B Feelgood

I acquired a relatively low mileage SL55 at only 38k miles. The car was bought from an auction and of course there was no warning about the transmission slippage that came with the car. When I got the car, it was slipping/flaring very badly in between shifts. I drained the fluid from the pan, changed the filter, pilot bushing, opened/checked TCC unit for oil contamination, and then disconnected line at radiator to run another 9 quarts through to flush out the system. The old fluid had a good amount of copper/brass colored metal particles in it and the fluid/filter change did not help. I then then installed the Sonax sleeve overlap kit into the valve body, and changed the conductor plate with all new solenoids. The issue was exactly the same after replacing these parts. I should mention that I received zero codes during this period when scanned with DAS/STAR during each step.

After I ran out of options, I bit the bullet and ordered a remanufactured transmission from a company with a good background and a 3 year unlimited mileage warranty. Immediately after installing the new transmission, there were new problems. The slipping between gears was gone but when the car was making a gear change (especially 1-2), the gear would change and then the RPM's would fall down very fast and the car would shudder or pogo for a second or two after the shift. The second problem happens when moving the gear selector from Park to Drive as there is a literal 3 second delay before the car would move. The installer noted and this is verbatim "After installing unit, feels like torque converter locking up harshly between 1 and 2 gear. Performed multiple adaptions or torque converter with no change to harsh engagement". Also, when the car is in manual mode, the paddle shifters do not work most of the time. I can try to change gears by pushing the paddle while in manual mode 10 times and it won't change. Then other times it will change right away as normal but most of the time it's unresponsive.

The issuing company blamed debris in the fluid stating that a valve was stuck and that was causing the shift issues. They sent out a second transmission and I had the lines and radiators hot flushed to guarantee clean passages and fluid. After installed the second unit, it did the exact same thing. We tried wiring a second TCC solenoid outside of the case in order to bypass the torque converter and things improved when doing this, although the delayed P to D was still there. The company then sent out a third transmission but used a different company for the torque converter. Unfortunately the third transmission with the third party torque converter does the excact same thing.

I checked the TCC unit for oil contamination and it was dry, I then swapped the TCC unit from another working car into the broken car and it was the exact same with no change and the original TCC in the other car operated fine, so the problem did not follow the TCC unit. I tried a new MAP sensor, crank position sensor, camshaft sensor, new throttle pedal, swapping throttle body from another car, wiring harness from TCC to transmission was checked, and also reset adaptions about ten times to no avail.

I can't say for certain if this issue (the harsh pogo/shudder gear shifts) was present prior to swapping out the original transmission since it was slipping so bad but I am 90% sure that it wasn't.

Either this company is installing incompatible parts and doesn't know how to rebuild this transmission correctly or I have something commanding the torque converter to lockup at inappropriate times during shifts (this is what the rebuild company believes is happening). I have a STAR/DAS unit but I am out of options on what to check or test.

Any feedback or suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I am at wits end.

gjunon

Are you changing out the conductor plate and valve body each time you are switching the transmission or is it still the original?

B Feelgood

The 3 replacement transmissions have come as a complete rebuilt unit with a different valve body and conductor plate each time.

StarvingArtist

It does sound like a computer problem. You might try the valve body and conductor plate that came with the car in the new tranny. MB makes a lot of subtle changes between models and years.

SICAMG

TCU ??
A funky TCU WILL cause delay to drive and other strange things.
Do you have a spare you can try?
Also 3 transmissions with the same problem...very unlikely.
I am leaning to the TCU as I have seen this before.

B Feelgood

Unfortunately the original trans is long gone. I was thinking about dropping the pan and checking the part number on the valve body that is currently installed though.

B Feelgood

I actually have another 03 SL55 here currently of which I already tried swapping TCU from car to car. Both TCU's work perfectly in the car with the original trans and both TCU's act identical to the above described problem in the car with the rebuilt transmission. This is after clearing both the trans and engine adaptions each time swapping TCU from car to car as well, so the problem does not follow the TCU computer.

gjunon

Is the D and S/M/C sign on the dash going away when the problem occurs?

bbirdwell

Connect STAR, go into the ETC module, and note the adaptation data. Check the response times for pull and push shifting, clutch filling pressures, and filling times for the clutch and brake packs. The screen should show you the limit values versus your transmission's actual values. May be a clue in there.

