W204 manual - judder when pulling off

[Dazed]

Hi guys, wondered if anyone could help. I have recently bought a W204 c200 manual with 21k on the clock and have noticed that there is judder when I pull off from a standstill.

It doesn't seem to matter how many revs I give it, the car shakes as the clutch is released and it pulls away.

I am presuming it is the clutch, but at 21k I'm not entirely sure that this is the case. The only thing I thought was maybe the injectors not giving it enough fuel - I can't really determine if the engine is struggling or the clutch is juddering. Any advice appreciated...

 

[Giantvanman]

Once on the go, will the car rev properly and get up to speed okay? Does it judder in any gear other than first? Is it only from standstill? Find a quiet, level road and pull away in second….no judder?

Without meaning insult, is there any chance it could be clutch technique with a new to you car?

 

[Dazed]

Hi, yes the car gets up to speed no problem the car pulls well all the way through the revs.

I will try pulling off in second gear tomorrow and see if it judders.

I don't think its my clutch technique, I have tried giving it more revs and less revs while letting the clutch out and still get the judder.

 

[Del80y]

Mines does this when the wife is driving with big boots (high heals):fail

I have W204 C220 and if I let it get to the biting point and stay there too long I can get it to judder...

I have found the longer you drive it you will get used to it..
releasing clutch faster right after biting point cures it

Wonder how long my clutch will last

Don't pull away in 2nd gear that proves nothing

 

[grober]

Only thing I can think of is maybe a problem with the Hillstart assist facility which is supposed to hold on to the brakes momentarily when the car moves off to allow the driver to move from footbrake to accelerator without rolling backwards. It should operate only on a greater than 5 degree slope. If there was something wrong and the brakes were releasing slowly or failing to release then this would place extra strain on the clutch. Thing with these modern diesels they develop so more low down torque they can overcome lightly applied brakes but perhaps at the expense of rapid clutch wear.

 

[Dazed]

@del80y - Well I don't wear high heels (only on a wednesday ). However, I'm going to see if releasing the clutch faster after biting point solves it, it could just be a quirk of the car.

@grober - Yeah I have thought to myself that the brakes staying on when starting off on an incline is going to wear the clutch faster than a car withouth hillstart - heres hoping that at 21k its not that already... The previous owner parked it on a very steep incline and set off from that for the last 2.5 years.

I wonder if Mercedes would contribute towards a new clutch as it still has 6 months warranty - anyone know if this would be the case? Do they even cover second owners?

 

[ernie]

Might be worth trying for, but the standard response for clutch problems is wear and tear. It would also depend on what they found when they dismantled it, but by that time you have a bill for upwards of £800!

Second owners should be covered provided the car was serviced 'correctly', i.e. by a VAT registered garage using MB parts.

Ernie

 

[fifthwheel]

I have a w204 c180 manual petrol. A loose addendum leaf in the handbook advises using 2nd gear on the flat to start.

 

[Dazed]

@ Ernie - Ok I might give them a call on Monday and have a chat see if I get anywhere..

I have driven the car again today and noticed that if I give it a fair amount of revs and let the clutch out slowly (riding it) it seems to be better - I've also noticed that this problem does not happen when reversing no matter what revs I give it.

 

[Bellow]

A judder? Or vibration?
Given the comment re reversing I'm more inclined to think this is engine vibration transmitted to the chassis via a failed drivetrain mount (engine, gearbox or diff).

 

[Dazed]

I decided to go for an auto in the end and part with the extra cash. I got a great deal on a trade in which meant I got better looks, handling and gear box in the form of a c250

 

[Rodders81]

Same problem...W204 MANUAL -Judder when pulling off

Hi there,
First time poster, long time reader. I felt i should add to the post as i have been experiencing almost the same problem. Hopefully someone out there will benefit in some way. Unfortunately, i haven't yet found the cause...

I have a 2012 C200 CDI which i bought last year, also with about 21k on the clock. Since then it has done an extra 25 k or so.

For the past 6 months or so it have been experiencing the same issues. When pulling off, the car starts moving as it should after applying some throttle and easing off the clutch (standard driving technique)

When it reaches about 5-10mph or so, the vehicle stars to judder, almost as if it's going to stall. However, the RPM does not drop (or at least the indicator doesn't show a drop), but remains steady at whatever I applied initially (usually about 1.5k revs). At this point, i am almost, but not completely, off the clutch.

