[W245Wiggler]

Hi All. first time here. Thanks for reading.

I have a 2006 B200 Turbo bought second hand October 2016. 92,000KM. During the test drive we never noticed the wiggle/ wobble/ vibration during acceleration. But it must have been there. My problem. The car actually "Wiggles" or Wobbles quite noticeably during acceleration from a stand still. It is not a vibration, but a definite wiggle/ wobble - when accelerating from a standstill. It can be felt in the steering wheel and through the car. The slower you pull away from standstill the more pronounced the wiggle/wobble is. There is not really a difference in the C or S mode

There is also a shudder or vibration when accelerating from almost any speed. Most noticeable from around 60 kph to 80 kph. As soon as you stop accelerating and drive at constant speed - there is no wiggle/ or vibration or shudder. The car is very smooth at any speed when not actually accelerating. The vibration is always there when you accelerate. It is definitely worse when accelerating up a hill.
Work done - in this order: Transmission oil replaced
Both driveshafts inner and outer with CV replaced
4 x new engine mounts
New valve body installed in transmission and transmission oil change
right hand drive shaft replaced for a second time
all 4 wheels balanced
rear brake discs re skimmed
Mechanic has had a good look at the suspension and says they look good.

Nothing has made any improvement.

After the first drive shaft was replaced, there was still a very slight oscillation noticed on the right hand drive shaft when turned manually whilst up on the hoist. so they replaced new drive shafts again. it is hard to say now if there is still a slight oscillation of the drive shaft when you turn it manually on the hoist.

Automatic Transmission specialists have examined the transmission and dont think there is a problem with the actual transmission. They have suggested it could be the "clutch" - i assume there is some kind of clutch inside the auto CVT transmission? this clutch disc could be faulty providing the vibration?

Thoughts are now that the differential could be the culprit? This would mean replacing the whole transmission as I believe there are no serviceable parts in the differential which is part of the transmission?

My next step is to replace the entire transmission and differential with a "good" second hand one?

Anyone else out there had anything similar to this happen to them? I would be interested to hear anyone else's thoughts.

 

[il_signore97]

Welcome to the forums!

Sorry for the late reply, but after reading through your post, I have one question... You've replaced a lot of drive line components and mounts with no real improvement, but have you looked into the actual engine itself? You say that it drives very smoothly when cruising, but wobbles upon acceleration (worse uphill). This would tend to shift focus to the engine (possibly transmission as a secondary fallback).

Firstly, have the spark plugs ever been changed? If not, that's the first place I would start on a 10+ year old vehicle! You don't have a ton of mileage on it, but time has certainly passed and the plugs would be long overdue if not changed yet. Also, check the plug wires and coil packs while you're there. Any arcing or a weak coil can cause those symptoms. There could be a slight misfire that shows itself under load, and not when cruising gently. If it's not the plugs or related items, then I would be sure to do a full workup on the engine to be absolutely positive that it is not a misfire before even thinking about putting a new transmission in the vehicle on the off chance that it might help correct the wobble.

Hope that helps, and do let us know how it goes.

 

[Tyrelirwin]

I’m having the same issue- any further details on this?

 

[Mike Ti]

My guess would be worn engine mounts.

 

[W245Wiggler]

Apologies for long time without reply, was finally able to reset password.
1 year on and same problem, not really any worse. I had the 4 engine mounts changed - in the beginning - did not fix it - please check the long list of things tried.

I Went back and revisited the drive shafts last month and replaced them for a 3rd time - one of them showed a fair bit of wear after only 12 months, so put on a new one. My indi Mechanic who only works on Mercs even did an additional check and put 2 brand new shafts on to check it and that did not fix it. He is stumped and does not know what the issue is - he spent a lot of time trying to work it out - i am very grateful. He is however also not 100% sure the gearbox is the problem. - So I just live with a Wiggling B200T on acceleration.

I have exhausted everything other than the transmission/gearbox. I can only assume there is something wrong in the Transmission. I will just keep driving as is. Been no worse or better in last 15 months with 15 000 km.

Maybe one day I will replace with a second hand transmission, but they want over $1000 - $2000 for a used one here in Australia! plus $2-3K for labour!

Anyone here know if the transmission replacement is a DIY job for someone with moderate skills?

 

[keyhole]

Anyone here know if the transmission replacement is a DIY job for someone with moderate skills?

Hard to say without knowing your facilities at home - eg, do you have a hoist, torque wrenches, etc?
The B200 turbo is Model 245.234. Engine 266.980. Transmission 722.801.

I have just looked up the full procedure in my WIS.
1. Remove/Install transmission with torque converter. This includes
2. Remove/Install engine together with front axle carrier. (steps 1 to 64)

Because of the number of 'disconnections' required, this is one of the longest procedures that I have read in the WIS, and personally I would leave it to the professionals.

