C180 Auto hard gear change

[joneseythedog]

Dear All

My 1995 C180 auto has jerky gear changes when changing up, with the changes being the hardest in the lower gears. Lurches a bit a second or two after being put into 'D' too.

Changing down is usually quite good, although 4-3 can be bumpy sometimes. Kick-down is smooth.

The car has done 90000+.

Does this sound like an ATF and filter change candidate, or is something amiss?

The red cap on the ATF filler tube seems to have a dipstick attached (no, not me!) - will this cause any problems?

Any thoughts appreciated

Andrew

 

[Cole@MBS]

Oil and filter change would be the cheapest thing to start with!!!

 

[television]

AS SAM above,,also a vacuum pipe off will cause lumpy changes

I normally put up links for this but the site is down today

 

[joneseythedog]

Thanks for the responses. I've had a poke around for loose pipes, but can't see anything obvious - using the Haynes manual pictures, I beleive I've checked the crankcase breather. The pipe that goes into the big plastic intake leading to the throttle body seems ok too. I haven't actually taken any off to check for blockages yet though.

Any other pipes worth looking at?

 

[television]

Its working today,,these are the gearbox pipes

http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb2.as...421&VIN=*&CT=GA&cat=09S&SID=27&SGR=195&SGN=09

 

[joneseythedog]

Thanks Malcolm - I'll have a look and see what's what

Andrew

 

[MarkCL]

Do you have all the history with your car? If so then might be worth checking through it to see whether or not the 'box oil & filters etc have ever been changed - if not then its definitely worthwhile getting that done. Not only should it fix the problem with the hard changes (as long as all the breather pipes etc are also ok & not blocked/broken) but it'll also help extend the life of the g'box anyway. Even though there's not exactly shed loads of power going through it from the 180 engine it'll still break if it isn't looked after.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[joneseythedog]

Thanks for the responses, I'll sort out a change in the new year. The hose pictures were a bit alarming, btw

Andrew