I have tried pulling away when applying more RPM, resulting in less judder, but still judder nonetheless.

I have also tried increasing RPM during the judder, resulting in a reduction in judder, but it doesn't go away. Changing into second stops the judder.

Driving it more aggressively, releasing the clutch quicker with higher RPM, and increasing throttle almost immediately after full clutch release, seems to reduce the problem to a minimum, but doesn't eliminate it. This technique is pretty useless though in stop start traffic though, unless you are specifically intending to ram into the car in front.

During its last service at MB, i asked them to have a look into it, suggesting that maybe there was some clutch slippage occurring. After the service, they told me that they noticed that the ECU software was "old" and that they updated it, tested it and the problem seemed to be solved. Of course, driving out of the dealership, the car seemed to run sweet as a nut. But the problem came back a few days later.

Some points to note, and some suggested causes (i am by no means an expert, most of these could be complete BS!)

1. I have noticed that it gets progressively worse in stop start conditions. (maybe DPF clogging up and causing ecu to get confused?)
2. After driving at higher rpm's for long periods of time (eg on motorway), there is no juddering when resuming standard "off motroway" driving. (maybe motorway driving unclogs a fuel line/injector/exhaust/dpf?)
3. The car performs nicely from 2nd onwards.
4. The problem is intermittent. Sometimes, the performance is silky smooth, and i wonder if i was just imagining it. (maybe means that the problem is not mechanical wear and tear?)

I am reluctant to take it back to MB for a checkup. I want to try and avoid having to pay 120 quid for a potentially false diagnosis.

I am currently investigating other options.

thanks for reading, hope this information is of use to someone.

 

[Slaurro]

Hey there! I`ve been having the exact problem as Roddes81 on my C250 CDI. It started this winter. I believe it has something to do with wheelspin and ESP kicking in while slipping alot on ice. I got stuck alot :/

About a month ago it went away. I don't know if it was because i drove past a huge hole in the street or just pure coincidence. But it stopped... It only kept doing it very rarely and it was barely noticeble.

Yesterday i tried climbing a maring on the side of the road with my fron wheels. I had to force it a bit and give it lots of gas cause the margin was pretty high. The rear wheels spinned alot, the ESP kept kicking in...
When i came back, half an hour later, the car started juddering hard when i took off. It kept doing that today as well...

I don't know if it's the clutch... Could it be so intermittent and stop doing it for a whole month? On the other hand, what else is thrashed when wheels keep sliping that could cause the problem to reapear?

Someone sugested it could be a faulty O2 sensor... I had a broken flextube about 3 months ago and water or shock could have affected an O2 sensor. I`ll try disconnecting the battery. If it is electronic related i think the errors should erase and it should drive well, at least for a while.

 

[pembssurf]

Friction plate / warped flywheel

 

[Slaurro]

Friction plate / warped flywheel

Would that produce intermittent symptoms? The problem went away for almost a month... Now it's back...

 

[pembssurf]

Would that produce intermittent symptoms? The problem went away for almost a month... Now it's back...

intermittent only depending on the type of driving I.e stop start, hills compared to long runs etc. could also be bearing. Any strafe smells?

 

[pembssurf]

Another way to tell of impending clutch failure... Stick parking brake on full. Put in 4th gear, give plenty of revs slowly release clutch. Should stall straight away if it takes a a few seconds after you lift off to stall or if you smell a STRONG clutch burning smell immediately your clutch is fried. Only try this twice as it does put some strain on the transmission.

 

[Jonesy161]

This response will not solve the problem you have ....but, Got my c220 AMG SPORT last Oct with 19k miles, after a week of ownership the clutch judder was embarrassing, continued to drive it and must have adapted my style of driving to the car's mechanical idiosyncrasies, within a very short period the judder went away and has not returned. I think I may have been a bit too nice with the revs.

 

[milligp]

Same thing

Hi
I bought my car a week ago and was smooth as anything and since I fitted my winter tyres it Huddersfield when moving off in first gear. It's fine on other gearchanges only does it when at a standstill

Any help would be great

 

[milligp]

Sorry judders not Huddersfield lol