dblock110

I have an 03 e55 with a valeo in it. I was not aware of all these issues with that year and the rad until doing more research .it has been treating me well for a couple years with no issues after i bought it.

The car feels underpowered/like it is in a higher gear than it should be sometimes. it is mainly under acceleration.

while cruising there is a droning vibrating/noises.

afaik this is glycol contamination.

i plan to pay $750+ for new rad, new fluids, new trans filter, new tran fluid to a private shop.

should i pay a real mb dealer $100 to glycol test first? seems like a waste lol

thoughts?

i already had the "torque converter 6y6 solenoid" replaced after reading other posts that it gets stuck often and i truly think it was stuck too, as several months of smooth driving came. now i am experiencing this.

im ~90k miles

Yuille36

It's better to pay it, for peace of mind. Then to pay $4500 to rebuild your transmission.
If there is glycol in the transmission fluid, you will have to have the transmission rebuilt.
And there is no escaping that fact.

GinDistiller

I'd get it tested for piece of mind, but use Blackstone Labs as it's $25 if I remember correctly and they'll tell you about presence of things like clutch pack material or signs of bearing wear in the trans.

You need the newer radiator anyways, and your issue could very well be something else. I've been chasing a shifting issue on my '03, I also had the Valeo but at 143k miles and no presence of glycol in the ATF when I changed it out after purchasing.

Did you have the conductor plate changed when the solenoid was replaced? And have you checked the TCU for fluid?

I also feel like mine isn't downshifting when it really should, vibrations etc just coming from the car being too 'loaded' up in a higher gear. I'd imagine thought that glycol contamination causes wear on clutch packs, which would cause slipping, not locking up solid like I feel like the trans is doing...Someone correct me if I'm wrong?

Yuille36

Glycol does eat up the friction material in the clutch packs, thereby causing your transmission to slip, and if not corrected will cause transmission failure.
Whereby the car will not go into any gear. And this will require a complete transmission rebuild.

SICAMG

The logical thing to do is just drop the pan. You will see what is at the bottom of the pan and what the fluid color looks like. No need to test it because the color will show it very clear. It will have a very pinkish color to it.

dblock110

MB dealer wants $150 for diagnosis and glycol test. i guess i am going to do it. they seem to think its motor mounts without having the car. i dont think its that. going later today