Havoc

Before I go into details, I want to say that Fletcher Jones Mercedes Benz of Newport Beach CA provided outstanding customer service and my True Factory-Backed Chrysler Extended Warranty performed as promised. Within just 3 days after dropping off my SLK55 it was fitted with a new transmission and returned to me all at the cost of only my $100 deductable. My warranty just paid itself by double. Wow!!

It all started when I returned home from my last deployment. My girl drives it in comfort mode while I’m gone which is no big deal. But when I returned home this time I put it in manual mode and shifted it using the steering wheel buttons while driving to the gas station for some fuel. Upon start up it wouldn’t start and I found that the only way it would start was by putting it in manual mode while the gear shifter was in neutral. I thought that was very odd. Driving home the tranny would get stuck in 1st and 6th gear and it would throw itself in neutral, which was very dangerous and over revved my engine. The tranny smelled like burnt and when they dropped the transmission pan they said that more parts fell out than fluid. The tech determined that the valve body failed which made it shift at the wrong time and caused it to eat itself. He said that he saw a few valve body failures on the 7 speed transmission and they all happened around 45K miles.

I just wonder if switching the transmission from 4 months in comfort mode to one day in manual mode made the valve body freak-out and fail??

No worries though, my baby Benz is fitted with a new transmission and all is good!!

Thanks to Fletcher Jones Mercedes Benz of Newport Beach CA and to Chrysler Service Contracts!!

xpl0sive

good call on the warranty!

alroumi

Glad to hear it was all taken care of.

Havoc

Thanks guys!

I wasn't aware that the AMG speedshift 7G-tronic trans had a TSB for an updated valve body replacement and software upgrade when it first came out.

I don't think it ever had the updated valve body replacement and software upgrade because the service history doesn't state that it did. I'm going to contact my MB service rep to see if it ever did and if not if that could have been the reason for failure.

Quicktwinturbo

How much is extended warranty for slk55?
Sorta looking for a used slk55 at the moment

Havoc

I purchased a Chrysler Service Contract with Maximum Care 7yr/100K mile coverage for $3,200 for my 2006 SLK 55 AMG from Michael Case with the Harold Zeigler Automotive Group in February 2010.

However, it seems as though Chrysler temporarily suspended their MB warranty coverage..

Good luck with your search for an SLK 55. There's a lot of great deals out there and plenty to choose from. Let us know when you find one!