C180 gearbox fault

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theversatileman

New Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
4
Car
c180 1997
Hello Guys, I am new here. I have worries of the gearbox that is not really reponding to whatever gears selected.. Three days of driving after I replace the engine of my c180 the auto gearbox just went.

I was driving along for about 2 minutes from my house and suddenly the car went like neutral mode. so I stopped, put it back to PARK and then shifted back to DRIVE but unfortunately the car won't go forward at all. I tried to put it to Reverse and still the same doesn't do anything. After the church we towed it back to my driveway. the following day as I still wonder, I tried to rev it and noticed that it no longer rev up to the potential power. But I have replaced the filter and the fluid (although I must admit that I should have not used or rely in Halfords Reference Chart).

If I drain the Halford fluid and put another fluid from Merc service centres, I wonder if it will actually sort the problem? Or is there any way for me to save from spending more other than replacing a genuine auto fluid from Merc? Or is there anyway that i have missed that I should do in order to make it back to functional state?

I'm just desperate to make it work as I have spent a bit a lot already to replace the engine and put it back on the road with MOT and Road Tax and end up not using it.

I hope there are some advices on how to fix this gearbox as it was driving alright and suddenly it went as if neutral.

I need Help Please. Thank you
 
Have you looked underneath to see if something has come off?
 
yes< i have found nothing came off. I wonder if there are somebody who are able to guide me through to make this gearbox functioning again. help pls.
 
Hello Guys, I am new here. I have worries of the gearbox that is not really reponding to whatever gears selected.. Three days of driving after I replace the engine of my c180 the auto gearbox just went.

I was driving along for about 2 minutes from my house and suddenly the car went like neutral mode. so I stopped, put it back to PARK and then shifted back to DRIVE but unfortunately the car won't go forward at all. I tried to put it to Reverse and still the same doesn't do anything. After the church we towed it back to my driveway. the following day as I still wonder, I tried to rev it and noticed that it no longer rev up to the potential power. But I have replaced the filter and the fluid (although I must admit that I should have not used or rely in Halfords Reference Chart).

I need Help Please. Thank you

It is difficult to follow exactly what happened and when, did you change the gearbox oil and filter yourself and did you use Halfords or some other non Mercedes transmission fluid? If so is this when the gearbox started having problems?
 
It is difficult to follow exactly what happened and when, did you change the gearbox oil and filter yourself and did you use Halfords or some other non Mercedes transmission fluid? If so is this when the gearbox started having problems?


Actually, the gearbox malfunctioned first, then I went to the forum trying to find out what causing it and possible solutions. there were threads saying that the fluid maybe needs replacing and filter might be clogged. so I drained it the following days and replace the filter and use the halfords fluid according to their charts equivalent. But then after all that work, still the car won't move an inch, no indications of even slight movement both forward or reverse, but when i rev it up it can no longer give a potential power RPM as it is like as if something is holding it back.

I understand that auto transmission can be a tricky thing b ut i am just hoping that there might be somebody who have experienced similar to this and have found a solution, otherwise, i will be doing hit and miss which is a costly thing.

Regards
 
Gearbox problem a lot of trouble
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Random but useless comment.

Anyways it sounds like your gearbox has had it so you have a choice of either getting it rebuilt (which will cost alot) or sourcing another box from a similar car and getting it fitted. Me, personally would get a used box as there are loads of these cars floating around and being broken.

My gearbox did exactly the same thing, I could put it into drive but no actual movement forwards. The only gear that worked was reverse. Ended up that the gears had become chewed up as Ian at 124works found out when he opened it up and a load of metal fell out.
 
Actually, the gearbox malfunctioned first, then I went to the forum trying to find out what causing it and possible solutions. there were threads saying that the fluid maybe needs replacing and filter might be clogged. so I drained it the following days and replace the filter and use the halfords fluid according to their charts equivalent. But then after all that work, still the car won't move an inch, no indications of even slight movement both forward or reverse, but when i rev it up it can no longer give a potential power RPM as it is like as if something is holding it back.

I understand that auto transmission can be a tricky thing b ut i am just hoping that there might be somebody who have experienced similar to this and have found a solution, otherwise, i will be doing hit and miss which is a costly thing.

Regards
i am unsure what sort of ATF from Halfords you used but I was led to believe the Mercedes automatic gearboxes use a fluid only available from Mercedes, I may be wrong here but it certainly does not look like the common DexronIII type used in many other transmissions. Unfortunatley I think your gearbox has catastrophically failed, it sounds similar to my recent experience with a Saab automatic.:(
 
Now i will point out 1st off i am totally new to Mercedes but i find it strange that the box is doing nothing,mechanical failure would in my opinion possibly work in D but not R or vice versa or grind or make some type of action or attempt to do something rather than just nothing... i would think that sounds like an electrical problem, or in the case of my previous car a fault with the gearbox ECU (Does the Mercedes box have an ECU?) a cable worked loose an came off or even a fault with the main ECU not sending the correct signals to the box... i cant help but think its ECU or electrical related,plus the fact you mentioned it now will not rev properly... is the car in limp mode due to a fault elsewhere?
My opinion is that a mechanical failure will give you some kind of warning i.e noise or slipping and doing it in eaither D or R not both and all at once...
As i said im new to MB so i could be way off
 
this weekend I will try to remove the gearbox. but before removing it i will try to see if there is a pressure coming out from the tube that is under the radiator. this is just for me to determine if the pump is working alright.

BTW.. is that turbine inside the torque converter is the fluid pump? or is there a separate pump inside the transmission?
 

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