Hi everyone,
It's been years since I posted on here, I've had a bad experience in the SLK350 and I thought it would be good to share it with you.
About 15 days ago I took off from stand-still flat out in sports mode and kept the pedal to the metal until 3rd gear was selected and then lifted off. As I lifted off I heard a banging sound which seemed to be from the diff. The car went into limp mode so I pulled up and turned ignition off and back on and all seemed good.
About a mile or so later the car went into limp mode again and each time the car was reset it would drive perfectly until it happened again. I went to a local garage and the diagnoses showed fault code Y38n1. I started researching this and concluded it was the transmission control unit (TCU).
I contacted my local Mercedes dealer and was told they could not check the car until the 11th of May so I started calling independent dealers and I was told they knew what the problem was and it would cost me between £700-£900 and they also told me Mercedes would typically charge around £1700-£2000 for the same work.
I then started looking at tackling the job myself. I found a company called ecu.testing.com who described my Y38n1 fault accurately and offered to repair the TCU for £220.00 + VAT. I booked my TCU repair with them and with the help of my brother took the TCU off the car and sent it to them. The TCU was returned yesterday and the car is in perfect working order again.
The SLK is now 9 years old but with only 23000 miles on it. It is very well looked after and I couldn't understand how this could happen. I spoke to one of the tecs at the repair centre and was informed this is a very common problem on 7Gtronic transmission and if I went to Mercedes the chances are the new TCU they would have supplied would have failed again as they are poorly built. I now have a life long guarantee on my TCU.
If anyone else is having a similar problem then I hope my story will help in some way in you deciding how you should deal with it.
Take care and safe driving.
It's been years since I posted on here, I've had a bad experience in the SLK350 and I thought it would be good to share it with you.
About 15 days ago I took off from stand-still flat out in sports mode and kept the pedal to the metal until 3rd gear was selected and then lifted off. As I lifted off I heard a banging sound which seemed to be from the diff. The car went into limp mode so I pulled up and turned ignition off and back on and all seemed good.
About a mile or so later the car went into limp mode again and each time the car was reset it would drive perfectly until it happened again. I went to a local garage and the diagnoses showed fault code Y38n1. I started researching this and concluded it was the transmission control unit (TCU).
I contacted my local Mercedes dealer and was told they could not check the car until the 11th of May so I started calling independent dealers and I was told they knew what the problem was and it would cost me between £700-£900 and they also told me Mercedes would typically charge around £1700-£2000 for the same work.
I then started looking at tackling the job myself. I found a company called ecu.testing.com who described my Y38n1 fault accurately and offered to repair the TCU for £220.00 + VAT. I booked my TCU repair with them and with the help of my brother took the TCU off the car and sent it to them. The TCU was returned yesterday and the car is in perfect working order again.
The SLK is now 9 years old but with only 23000 miles on it. It is very well looked after and I couldn't understand how this could happen. I spoke to one of the tecs at the repair centre and was informed this is a very common problem on 7Gtronic transmission and if I went to Mercedes the chances are the new TCU they would have supplied would have failed again as they are poorly built. I now have a life long guarantee on my TCU.
If anyone else is having a similar problem then I hope my story will help in some way in you deciding how you should deal with it.
Take care and safe driving.