CLK 280/W209 - 7G Tronic - Serious Problem

[GilesCLK]

I have a 2006 CLK 280 Conv which has the 7G Tronic auto box.
The car has 90,000 miles on the clock.

For the last 6 months the car would occasionally do a hard gear change and then stick in 2nd gear, however simply stopping the car, putting it onto park and turning the ignition off and then restarting it would cure the problem.

As of yesterday I can't get any gear other than 2nd, reverse or neutral, and there is a major judder when selecting any of them.

I have read that people have had numerous problems with these 7G's and that often the auto valve body replacement is required which is quite expensive.

1) Has anybody had the auto valve body replacement done ?
2) How much did it cost ? (MB have quoted me £803 for the valve + £380 labour + £133 for the fluid change - all incl VAT)
3) Did it work ?
4) Is there any way to re-set the gearbox ?
5) Is it worth getting MB to do a transmission oil and filter change first to see if that solves the problem, albeit if temporarily ?
6) Has anybody managed to get this work done for free if the car is out of warranty ?

Many thanks for any help.

Rgds

Will

 

[rpe2]

I know that a few valve bodies on these boxes have bitten the dust.

Why not use an independent to save on the labour cost if nothing else?

 

[CLKGiles]

Hi,

We are having a similar problem with our 7g gearbox and it had done less than 40k when they started. We found a non MB garage that could diagnose the problem and were prepared to repair it only MB wouldnt provide them with the part so we had to take it to the main dealer who are having difficulty diagnosing the problem!

The system has been flushed and the software reinstalled 3 times now and today the gearbox has developed a leak - we seem to be having nothing but problems!

Which main dealer did you go to and have you got it sorted yet?

thanks

Giles

 

[Cole@MBS]

MB wouldnt let them have the part????

We do these every week, never had a prob getting the body, sometimes on back order but alway get them!!!

Where abouts are you, must be a indi near you.....

 

[rpe2]

I have a 2006 CLK 280 Conv which has the 7G Tronic auto box.
The car has 90,000 miles on the clock.

Hi,

We are having a similar problem with our 7g gearbox...

Is it a coincidence that you both have similar gearbox problems and an (almost) identical user 'handle'??

 

[CLKGiles]

We live in Lincolnshire and all the MB garages near us are in the same group and wouldnt supply this particular part... and I dont know what an "indi" is...

It is a bit of a coincedence about the name isnt it? Only this is Giles wife and its me that joined under his name as us women drivers dont get taken very seriously by you men sometimes!! Its the car I drive every day (well do when she's running properly!).

Its going back to the main dealers again today on a low loader because of the oil leak from the gearbox... Hopefully they will sort a permenant fix this time!

 

[rpe2]

Indi referrs to an Independent Merc Specialist.

Autotech In Scunthorpe, or Macleods in Brigg have been suggested on another forum.

If you read some of the stuff on this forum you'll soon realise that our female members are treated as equally as the rest of the male reprobates

 

[GilesCLK]

Hi, I am the original poster and am not related to the other poster.

The car is due to be inspected by Mercedes this week (in London) so we will see what they say, and how cheaply they can fix what looks like a manufacturing defect..

The prices I quoted were from the parts/servicing department to supply and fit the parts I think will be needed based on reading these forums and problems with other owners 7G's.

An indy garage did say to me Mercedes would only sell them the entire valve plate and valve body combined and not the valve plate on its own, although Mercedes told me when I dropped the car off, if it only needs the valve plate (at circa £250 + VAT & fitting), instead of the combined valve and body (£700 + VAT & fitting) then they would just fit the cheaper part in the first place.

Although I can already see what is going to happen as if it were in slow motion....they fit the (cheaper) part + labour, the problem is mended for 4 weeks, then problem recurs and they say the part they fitted has been damanged and the I have to pay again for the entire valve plate and body + fitting... and then it still wont work properly..

So Mercedes do seem to be restricting the options to private garages in terms of the parts they will supply to them. Hence why I am going to the main dealer for a full quote and £120 diagnostic... in the first place - in the hope they can fix it better/quicker than an indy and that I might get away with just the cheaper valve plate. We shall see !!

I am still wondering if any other owners with 7G auto box's have had either the valve plate or valve body replaced, if it worked and how much it cost them..??

Or if there was another solution ?

 

[moosehead]

Mine went at 45K with a month to run on the warranty. Like you I'm now up to almost 90K and get very twitchy whenever the box does anything funny (which 7G's seem to do as standard). My indie seemed to think that I had a modified gearbox sump fitted at one of the many visits to the dealer and the early one could have caused the valve pack failure i.e. problems with oil pick up. It would be interesting to hear the thoughts of the indies on the site with regard to this theory.

It might be worth a call to trading standards or your insurance legal helpline to see what the position is as 'fit for purpose' does seem to spring to mind even though your warranty expired 2 years ago.

I can't answer your question about the 'plate' or complete unit other than they told me the unit was around £1000 + fitting and ATF which brought it up to around £1500 all in. This is ridiculous for a vehicle with only for 45K (or 90K for that matter) when the good old 5 speed goes for 100,000s without problems if regularly maintained. My previous Ford Cougar V6 was an auto and it did 200K before I replaced it with the 203. It never went wrong and I never changed the ATF.