AMG autobox whine, and leicestershire specialists?

[carlosvalderrama]

I've never had a M-B before, nor an automatic, so I'm fumbling about in the dark a little and I need a bit of experienced advice.

It's a '98 C43 AMG, black, history and 76k on the clock. Everything works, but there's a couple of things which are niggling. Mainly the gearbox. Everything was fine on the test(naturally), but since then a few times on startup the gearbox makes a fairly audible whine in neutral. Sometimes went away after a few seconds, otherwise it stopped as soon as I shifted to reverse or drive. When stopping it's totally quiet. Shifts apear to be fine and smooth, but I've no experience to compare.

Also the multi contour pneumatic seats, they're a litle erratic, are they powered by a compressor somewhere, or engine vacuum or something?

Lastly, can anyone reccommend (to visit or avoid) a specialist in the leicester-hinckley-coventry area? Someone's already warned me off a spot called Mercland in Nuneaton, but I found a place called AMG midlands in hinckley, but not called yet.

Thanks for any help...

[mickyveloce]

Have a look at the classifieds as theres a C43 listed for sale which has had a gearbox recon at 75k with mention made of a specialist .
The `box seems to be a weak link on the C43 . Don`t ignore it as if it blows up (which they do) they`re expensive to replace (if , indeed you can find one) .

Good luck

[74merc]

Check to see if the ATF has been replaced. The gearbox was originally meant to be sealed for life but a fluid change every 40K miles is recommended.

[carlosvalderrama]

I can't find any record of the transmission fluid being changed, and I was planning on it anyway, so that's the first job to do.

cheers.