Is my c270 cdi Auto Gearbox stuffed ?

[mar96]

Hi All,

I have a 2001 270 CDi and it has been displaying the 'ESP' Go to a Garage
message on the dash.

This light stays off until I corner urgently, should I say, when it lights up.

If I drive at motorway speed for a bit, and slow down, it has seemed as if the brakes are coming on, with a grinding noise and hiccuping from the front. When I pull in, switch off everything and restart it, it's ok again for a week, a month, whenever.
The Gearbox did seem to stick in a low gear after the last episode, until I restarted it-could have been me of course.

Any advice very gratefully received.

Although the ESP is lighting up, everyone is telling me it's the Gearbox
and it's a weakness of them.

 

[219]

Has your car got a Valeo radiator ?

There is a well documented fault where , due to a leak in these radiators , coolant escapes into the ATF and knackers the gearbox - this happened to a friend and it was a £3500 repair to have a reconditioned gearbox fitted , fortunately under the garage's warranty , after which he sold the car .

You can check for this by having a sample of ATF taken from the gearbox and tested for contamination .

The German made BEHR radiators do not suffer from this problem .

 

[AndyPCD]

You arehighly unlikely to get an esp warning with a gearbox fault.

I would get the fault codes read.

I would say it could be a lateral acceleration sensor playing up.

The grinding could well be the abs/esp cutting in as it might thing you are skidding or wheel spining due to a fault sensor.

 

[219]

What Andy says does make sense .

 

[Bonkkis]

valeo rad can cause tranny death with glycol contamination. below 3 lists of affected cars. the list has been verified as MB list by MB finland. however it's completeness/correctness has not. according to MB spareparts service central (and others pretty trustworhty sources) in finland there are other affected cars including those with behr radiator.

most affected cars seem to be 2002-2004.

check the sticker on your rad. if it says valeo and pre 9/2003 (however not pre 2002) there's a good chance your rad can cause the problematic leaking. then again it might not.
if your car is in the risky ones first do the glycol verification. its around 40£. just suck 1-2ml of atf with a new hose and syringe and take it to your mb dealer. if the amount is not critical changing the rad and atf CAN do the job. if critical the damage might be done already. vibration while driving is a common symptom for this kind of a problem. by then it might be too late to change just atf. you might need a new tranny.

keep in mind that if your rad has been changed, it might still have glycol in the atf. do the test anyway. a cheap insurance.

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