Gearbox issues

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paulround

New Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2021
Messages
12
Location
kent
Car
CLK 200 convertible
Hi, newbie here. My wife has a 2005 CLK 200 that has just started having intermittent issues with the gearbox. Only happens when hot, but symptoms are, when parked and moving into drive or reverse, the car lurches slightly. Sometimes there is no motion from parked when putting into drive ore reverse,(putting into park for a while fixes this). Gearbox not changing up when going faster. The car has done 70000 miles and is 15 years old and to my knowledge has never had the gearbox oil changed, could this be the problem? or could it something else. I had a similar issue with a volvo some years ago with a very lurchy gearbox that several gearbox oil changes fixed, (sticky valves maybe)
Any suggestions as to what it may be, (and how to fix it) would be most welcome.
 
Welcome to the Forum!

First I suggest you get the gearbox fluid level checked.

Assuming this is the 5 speed gearbox this needs to be done at a specific temperature (? 80Deg C)

The 5 speed gearbox was known to leak from the ekectricsl connector... Fluid could also leak and find its was into the Transmission Control Unit (TCU)

I suggest finding a local MB specialist with the Star computer to check it over properly
 
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Hi Paul and welcome to the forum.

On age and mileage alone I would say this car is ready for a gearbox service , check the fluid level by all means but my advice would be to book it in for a Gearbox service at a local independent MB specialist.

Do not be alarmed .The transmission in your car is very reliable and is used worldwide in all sorts of cars and truck in one form or another. The work required is not that expensive . £250/£300.
 
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thanks Pete, that was pretty much what I was thinking. The car needs to go into a garage for some suspension work so will get them to do a gearbox service at the same time.
 
thanks Pete, that was pretty much what I was thinking. The car needs to go into a garage for some suspension work so will get them to do a gearbox service at the same time.
Is the garage a Mercedes Independent?

Changing the gearbox fluid fully isn't easy. The Torque Convertor doesn't have a drain plug on most cars.

If they just drop the sump then only half of the fluid will be changed.

Disconnecting the lines to the gearbox oil cooler can drain the remainder.
 
So, turns out it needs a replacement transmission conductor plate as the speed sensor has failed.
 
OK , not great but not the end of the world . At least some of us have transmissions that can actually be repaired while still bolted to the car , a small blessing.

I hope that's the end of it . 👍
 
Me too! I guess I’ll find out on the drive home. It was stuck in top gear driving here, not fun pulling away from the lights.
 
Have just returned from the garage and what a difference! The car drives so much better and I hadn’t noticed before that the lockdown didn’t really work, but it does now!
 

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