benznewcomer

hey all I need some advice

so about 18 months ago I started hearing the dreaded droning/humming noises when at 1500-2500 RPM and found that I still had the faulty radiator from the 2003 E55 that was known to leak glycol into the transmission. I had the radiator replaced and had a thorough transmission flush from the mechanic. That was 18 months ago and when I first got it back there was a slight humming/droning noise but it eventually got worse.

Now over the last 6 months its been the same humming/droning noises but it hasnt gotten progressively worse and its been still driving with no breakdown over the past 18 months. My understanding is that if the glycol did the damage then my transmission would be long gone by now isnt it?

Is it possible that just the torque converter needs replacing and I will be fine? Or given that the droning was lessor at the beginning right after the flushing it means that the transmission needs to be flushed again? I just dont want to be throwing money away on things that wont fix the true issue.

If I keep driving it will the torque converter ultimately fail or just always run with that droning sound?

Any help or plans of action for this is appreciated

benznewcomer

anyone have any thoughts on this? thanks

tw2

Glycol contamination causes the friction material on the clutch plates in the clutch packs to dissolve so you end up with a slipping transmission. This usually results in a code for impossible gear ratio and limp mode which resets when you restart the car. Did you have glycol tested? The radiator may be prone to leaking but it didn't necessary fail at that stage. You could have a completely different problem. Or it did but you caught it soon enough to prevent total failure which will happen sometime as the life is significantly shortened and normal wear will eventually get you the rest of the way.

benznewcomer

if the clutch packs havent dissolved then can i get away with just flushing transmission and torque converter to get rid of the droning noise? i havent noticed any rough gear changes in last year but just the droning noise which seems like coming from torque converter

Style_Front

My car drones like it has straight cut gears. Not as loud as that, but that's the sound I get. It vibrates the seatbelt height adjustment tabs right in my ear. It has given me anxiety about the car since I have owned it. Also, after a hard pull I get crazy smell in the cab. But it's super inconsistent. Maybe 1-20 hard pulls will do it and each time I'm like well, there goes the trans.

I love this car but it's unnerving to own it with all the little red flags. It's stayed solid for the last 4 years (knock on wood) but it always emotional lol

Style_Front

For the longest time I thought the drone was my differential. Mechanic looked into the diff and said everything looked good and said he thinks it's the trans.

If there was a way to eliminate the noise apart from rebuilding it I would be interested to know how.

tw2

If that was the case then yes. Get a star scan and a read out of the clutch lock up times.