Reading through my copy of the ATSG 722.6 transmission manual (and I am NOT a transmission expert) indicates the Shift Pressure Regulating Solenoid is common to all shifts. When the transmission is in gear this particular valve is off; during shifts it is pulsed via PWM waveform to regulate shift pressure for a controlled clutch apply pressure during shift transition only after which it turns off. Possible culprit?

Resetting adaptation may not be helping you.Key points from the manual for the transmission adaptation to take:
-fluid temp preferred 176 to 194 degrees although 140 to 221 is acceptable.
-Turn air conditioner off, drive vehicle on level road, use only light throttle.
-Do not exceed maximum engine rpm for shift adaptation (multiple tables but not one for the M113. M104 and M111 show max 2400 rpm, M119 and M120 show max 1800 rpm).
-Engine must idle for at least 10 minutes after performing adaptation to allow sufficient time for the adaptation values to be written into memory.
-Effective adaptation requires at least eight apply and release cycles for each clutch pack.

There is also fill pressure and fill time adaptations that must be written into memory. It is possible that the issue is incorrect adaptations.

Hope this helps. I'll keep reading but you should look into purchasing the ATSG 622.6 transmission manual.

B Feelgood

It will stay illuminated in the requested D S/M/C upon the dash and not change whilst driving. The manual mode is pretty much unresponsive to gear change demands when using the buttons/paddles as you can press the uo/down ten times and it won't change gear while in M. Then a few minutes later it might change on the first try.

gjunon

I agree with Bbirdwell. This sounds like a software problem and not a hardware problem especially after changing to three separate transmissions. My solenoid values are below.

B Feelgood

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I appreciate that info. Whenever I check values with DAS, everything is still very low and in line since it only has about 20 miles on it. I assume it needs driven more to get a more accurate picture of the condition.

B Feelgood

I dropped the transmission pan to check the condition of the oil and to check the cast number and part number on the valve body assembly.

The fluid definitely has a lot of metal in it after only being 20 miles since install. The installing shop said that its normal to have a little metal in the pan but this certainly looks like a lot more than "a little" bit to me. Can anyone comment on if this would be normal after installing a completely remanufactured unit?

The part number on stamped into the valve body is 2112770101 with a cast number of 1400606. I called a Mercedes dealership, referenced my VIN and they told me that is the incorrect part number and has never had an association with this vehicle. The correct part number is 2112700006.

Again, I called the installing shop to inform them of this. They told me this was fine as the part number is irrelevant. They said the manufacturer that rebuilds these transmissions will use valve body's from different vehicles and make adjustments to the internal passages and such so that they are correct for the vehicle. I understand that the Mercedes valve body's are used in Jeep, Chrysler, etc. However, I imagine that they're machined differently with different tolerances for each application.

I could order a Mercedes issued rebuilt valve with the correct part number to see if it fixes the problem but it's around $700 for the part.

gjunon

Part number that was in mine.

gjunon

I still have my old valve body. I cleaned it just never re-installed it since I bought a new one. You are more than welcome to it (located in Southern California)

B Feelgood

Appreciate the offer!

Is that valve body in your picture the original one from your E55? When searching your part # 1402773701, it appears that it belongs to a 2006 Dodge Van Sprinter 2500 with no other vehicles listed and no mentions of ever belonging to an E55

Also, what is the casting number on that unit? It would be in the location highlighted by the red rectangle in the attached picture.

gjunon

Here are the pics from the original. The new one was out of an 06 cls 55 amg.

hayseed

iTrader: (2)

can you disable the torque converter lockup pm mew trans via STAR and test drive ? and/or could it be something simple like a bent pin/broken wire on the electrical connector that plugs into the trans? same old torque converter correct ?