On my '98 E-320 wagon, under certain conditions, noise similar to worn-out brake pads scraping soon-to-be-worn-out rotors emanates from where the transmission meets the drive shaft. It started suddenly, has been intermittent, and occurs (a) in park and neutral, and (b) when driving in 1st and 2nd; above that, all is smooth and silent. The car has 114K miles on it, no codes are displayed, no fluid leaks, though without a dipstick I haven't checked the level. My shop can't get to me until Monday so I thought I would see if anyone here has an explanation. Searching this forum for 'transmissions', I found quite a few threads describing similar problems, but no solutions, other than 'replace the tranny'. Maybe, but not yet. It isn't anything like the catalytic converter rattling, or motor mounts, or a cracked flex-disk. Thanks in advance for any help.
I can't say I've heard that specific issue for Benz, but assuming it is drivetrain related (it could be the harmonics of the cat heat-shield issue simply manifesting in that area) then it's possible it might be the output bearing on the transmission (I had one of those fail in a different make, sounded very much like a scraping, although in my case it was pretty much constant from about 5-10mph and up, although with road/wind noise it was much harder to hear above 30 or so, which might be your case too). MB doesn't use U-joints and I can't imagine the connector being able to reproduce that noise.
For now I'd say don't drive the thing, rent something just to be sure, and let your shop have at on Monday.
Take care and enjoy the ride,
Greg
__________________ If the only prayer you say in your life is thank you, that would suffice. Meister Eckhart
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The noise definitely comes from something rotating and isn't hard to hear, it's louder than the engine. What ever it is, it turns in park and neutral. I'll report back when my mechanic gets into it.
Yikes. If you also hear it in Park and Neutral, that could be serious. As I'm sure you're aware the output bearing is only used when the car is moving.
Hopefully it's an issue your shop has seen before and the fix won't create a second mortgage.
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