[TheBuck]

Two nights ago my 1999 SLK simply never moved after stoping at a red light. I could hear a grinding noise coming from below the car (not the engine)and had to push it (not an easy task by the way) out of the street.

The sad part is that the week before the car was at the mechanic after it was having problems with a loud noise and going into gear. He replaced the cerpentine belt but found no problems with the transmission. I guess he never checked the transmission flued level....

In any event, the transmission needs to be replaced. Any comments from you guys will be greatly appreciated. I'm highly concern about cost and time involved.

Once fixed, I'm selling the car immediately. It's going on 100K miles and I simply can't afford the maintenance any further.

[]

 

[Kirill]

Sorry to hear about your trouble, but you probably was running the original transmission fluid from the factory. Mercedes tried to cover up the need to have the fluid replaced every 50K (they obviously new it must be done).
The thing to consider - if you go with AAMCO Lifetime warranty - you never have to worry about transmission again - http://www.aamco.com/main/warranties/warranties-lifetime.html

Where you at ? May be somebody can recommend a good shop in your area.

 

[TheBuck]

I'm in the Fort Lauderdale, FL area. The car is already at the shop that I trust. They seem to do a good honest job but it will still cost a bundle. I hate to sell my car cause I really love it.

 

[430]

I am sorry to hear about your tranmission problems. MB Transmissions are not cheap. Hopefully they will your mechanic canwork something out.

 

[Kirill]

They seem to do a good honest job but it will still cost a bundle.

Can you share how much it cost ? Last i heard (Jay's transmission) it was 5000$

 

[slkpwr]

Kirill - 3/7/2005 7:48 PM

They seem to do a good honest job but it will still cost a bundle.

Can you share how much it cost ? Last i heard (Jay's transmission) it was 5000$

yup.. that's about how much i spent.. well the warranty did pay for it.

even if they checked your transmission fluid through the dipstick it will be hard to tell that there is a problem (large debris wont be seen through it) unless they open up the pan. I also planned to sell the car after the repair was done but i just love it so much that i still have it til now. []

 

[Slav]

Could you share with the group some of the symptoms you had before your tranny went. Did it slip, lock up in gear before recently, etc. I changed my fluid at 55k. I have noticed in my car there is a one second lag between when the sc spools up and the tranny engages when I accelerate at speed. Not really a slip but a lag like I have experienced in some turocharged cars.

 

[TheBuck]

I had heard that it can be thousands of dollars but quite frankly I'm not prepared financially to pay $5K for a transmission.... We'll see (and I will share it with you) when the mechanic calls me.

As for the symptons: A couple of weeks ago, when I tried to put the car in reverse (automatic transmission) it kinda hesitated for a couple of seconds or so. Then it went into gear. It made a cranking noise so I stopped the engine immediately and called for a tow truck to take it to the mechanic. I later get a call from him telling me that the car was fine.

A few days later, the transmission just quit working while in a traffic light. It made a cranking noise like broken metal. I'm not a mechanic but know enough to know that it was the transmission when I tried to push the car and it would not budge. When the flat bed arrived and had it pulled onto the bed, it too made a cranking noise. I guess the transmission was still in gear or parts of it were blocking the car's movement while in nuetral.

I will keep you guys posted as to the outcome and cost.

Anyone interested in buying a 1999 SLK with 97K miles????

[!]

 

[TheBuck]

Just got called from the repair shop: $3,400 for a full installation. [][]

I guess it could be a lot worse!