CLK 320 W309 Auto transmission problem

[guygamps]

Car is Merc CLK 320, W209, on a 02 plate with 104,000 miles on it.

At last service my independant merc specialist told me that the auto gearbox oil needed changing, so i made a mental note to get it done soon.

The car was displaying no symptoms whatsoever of any gearbox problems

But i didn't want to ignore the advise so I had it done last week, and since then have had a variety of issues.

60% of the time car drives like normal

but

sometimes when head off, or pull away from stationary, it feels like you have the handbreak on.

Gear changes seem erratic, sometimes gears are held on to far too long when normally the car would have changed up. other times gear changes seem "violent", accompanied by a "thunk".

Once it wouldn't go in to 3rd gear of higher, just got stuck in 1st/ 2nd

another time I had accelrated 30 - 50, took my pedal off the accelator and whilst the speed was falling there was a loud clunk, and when I put my foot back on the accelerator it appeared as if the car was in neutral. The engine revved, but there was no drive to the wheels, I coasted over to the side of the road, and up a country lane, still with no power to wheels, after about 500metres coasting, the drive chain re-engaged.

All the time the dash indicator showed "D".


I spoke to the mechanic about it, he said all he had done was change the oil and filter in the gearbox and oil in the torque converter too.

The car is booked back in for him to investigate.

I am annoyed because the car showed no symptoms whatsoever of needing any attention, I did this because I was advised it needed done, and now I have all this troubkle.

Any hints?

guy

 

[Cole@MBS]

Could be one of the "Y" speeds sensors in the box,a short test should tell you!

 

[guygamps]

Thanks, whats a Y speed sensor, and how do I test...

 

[Cole@MBS]

needs to go on a star machine, its the only way!!

 

[RichardK]

I have EXACTLY the same problem with my CLK 320 '51 plate.

Did you ever get to the bottom of what the problem was?

Does anyone else have a hard and fast answer as to what the problem might be?

The reason I'm asking is that my Merc is being repaired as I type this.. and the garage is quoting £1340 + VAT to fix this problem.

My concern is.. how will I know if the cost justifies the work required to fix the problem? That amount of expense hurts a lot, but is tempered slightly if I know I'm not being taken for a ride.

I'm tempted to skip work and go down there just to see what's happening..

Any answers would be massively appreciated, thanks.

 

[grahamcol]

At the risk of bringing up an "old" question, does it sometimes happen that a gearbox will start to play up after the oil and filter have been renewed ? I know most on here advise to change and indeed report some improvement. However, I've heard of autoboxes going wrong shortly after having this done, not many but definately it does seem to happen occasionally and even my (very good) indy said it happened sometimes. It's been putting me off having both of my 202's done. Why would the autobox go wrong, assuming correct oil has been used ? I simply don't understand it but it does seem to happen sometimes !

 

[RichardK]

Well, time to go and see what the garage have been doing to justify the £1340 + Vat. For that money I could have had a pretty decent fortnight somewhere hot!

I think I'm going to quit my current job and retrain.. as an automatic transmission specialist...

 

[television]

At the risk of bringing up an "old" question, does it sometimes happen that a gearbox will start to play up after the oil and filter have been renewed ? I know most on here advise to change and indeed report some improvement. However, I've heard of autoboxes going wrong shortly after having this done, not many but definately it does seem to happen occasionally and even my (very good) indy said it happened sometimes. It's been putting me off having both of my 202's done. Why would the autobox go wrong, assuming correct oil has been used ? I simply don't understand it but it does seem to happen sometimes !

Cleanliness is the order of the day,,if you must do it outside,,have a sheet under the car and no wind blowing on that day. it only takes one tiny bit of debris to get stck in the valve block.

 

[grahamcol]

Cleanliness is the order of the day,,if you must do it outside,,have a sheet under the car and no wind blowing on that day. it only takes one tiny bit of debris to get stck in the valve block.

I wonder if those failure I've heard of (and the apparent 2 here) are due to lack of cleanliness then - it does seem possible. I also thought that maybe new oil put in, because of its detergent properties, might cause "old" sludge / muck etc. to become dislodged and help it find its way into valves, galleries etc. ???

 

[television]

I cannot recall one with any sludge,, there might be some sediment in the sump,,but very little

 

[RichardK]

Television, would dirt and sludge in your opinion cause enough damage to warrant such an expensive repair bill? (see above posts)

Obviously I won't hold you to it, but to me an auto transmission is a bit like narnia. I really don't want them to have simply changed the fluid and the filter for that kind of money!

 

[kole301]

The "thunk" or "clunk" is usually related to engine or gearbox mounts...
It is normal on a MB with high milage (over 100K)...
Check them and for sur chage the ATF+filter+gasket of the gearbox and add a magnet to the pan if not there originally...

 

[Philip Butterworth]

Hi, I am having a similar problem with my CLK 320 (1999). It started a couple of years ago and seemed to occur when going round a sharp bend or up hill, just seemed to slip into nuetral even though still in drive. Commonsense said low oil level, but then found there is no way of checking it other than to drain and put in the recommended amount. Good old MB!!!! Had that done but the garage didn't measure how much came out!! Car was fine for a short time then the problem re-occurred. I have just seen another post where they suggest that the oil will only leak when the car is moving, they didn't say where from!! The situation has got critical now (the wife drove it and although she knows this is an occasional problem, I was forced to listen to the drama of it all), so it is going to my local indie who is ex-MB for diagnostics. Will let you know the result.

 

[Miffy]

Hi, I am having a similar problem with my CLK 320 (1999). It started a couple of years ago and seemed to occur when going round a sharp bend or up hill, just seemed to slip into nuetral even though still in drive. Commonsense said low oil level, but then found there is no way of checking it other than to drain and put in the recommended amount. Good old MB!!!! Had that done but the garage didn't measure how much came out!! Car was fine for a short time then the problem re-occurred. I have just seen another post where they suggest that the oil will only leak when the car is moving, they didn't say where from!! The situation has got critical now (the wife drove it and although she knows this is an occasional problem, I was forced to listen to the drama of it all), so it is going to my local indie who is ex-MB for diagnostics. Will let you know the result.

there is a guide on here on how to measure the ATF, essentially you create a dipping tool out of curtain wire, insert to the bottom of the tube, engine running, in park with gearbox upto temp (80c). your looking for around 54mm to 65mm depth of oil on the wire.