So like the title states, I recently have been having some transmission-related issues that hopefully some of you have experienced and fixed in your time with your E55s.

I'm at about 118,000 miles right now, and I had the 100k mile service performed about 20k miles ago which included the transmission flush/service. Slowly after that service, the transmission has been getting less and less precise and now so much so I feel that something needs to be fixed. Please keep in mind, I know the feeling of the supercharger clutch engagement and this is NOT what I am experiencing.

The issues start off from a cold start. When I begin driving the first gear change when cold is a very rough jerk during 1st to 2nd. Occasionally this jerk will happen outside of a gear change, and almost feels like slippage. I'll be accelerating and as the rpms rise in one gear, the whole car will jerk, and the rpms will fall to 1200 or so before rising back to where they were before. When accelerating to freeway speeds, all gear changes feel like there is a slight hiccup or jerk when shifting, almost like there is a delay in engaging the next gear.

The transmission also seems slow to respond to pedal movement, and on/off throttle is very sloppy. What's funny is the engine will respond immediately to input, but the car will not. When I lift off the throttle, the car will actually not begin to decelerate for a few seconds and when it does it is very abrupt and rough. When I reapply the throttle, there is another few second delay before the transmission seems to "catchup" with my input and the engine response. Sometimes when cold, I can feel a soft back&forth jerking while just coasting the car down a hill. When I put the transmission in neutral and continue coasting down the hill, the sensation goes away.

The strange thing is, these issues become less pronounced as the car warms up, but do not completely go away. Star diagnosis has revealed no fault codes, CELs, etc.

Thanks for reading and I hope some of you can shine some light on how I can go about fixing this issue.

 

What trans fluid did you refill with? Mercedes changed the recommendation of which fluid to use, but many have reported issues with the new fluid. You can try refilling again with the older style fluid, such as Valvoline Maxlife ATF.

 

Yes the max life has the 236.10 spec and works very well

 

What year is your e55? Need to rule out glycol contamination from the radiator. Check fluid. Your first issue almost sounds like torque converter lockup. There were some issues with those solenoids. Do you have access to a DAS machine to check adaptation values and also to reset the values?

 

It's a 2005 car. I don't know which ATF was used but that will be the first thing I'll try changing. No access to DAS. Is that something I would need to go to the dealer for? Or should my indy shop have that? Fwiw, the last time it was in for service they said the systems were all 'reset' but I'm not 100% sure that included anything transmission related.

 

I'll bet it was the trans flush. Never power flush these transmissions. It dislodged debris into the valve body and can cause issues. But, hopefully it's something else. GL and keep us posted.

 

check the level of fluid - very temperamental to under / overfil

 

I'll repeat what I have posted before; The new Fuchs 4134 ATF is a remarkable product. In your case, I recommend that you again perform a complete service including a new filter. Make sure that the fluid level is absolutely correct. Final fluid measurement should be made on an engine/transmission that is at normal operating temperature after having been driven for at least 15 minutes. After driving the car for 100 miles or so drain the fluid into a container and then replace the exact amount with Fuchs 4134. This procedure clears out the fluid which remained in the torque converter. If your transmission has not been damaged it should operated properly.

Again, the improvement in performance of a normal 722 is remarkable by simply changing to the Fuchs 4134 ATF. It is well worth the additional cost.

 

4134 is the newer fluid that many have reported problems with. 4134 was originally not specified for the 5-speed, and later Mercedes said it was ok for it. I had problems with the newer stuff (sloppy shifting, torque converter felt way too loose), and the problems went away after going back to the old spec fluid.

See discussion here:
https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...ion-fluid.html

 

I just did a radiator change and my transmission was throwing P0715 "turbine speed" errors, slipping, jerking and popping out of gear. I added half a quart of fluid and it's back to normal. I would make sure the fluid level is correct. Don't start panicking, it was a $19.99 fix for me. I will be doing be doing a full drain and fill in the next few hundred miles though.

 

True and many are also using valvoline maxlife which is spec'd for the 722.6 nag1, 236.10 oil. Works very well and inexpensive

 

Thanks eveyone for the responses. I'm going to be taking the car in tomorrow and I'll have them perform a full service on the transmission again and check the old fluid for glycol.

To clarify once more, you guys recommend the old fluid, valvoline maxlife ATF, instead of the factory recommended fluid? And since I'm assuming the shop won't have this fluid on hand...how many quarts will I need?

 

9 quarts I believe for complete service, maybe a bit more depending if you flush the converter. If you do the maxlife buy 3 jugs of 4qts each, prolly cost you around 50-55$

 

Fellas' I can only tell you that in my instance, after switching to the Fuchs 4134 from Fuchs 134 with about 3000 miles of use, the difference was astonishing. FWIW Fuchs' literature claims significant improvement in performance over 134. It also worked equally well in my ML400 BiTurbo which has the 722.

