W211 E320CDI - Keep / Sell?
Discussion
I've had a 2003 W211 E320CDI Avantgarde saloon for 6 months but it's started to display a symptom which may indicate big big bills ahead.
When I'm driving home from work in the evening, the first part of the journey is a 70mph run on a slight incline. The car gets up to speed and just under 2000 rpm but there is a slight vibration which appears to go if I drop to 4th and the revs go up to 2500 rpm. Now, some of that is down to the cheap-jack tyres on the car and poor balancing but I really worry it might be a Valeo problem. I've tried searching for a description of the symptoms but no joy.
I need to make a decision o whether to keep or chop in - if I do decide to keep it I've got to shell out on about £1200 worth of repairs with the potential for more expense to come. Or I use the £1200 towards something else.
Anyone have any advice / thoughts? Cheers
When I'm driving home from work in the evening, the first part of the journey is a 70mph run on a slight incline. The car gets up to speed and just under 2000 rpm but there is a slight vibration which appears to go if I drop to 4th and the revs go up to 2500 rpm. Now, some of that is down to the cheap-jack tyres on the car and poor balancing but I really worry it might be a Valeo problem. I've tried searching for a description of the symptoms but no joy.
I need to make a decision o whether to keep or chop in - if I do decide to keep it I've got to shell out on about £1200 worth of repairs with the potential for more expense to come. Or I use the £1200 towards something else.
Anyone have any advice / thoughts? Cheers
What's the mileage? How has it been otherwise?
Tyre wobble won't change when you change gears (unless you are also changing speed but did not mention that).
Then again I haven't heard of a failing gearbox cause vibrations.
For me it would come down to how bad I feel handing the problem over to someone else vs. how much I like the car. If you get rid of it you'll never know what the problem was!
Tyre wobble won't change when you change gears (unless you are also changing speed but did not mention that).
Then again I haven't heard of a failing gearbox cause vibrations.
For me it would come down to how bad I feel handing the problem over to someone else vs. how much I like the car. If you get rid of it you'll never know what the problem was!
Pentoman said:
What's the mileage? How has it been otherwise?
Thanks for the reply - mileage is 106K with a part service history (service records missing for 70k & 80k).As for how's it been, it drives OK but there's stack of niggling faults / jobs due that really need addressing if I keep it (front suspenssion, thermostat, 4 new tyres to replace the chinese 'Sunnys', wing mirror wires and lock actuator).
Pentoman said:
Tyre wobble won't change when you change gears (unless you are also changing speed but did not mention that).
Then again I haven't heard of a failing gearbox cause vibrations.
It's been suggested that a the driveshaft bearing might be at fault but I'm not sure. A couple of times when pulling off and at about 10-20 mph, the car feels like a manual in too high a gear (ie jerks a bit).Then again I haven't heard of a failing gearbox cause vibrations.
Pentoman said:
For me it would come down to how bad I feel handing the problem over to someone else vs. how much I like the car. If you get rid of it you'll never know what the problem was!
Do I like the car, yes, but I don't want to fork out a load of cash only to have a catastrophic failure later - I had that with an Audi A4 and I really don't want that again.From what you have quoted this sounds like a classic sympton of a Fault with the torque convertor. However its not a straight forward repair as you may have guessed.
Basically the Torque convertor becomes out of balance due to metallic swarf particles building up inside it after being transferred around by the transmission fluid. this then causes an imbalance in the torque convertor which you feel at a certain rev range usually around 1800-2200 rpm under light throttle with the vehicle under a slight load: eg: vehicle accelerating or going up an incline.
Now you may wonder where the metal swarf particles have come from, usually its from components wearing inside the transmission, clutch plates, discs, hubs etc.
You could consider flushing the transmission & replacing the filter. This will only be a short term solution though & eventually the fault will return. If you do change the transmission filter, open it up & its almost certain you will find loads of metal particles in it.
If you want to do a full on repair then this is where it gets expensive, a new or reconditioned torque convertor, new or reconditioned transmission, new radiator which incorporates oil cooler for transmission or otherwise at least flush it & transmission lines through to remove swarf etc. Once all the repairs are done its then advisable to readapt adaptation data for gear changes & torque convertor using Mercedes Star diagnostic eqipment to ensure smooth gear changes etc.
Going back to your original question 'do i keep or sell' only you can decide. There's 2 ways of looking at it, One is like the saying goes 'its better the devil you know' you know what the cars history is & what repairs you've done etc so you won't have the worry of what hasn't been done etc where as if you go out & buy a new car, it'll be like starting again & there's always the unknown of what could go wrong & what needs to be done unless you buy a car from a reputable person or dealer etc & get it with some sort of warranty.
Basically the Torque convertor becomes out of balance due to metallic swarf particles building up inside it after being transferred around by the transmission fluid. this then causes an imbalance in the torque convertor which you feel at a certain rev range usually around 1800-2200 rpm under light throttle with the vehicle under a slight load: eg: vehicle accelerating or going up an incline.
Now you may wonder where the metal swarf particles have come from, usually its from components wearing inside the transmission, clutch plates, discs, hubs etc.
You could consider flushing the transmission & replacing the filter. This will only be a short term solution though & eventually the fault will return. If you do change the transmission filter, open it up & its almost certain you will find loads of metal particles in it.
If you want to do a full on repair then this is where it gets expensive, a new or reconditioned torque convertor, new or reconditioned transmission, new radiator which incorporates oil cooler for transmission or otherwise at least flush it & transmission lines through to remove swarf etc. Once all the repairs are done its then advisable to readapt adaptation data for gear changes & torque convertor using Mercedes Star diagnostic eqipment to ensure smooth gear changes etc.
Going back to your original question 'do i keep or sell' only you can decide. There's 2 ways of looking at it, One is like the saying goes 'its better the devil you know' you know what the cars history is & what repairs you've done etc so you won't have the worry of what hasn't been done etc where as if you go out & buy a new car, it'll be like starting again & there's always the unknown of what could go wrong & what needs to be done unless you buy a car from a reputable person or dealer etc & get it with some sort of warranty.
Pentoman said:
What's the mileage? How has it been otherwise?
Tyre wobble won't change when you change gears (unless you are also changing speed but did not mention that).
Then again I haven't heard of a failing gearbox cause vibrations.
For me it would come down to how bad I feel handing the problem over to someone else vs. how much I like the car. If you get rid of it you'll never know what the problem was!
Tyre wobble won't change when you change gears (unless you are also changing speed but did not mention that).
Then again I haven't heard of a failing gearbox cause vibrations.
For me it would come down to how bad I feel handing the problem over to someone else vs. how much I like the car. If you get rid of it you'll never know what the problem was!
In my experience if it were the coolant leaking into the transmission fluid then you would probably experience the transmission slipping when changing gear rather than a vibration/judder as experienced by Seeker Uk. Whilst his car does fall into the age bracket for falling into the faulty Valeo radiator syndrome i still feel the problem lies with metal swarf floating around the transmission oil lines & causing an imbalance in the torque convertor at the particular rev range as discussed. As said before i've experienced this problem many times & the end result has always been the overhaul/replace torque convertor & then decide whether to go the expensive route for a guaranteed fix or take the short term fix & flush the system through.
matc said:
Could it not be that coolant is getting into the gearbox, I believe this was a fairly common on the 211 3.0 diesels.
There's a company that is able to bypass the slipper clutch to eradicate the problem.
There's a company that is able to bypass the slipper clutch to eradicate the problem.
not sure I can rule out a model just for the SBC issue, there must be a fix....Gassing Station | Mercedes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff