'99 E55 first gear sticking
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 28
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
1999 E55 AMG
'99 E55 first gear sticking
Hi MB gurus,
Tricky complaint which is avoiding diagnosis.
Over the past winter, my (automatic) E55 demonstrated a reluctance to shift out of first gear when the weather was below freezing. After several minutes, and sometimes, several miles of driving (on side streets) it would start to shift into second. This would fix the problem for the day, but the problem would recur when sitting outside overnight again.
Now that winter is over, it is continuing to stay in first for a hundred yards or so before shifting. Ergo, the complaint is progressive.
Any ideas, my mechanics are stumped on this one.
Possibly a clue is that I started to smell a very faint odor of electrical burning around the time of symptomatic onset a year ago; I thought that it was likely an HVAC smell.
Thanks for any info,
Martin
Tricky complaint which is avoiding diagnosis.
Over the past winter, my (automatic) E55 demonstrated a reluctance to shift out of first gear when the weather was below freezing. After several minutes, and sometimes, several miles of driving (on side streets) it would start to shift into second. This would fix the problem for the day, but the problem would recur when sitting outside overnight again.
Now that winter is over, it is continuing to stay in first for a hundred yards or so before shifting. Ergo, the complaint is progressive.
Any ideas, my mechanics are stumped on this one.
Possibly a clue is that I started to smell a very faint odor of electrical burning around the time of symptomatic onset a year ago; I thought that it was likely an HVAC smell.
Thanks for any info,
Martin
#2
MBWorld Fanatic!
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 2,394
Likes: 0
Received 37 Likes
on
28 Posts
2007 SL55 AMG
When was the last time you got a transmission service? Whats the trans fluid level? Its possible that your transmission connector is leaking and fluid is getting into the transmission module.
#3
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 28
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
1999 E55 AMG
Thanks for your response. The car has 120K miles. I'm not heavy footed. The transmission fluid was changed at 100K. The car gets all scheduled services. Interesting about fluid in "transmission module"; I'll bring this to my mechanic's attention.
Weird that the shifting problem is not consistent.
Anyone else with ideas?
Thanks.
Weird that the shifting problem is not consistent.
Anyone else with ideas?
Thanks.
#4
Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SOCAL
Posts: 71
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
E55
My last 2 E 320's did this also. Only in cold weather. I took it to the dealer, and a tech told me that MBZ holds the gear to warm up the trans temp. Also, (like stated above) check the fluid levels. Low trans fluid fluid plus cold temp, the trans won't have enough line pressure and it will hold a gear too long.
#7
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 28
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
1999 E55 AMG
I'll get back to you all, once the problem gets worse (hopefully it won't!) and things get disassembled by a mechanic.
Thanks for your time and thoughtful replies.
Martin
Thanks for your time and thoughtful replies.
Martin