SL/R129: my '97 600SL just went Kaput at 30,000 miles
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my '97 600SL just went Kaput at 30,000 miles
Pulled away from the lights - traction control indicator comes on - big bang.
Sums up my day today. Not sure how much this is going to cost me. Engine is running fine, but I have NO forward momentum in any gear, and I can push the car when its in park.
By the way - shifting it back to park with the engine running results in a "r-r-r-r-r-r" noise.
A very expensive noise.
I've had this car for 38 days now. I already spent $1000 on replacing the spark plugs and resistors (and a couple of other parts) because the loser who sold it to me steam cleaned the engine bay. I haven't a clue how much this is going to cost me - and my dream car is steadily becoming a nightmare.
Yes. You read right. Its got 30,000 miles on it. I'm driving my 380SL now for the time being....
I'll update the thread when my mechanic tells me how much (and how long) the car is out of commission.
Needless to say, I'm furious.
Sums up my day today. Not sure how much this is going to cost me. Engine is running fine, but I have NO forward momentum in any gear, and I can push the car when its in park.
By the way - shifting it back to park with the engine running results in a "r-r-r-r-r-r" noise.
A very expensive noise.
I've had this car for 38 days now. I already spent $1000 on replacing the spark plugs and resistors (and a couple of other parts) because the loser who sold it to me steam cleaned the engine bay. I haven't a clue how much this is going to cost me - and my dream car is steadily becoming a nightmare.
Yes. You read right. Its got 30,000 miles on it. I'm driving my 380SL now for the time being....
I'll update the thread when my mechanic tells me how much (and how long) the car is out of commission.
Needless to say, I'm furious.
Member
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 225
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From: San Diego, CA
2002 SL500
Ouch! Sorry to hear about your SL problems, altquark. When these cars have problems they are expensive to repair. Several people warned me to buy a Starmark car from a MB dealer and purchase the extended warranty. A lot of money up front, but I hope I made the right decision. I hope your car doesn't cost too much to repair.
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 2,447
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From: UK
SL55 AMG
Doesn't sound good.
I had exactly the same experience back in June. If yours is the same as mine, your car is the first year when the SL600 had the 5 speed electronic transmission (with the S/W rocker switch) which, in modified form is what is in the R230 SL500 (pre 7 speed) and SL55.
What happened to mine is that one of the bearings failed and rotating bits which should be meshed but not otherwise in contact started touching where they should not. When the V12 power is mid-directed, it can cause a huge amount of damage.
The damage to my gearbox was incredible. All the dealer could say (after looking at the transmission oil and finding metal in it) was "new gearbox and torque converter". Cost in the UK, about £5200, call it $9500.
In the finish, I had the car towed to an automatic transmission specialist who rebuilt it for half that using upgraded parts which became standard around 1999.
If your car has been properly maintained at a Mercedes dealer, they might make some sort of concessionary payment but if it's fallen outside the dealer network, they won't be interested.
The gearbox failure followed in quick succession by a wiring loom and air-bag controller failure was what caused me to sell it and buy the 911. "Three strikes and you're out". And it was!
I had exactly the same experience back in June. If yours is the same as mine, your car is the first year when the SL600 had the 5 speed electronic transmission (with the S/W rocker switch) which, in modified form is what is in the R230 SL500 (pre 7 speed) and SL55.
What happened to mine is that one of the bearings failed and rotating bits which should be meshed but not otherwise in contact started touching where they should not. When the V12 power is mid-directed, it can cause a huge amount of damage.
The damage to my gearbox was incredible. All the dealer could say (after looking at the transmission oil and finding metal in it) was "new gearbox and torque converter". Cost in the UK, about £5200, call it $9500.
In the finish, I had the car towed to an automatic transmission specialist who rebuilt it for half that using upgraded parts which became standard around 1999.
If your car has been properly maintained at a Mercedes dealer, they might make some sort of concessionary payment but if it's fallen outside the dealer network, they won't be interested.
The gearbox failure followed in quick succession by a wiring loom and air-bag controller failure was what caused me to sell it and buy the 911. "Three strikes and you're out". And it was!
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Originally Posted by hotel_calif
Ouch! Sorry to hear about your SL problems, altquark. When these cars have problems they are expensive to repair. Several people warned me to buy a Starmark car from a MB dealer and purchase the extended warranty. A lot of money up front, but I hope I made the right decision. I hope your car doesn't cost too much to repair.
Until the car was sold to me, it was maintained 100% by mercedes. I drive the car relatively carefully for 1,000 miles - and all this crud happens. I only picked up the car 50 miles ago from my mechanic who fixed the resistor issues for $1000.
I have 3 mercedes (an '81 SL380 and a '98 E320). It seems to me that the newer mercs are really not worth a penny. If I am landed with a $10,000 quote, then I'll be selling the car on ebay "as is" and kissing the depreciative difference goodbye. Whatever happens, its bad money thrown after good.
My mechanic did mention, however, that it might be the "flex plate" - but he hasn't looked at it yet. Anyone know if that might be it ?
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From: UK
SL55 AMG
An automatic transmission consists of a torque converter, a series of gear-trains and a number of clutches which engage the different parts of the transmission. If there's no drive, something is interrupting the transmission from input to output. It's not like it's stuck in neutral, the loud noise is indicative of something more serious. Hopefully, it will not be a whole new transmission needed. But, it looks like the transmission is going to have to come out to take a look. Very unfortunate for this to happen to you after so few miles and not a good advertisement for Mercedes quality.
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Good news !
"Freaking part failure" is what my mechanic tells me
The axle sheared at the wheel.
Yup. Really.
Transmission is ok - driveshaft is ok - pretty much it looks like there was an airpocket in the axle casting. We all know what an airpocket looks like. Of course, Mercedes will likely deny it from being a fault in their engineering - but its a lot cheaper than the transmission or the driveshaft.
What amazes me is that the axle broke before the tyres slipped. Wow. Thats a HUGE advertisement for Bridgestone right there (which is, of course, the ONLY tyre I use on ALL my cars !)
Feeling a little better now - but I am thinking seriously of selling after these two episodes.
"Freaking part failure" is what my mechanic tells me
The axle sheared at the wheel.
Yup. Really.
Transmission is ok - driveshaft is ok - pretty much it looks like there was an airpocket in the axle casting. We all know what an airpocket looks like. Of course, Mercedes will likely deny it from being a fault in their engineering - but its a lot cheaper than the transmission or the driveshaft.
What amazes me is that the axle broke before the tyres slipped. Wow. Thats a HUGE advertisement for Bridgestone right there (which is, of course, the ONLY tyre I use on ALL my cars !)
Feeling a little better now - but I am thinking seriously of selling after these two episodes.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 2,447
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From: UK
SL55 AMG
That is good news... but I agree it doesn't reflect well on Mercedes quality. OK, the part will be bought in but this is the sort of thing that should be picked up by ultrasonic testing.
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damn man, you scared the sheeknick out of me. I have a 97 SL600 also and I've tracked it a few times, and reading this thread scared the crap outta me. I've driven it quite a bit so in a couple thousand miles, it'll be rolling over to 100k miles 
But good to know it's not tranny related, tranny problems scare the dookie outta me.
Keep the car man, I love mine... so beautiful.
But good to know it's not tranny related, tranny problems scare the dookie outta me.
Keep the car man, I love mine... so beautiful.
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Thread Starter
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Got the car back today - as usual my mechanic (little plug here for Atlantic Import and Auto of Jacksonville Florida) did a superb job. Got hold of the Axle as well - sure enough there is obvious signs of metal failure due to a bad casting.
Heres a couple of points, however. As he mentioned, it most certainly showed that the previous owner took pretty good care of the car - of course, this reflects pretty darn badly on my driving !!!! I guess this means I won't be speeding away from traffic lights for a while !
The total cost, btw, was $1100 - the reason that the car completely lost momentum is the fact that the computer sensed the axle shear through the ABS and pretty much shut everything down - at least thats what I gathered (several hours ago - sorry, not too much of a technical explanation there)
I am still planning on selling the SL600 but I think I'd get more back in the Spring, since theres really no hurry (and my mechanic took my 380SL for a few weeks to fix a well overdue shock replacement !)
I still have a faulty coil somewhere on the lines, occassionally I'm getting the check engine light coming on - but it seems to fix itself. I was wondering if it might be a bad HT Lead which might be cheaper than replacing all the coils. I'll certainly get that sorted prior to putting it on ebay.
Well - that ties up this thread. I'm going to send the axle back to mercedes with a copy of the bill and a copy of the mileage, and I'll see what they say. Who knows, maybe someone from MB is even reading this !
AltQuark
'97 SL600
'98 E320
'81 380SL
Heres a couple of points, however. As he mentioned, it most certainly showed that the previous owner took pretty good care of the car - of course, this reflects pretty darn badly on my driving !!!! I guess this means I won't be speeding away from traffic lights for a while !
The total cost, btw, was $1100 - the reason that the car completely lost momentum is the fact that the computer sensed the axle shear through the ABS and pretty much shut everything down - at least thats what I gathered (several hours ago - sorry, not too much of a technical explanation there)
I am still planning on selling the SL600 but I think I'd get more back in the Spring, since theres really no hurry (and my mechanic took my 380SL for a few weeks to fix a well overdue shock replacement !)
I still have a faulty coil somewhere on the lines, occassionally I'm getting the check engine light coming on - but it seems to fix itself. I was wondering if it might be a bad HT Lead which might be cheaper than replacing all the coils. I'll certainly get that sorted prior to putting it on ebay.
Well - that ties up this thread. I'm going to send the axle back to mercedes with a copy of the bill and a copy of the mileage, and I'll see what they say. Who knows, maybe someone from MB is even reading this !
AltQuark
'97 SL600
'98 E320
'81 380SL
