulled at a gas station turned the car off, didn't have my OBDII scanner, so let it sit for a 10 mins. Turned the car on then, drove off, driving like nothing ever happened shifting perfectly fine. By the time i drove the remaining 150 miles back home, at 85 miles, the CEL was gone.

Just as a precaution, took it to my SA at MB he suspected the conductor plate (he's experienced with w220s he used to be a MB tech when those cars were new so he knows them inside out). Instead of just changing it he wants to see whats really happening but while its at the shop they can't seem to replicate the similar conditions and he's saying apart from the stored codes its driving fine. They are going to drive it again tomorrow, if nothing happens I'm just going have them do the transn service and see if anything looks peculiar when they drop the pan

VMAX7

Good luck!

shardul

iTrader: (1)

all you have to do is connect the car to DAS and get into the TCU and it will show you the fault codes for the transmission.

PillDrive

I live in Clermont, not too far from Orlando and have a DAS system. If you want you can come by and ill hook it up. Let me know.

COOPERDB

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Outstanding purchase

akmatic63

I had the car connected to DAS, was just stored codes for 1, 2 and 3 gears slipping. Took it to an indy who seemed a little hesitant to drop the pan because if the trans gears are bad and he changes the fluid its bad an all that so he didn't want to.

Im going to take it to the shop that did my c63 headers. Im trying to figure out all possibilities and be as educated i can before i take the car to the shop... don't want to swap one part at a time and guess and check because there can be many possible things..

So my plan so far:

I was reading about cracked flex discs on the drive shaft causing vibration, which my car has and i was initially thinking it needed a balancing. Im going to do first just to cross it off the list. If its not balancing, then flex discs checked. If the trans mounts are good, then I would drop the pan, check the fluid, filter and then the wiring harness and TCU? Correct me if I'm wrong or missing any other checks.

Stealership said I need a new transmission ($7k installed). What bothers me is that most of the time the car drives normal, goes through all gears. Ill even drive the car in manual mode to see if it slips or skips gears, which it doesnt. The issue only comes occasionally when the car has been running and is real hot or in heavy traffic conditions.

I want to get the issue fixed and plan on keeping the car, just want to be fully educated and don't want to throw money at unnecessary repairs an all. Meanwhile still driving the car daily and no issues, last issue I had was on highway traffic, presafe came on and was in limp mode, turned the car off for a little bit like 5 mins, turned it on drove the remaining 5 miles home normally..

czum09

Hopefully you get it figured out. Love black S55/S65's. I would drop the pan, change fluid etc.

shardul

iTrader: (1)

i had trans issues too. i wasted money on replacing parts, tcu etc. finally i just had the transmission rebuilt and it has been fine ever since

akmatic63

Eventual plan. What can I expect to spend on a rebuild? An recommendations? Renntech is only a few hours away from me so I was thinking about that not sure if they would do a full rebuild/modify. I do plan on keeping the car for a very long time

maw1124

I'm sorry if someone mentioned this already but have you checked the trans connector plug? They are known to leak fluid, which will wick its way up the harness if it's not caught, at which point you have TCU issues. I've heard horror stories of MB computer modules soaked in oil / fluid. You don't want that, and that plug is a known issue on W220 AMG cars. What you're describing doesn't sound mechanical to me (sporadic), so you might check into that. Good luck.

maw

shardul

iTrader: (1)

basic rebuild will be about 2k to 3k

akmatic63

Finally have some time to get it to an indy shop (they did my headers on my c63), going to drop it off in a few hours and they are gonna throw it on the lift tomorrow.

I am still daily driving the car without any catastrophic issues. I have learned more about the issue; the transmission seems to act up when its really hot- long drives in the day time + hot florida sun. Long drives at night not an issue. Car temp seems to be around 110* C in heat, whereas usually its around 100*.

Looks like I'm going to tell him to go ahead and do a trans service, and see if he sees any metal in the pan, check the trans mount, trans connecter plug and flex disc (car has a vibration in the 65-75 mph range).

Maw, you made a good point, and I did further reading on different threads and learned that it could be that when the fluid gets on the plug and heats up it causes the tcu to act funny. Also, I read up on clutch packs but wasn't clear on how to tell if they are going bad?