W124 transmission judder

Al Smith

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Not too sure how this works ,being a new member,but having owned four 123/124's in last 20 years....my latest one , E320 1994 in my possession for 3 faultless years, has developed a judder....similar to the sensation of poor wheel balance....when engine warm and under moderate torque for acceleration in any gear. I've checked the transmission fluid when warm and it's clean and to correct level.
It runs as normal when not being asked to pull ie unlaboured cruise and exhibits no problem till at working temp.
I do hope someone from this vast wealth of members experience can advise me of the possible cause.
Many thanks.
 

huey

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Hi welcome, is there any play in propshaft coupling? (vibration absorber) is the proper name for it
 
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kth286

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tricky as it could be lots of things, but lets go on the limited facts:

* only happens when warm.

* engine under slight load.

* not car speed related.

* is it engine speed related ?

* where do you feel it is coming from - steering/engine end OR under car ie rear ?

I am leaning towards a misfiring cylinder when hot and under slight load.

Possible cause is the rubber coil extender down to the plug; failing when it gets hot.

These contain a 2k ohm resistor wire, and they go brittle from the heat over time and
can break connection to the plug when hot.

You really need to get the car to an Indie with experience of your generation of car, as he should be able to read the diagnostic codes and determine which cylinder is misfiring.

The replacement extender was £10 ish from Merc last time.

If engine wiring loom not been replaced as him to take things gently when doing job.
 
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Al Smith

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W124 judder

Huey...thanx...will check prop shaft coupling when I can get it elevated.
Kth286....thanx...don't think it's engine speed related....it occurs from standing start@say 800 revs and going or when acceleratingin top gear to overtake @ say 3000rpm. In neutral, no sign of engine misfire at any rpm.

As a general commentc can I say what a great responsethis is!!! in less than 2 hrs, 2 people have taken the trouble to offer assistance. Many thanks. Al
 

mattkh

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Hi
Has the engine mounting been ruled out ?
 

grober

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Another vote for a HT misfire.
 

teabag

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Hi
Has the engine mounting been ruled out ?
I had a similar shudder on my 320CE, I replaced both engine mountings and the gearbox support, problem solved but I don't know which one was causing it as I could not see any appreciable movement on any of the old parts.
 

wireman

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+1 for engine mounts, replaced on both mine to good effect. I would suspect the fluid filled front pair having lost their fluid, the transmission tail mount made little difference on the auto box but on the manual box it cured a slight but irritating clutch judder on drive off.

Worn/tired prop shaft couplings (in my experience) behave badly at high power (if you can call 90HP high) and don't intrude much under normal driving, unless one of them is totally kaput.

A sparks problem would result in noticeably higher fuel consumption, but It is a distinct possible cause so do give the ignition a once over.
 
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Al Smith

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Thanx to everyone who offered their helpful thoughts.The vehicle is now running normally having had the auto gearbox rebuilt and the central ignition coil replaced...it seems that by coincidence there were two faults running simultaneously and that having cured the transmission problem then the ignition problem became more evident and was sorted by a local MB Independant.
Again thanx to you all
Alan
 

kth286

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wish everybody would report back just as you have done - we would
all learn lots more.

Thanks.
 


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