 

My curiosity is getting the best of me. I may do a drain and fill with a filter change. Track season is around the corner

What type of improvements are you seeing? The speed of the shifts?

 

AG after seeing many guys using the maxlife I'm sold and all I use now. Lowprofile has actually been using it for 40k miles and no tcu tune and his shifts really well also

 

Shift times were not necessarily faster, but engagement was much faster as slippage was all but eliminated.

Sounds like a good product, but again I can only comment on my direct experience of going from 134 to 4134.

 

Hey AG same thing with the maxlife, enagagememt much faster, this is going from 134 to maxlife

 

Just to chime in here....My car has now 205k on it on first tranny and i have been flushing the tranny every 40k with Max Life since 100k...so i can vouch for Max Life....also regarding the comments about power flushing the tranny....just by running the car the internal pump creates a lot of pressure on the fluid.....when you power flush the tranny the outside pump creates about equal pressure and flow....so if the driving does not dislodge sludge/debris the power flushing wont either.
The 722.6 is VERY picky about fluid level...that should be the your first priority...make sure its exactly where it needs to be....good luck

 

So I have an update for you guys -

I spoke with the head tech at the shop and based on the symptoms I described and what he felt, he thinks the problems may also be related to a worn/failing "freewheel" (not flywheel, it sounded like he was referring to some sort of hydraulic clamping mechanism when describing it) and/or one or more hydraulic pumps/solenoids in the transmission that control the torque converter and gear shifts. Unfortunately, it sounds like these parts are internal to the transmission and not easy to replace, and he's saying if the problems persist or get worse he would recommend rebuilding or replacing the transmission entirely.

I told him what we've discussed online here, including double and triple checking the fluid level accuracy and he agreed to perform the full transmission and torque converter flush with Max Life. So I'm giving it a shot and hoping for the best. I'll keep you guys updated when I get the car back with the new fluid in a few days.

Let me know if you guys have any further input. Thanks.

 

Inspect the fluid and look for shavings etc. also check the filter and open it up and see if there's anything in there's well. If there's anything, get a transmission or rebuild it

 

Just got off the phone with the shop, and in fact there were little metal shavings in the old fluid. As far as how much? He said there was "a little more than normal" but that they didn't think it was enough to be serious. The filter had some as well, same story - a little more than normal but nothing crazy.

What worries me about that though, is that this "old" fluid has only been in the car for about 20k miles. Regardless, it sounds like they should be finished with the flush pretty soon and I'll be able to see if the new fluid helped.

 

Ok, reset your trans adaptations and see what happens, good luck bro

 

So the news isn't so good....I've put about 100 miles on since the flush with the max life. No real improvement. Same issues. Looks like everything short of a full rebuild or new transmission won't fix the problems, mostly because no one can pinpoint the failing components without a fault code or something.

Pretty disappointing given that I'm not very hard on the car and meticulous regarding maintenance. I had thought the 5 speed was the strong point of the drivetrain. Anyways, thanks for the help guys. Now it's just a matter of when I'll bite the bullet on the rebuild.

Ken

 

My guess would be the valve body needs a slight refresh, sounds like you have a slight flare and bump shifts

I had very similar symptoms recently and just replacing the overlap valve sleeves rectified these symptoms, mine when cold would feel like it went into gear at every shift and then 50-100rpm more it would shud into gear as if in a manual dumping the clutch, mine would also flare up slightly before shifts and then sometimes slam into gear

Mine also got better as it warmed up (possibly due to heat swelling up the aluminium VB components making worn clearances closer) but symptoms still were there, this kit below resolved my issues 100% and also resolved similar issues in another E55s trans who did this same fix (his had metal shavings on his magnet as well)

Look into a Sonnex Master Overlap Valve Sleeve Kit - for $50-100 on ebay
http://www.sonnax.com/parts/2317-mas...#tabs1-related

I have also attached a file which lists the parts Sonnex sell for our valve bodies and the symptoms those parts cure, you may also want to look at replacing the TCC damper valve and sleeve which is another part they have

Just a matter of dropping the pan, dropping the VB and then removing the side plates and removing the valves - toothpick may be needed - and then fitting the new ones, taking your time and sipping a few beers you could have it all done on axle stands in 2-3 hours max

Easy 3/10 difficulty

** DO IT WHILE IT IS COLD - LEAVE IT OVERNIGHT TO COOL

I'm not saying that this will fix your issue(s) , it is just something to consider - or even bring up with the workshop if they are not too familiar with the 722.6 transmission, it may save you the cost of a full rebuild

Some good reads on the Sonnex site - http://www.sonnax.com/articles/160-v...and-rebuilding

Good luck