w169 cvt box

[jimmye320]

Hello can anyone help .

The Merc A class W169 180CDI 2005 has an auto box with plus and minus ,when nudging the shift leaver how many gears should i have .
The reason i ask is i tried one for sale and it only had 3 shifts ,i would have thought it would have more .
Maybe there is a fault .

 

[Howard]

Does it not display in the cluster what gear it is in ?

 

[jimmye320]

Yes it goes one to three ,i have read it should have seven shifts .

AUTOTRONIC allows the driver to choose between two transmission programs. In the Comfort program the transmission keeps the engine speed at the lowest possible level, so that the A-Class accelerates more gently and consumes less fuel. In the Sport program AUTOTRONIC automatically recognises the individual driving style and adapts the shift strategy accordingly. A manual mode is also available in which the automatic transmission divides the ratio range into seven virtual stages. The driver shifts the gears up or down by briefly nudging the shift lever

 

[Howard]

I'm not sure an 05 has the 7g box ?

 

[dulayj]

Best bet if no replies is to ask Forrera on his facebook page he knows everything about A class(based in West London)

 

[jimmye320]

Ok maybe it does just have 1 to 3 in tip .
I would have thought any auto with plus and minus would have full use of the box when in that mode ,although i have had auto's with D and 1,2 .

dulayj sorry i am not on Facebook i'm a bit of a technophobe

 

[John]

FYI, CVT is one gear but manufacturers put in 'gear points' to make it feel like it has gears.

Our previous Jazz had 7 "gears" which allowed you to use the full range available.

 

[V12]

It' should have 7 virtual ratios but it may only let you select the higher ones when moving at speed. It's been a while since I've driven one...

 

[jimmye320]

Thanks all ,and i have driven a jazz with paddles and yes you can go through the gears .

On this i was driving quite slow but would have still thought it would change up.

 

[John]

I don't remember on our Jazz now and our Juke does not have shifters I don't think.

I don't think it would allow you change up early because by allowing you to change up at lower speed - you are restricting the torque available which gets higher with the lower gears as you would expect. See if you can change up to the highest gear at faster speeds...

It's the same in slushy autos - my car will not allow me to change into 5th gear at 30mph even though it is more than capable of driving at that speed in 5th and would still be able to accelerate.

 

[malluboy77]

7 on my wife's 160 CDI. You need to be on a M'way to tip it into 7 though.

 

[jimmye320]

Thanks all for your imput ....