 

[DEVOURS]

Automatic Transmission specialists have examined the transmission and dont think there is a problem with the actual transmission. They have suggested it could be the "clutch" - i assume there is some kind of clutch inside the auto CVT transmission? this clutch disc could be faulty providing the vibration?

I have never heard of anyone here explaining anything "about a clutch" when discussing the B200 CVT and its many problems..

 

[Lunga Luks Tonjeni]

I am having the same issue any advice on what could be causing it

 

[forrera]

I've seen this problem several times, and it was always a worn driveshaft .
Mainly the inner joint of the longer (right) driveshaft.

 

[pfsantos]

Put the car on a dyno (roller). Can't think of a better way to figure this mystery out.

I suppose all wearable parts on the front steering and suspension were checked? Because I didn't see you mention tie rods or ball joints or Sway bar rods.

 

[DEVOURS]

I Went back and revisited the drive shafts last month and replaced them for the 3rd time. My indi Mechanic who only works on Mercs even did an additional check and put 2 brand new shafts on to check it and that did not fix it. He is stumped and does not know what the issue is -

Are you sure that these shafts were actually changed ?

 

[W245Wiggler]

Well I watched the first mechanic do it for the second time. 2 further mechanics since then confirmed they were new axles - They looked new to me too. The third time - most recently i have to rely on the mechanics word - I trust him so believe him. He is trustworthy. He also owns the same car - used as a loan car with 200,000km on clock and has never experienced this problem.

 

[W245Wiggler]

My guess would be worn engine mounts.

Engine mounts were replaced at beginning - 2 on engine and 2 on transmission.

 

[W245Wiggler]

Put the car on a dyno (roller). Can't think of a better way to figure this mystery out.

I suppose all wearable parts on the front steering and suspension were checked? Because I didn't see you mention tie rods or ball joints or Sway bar rods.

I have had a suspension" expert" check the car. I was told it was all ok. Shocks were slightly worn and so we replaced all 4 brand new shocks.

 

[W245Wiggler]

I am having the same issue any advice on what could be causing it

Howzit Lunga. What are your symptoms exactly? Mine is a definite wiggle or wobble that you can feel the car wobble quickly from left to right when you accelerate slowly. If you punch the accelerator, it is more of a vibration or shudder. It definitely only happens on acceleration. Constant speed driving at any speed is as smooth as anything.

One more thing I have noticed is that it happens about 9 times out of 10 when accelerating. But on About every 10th acceleration, it pulls away fine with no vibration or wiggle or wobble.??

 

[W245Wiggler]

Hard to say without knowing your facilities at home - eg, do you have a hoist, torque wrenches, etc?
The B200 turbo is Model 245.234. Engine 266.980. Transmission 722.801.

I have just looked up the full procedure in my WIS.
1. Remove/Install transmission with torque converter. This includes
2. Remove/Install engine together with front axle carrier. (steps 1 to 64)

Because of the number of 'disconnections' required, this is one of the longest procedures that I have read in the WIS, and personally I would leave it to the professionals.

Thanks for looking this up. Yes, definitely sounds way out of my league. I dont have a hoist, thought maybe I could use jack stands and borrow an engine hoist to lift out, but this is too hard.

 

[W245Wiggler]

I've seen this problem several times, and it was always a worn driveshaft .
Mainly the inner joint of the longer (right) driveshaft.

Hi Forrera
This is what all the mechanics who have looked at it think - hence why its been through so many drive shafts. My understanding is that each time they are replacing the entire drive shaft..
My latest mechanic who only does Mercs, kept the car for a week as he was so intrigued by the problem and wanted to work it out for his piece of mind . he claims he took the drive shafts off his car which does not have the problem and fitted them to mine and the problem still persisted. He then took the drive shafts back on his car and it as fine. He was adamant the drive shafts were the issue but says he has never seen this situation before.

 

[pfsantos]

I'm running out of ideas!

Suspension bushings? edit: control arm bushings

Maybe it really is related to the transmission or maybe the differential (inside).

I'd say switch the tires front to back, but you said once in a while it doesn't wiggle!

 

[DEVOURS]

If you had a bad tire or 2 ..this might also be the problem.

If you can "borrow" some else's wheels and the exact same wiggle still persists, then you've eliminated the tire and wheel possibility. It would then go possibly back to a problem in the CVT..

Maybe there is wear at the point where the new drive shafts mesh with the transmission ? Maybe the intermesh gearing past the shafts ?

 

[keyhole]

I'm running out of ideas!

Do you think that this car has ever been in a collision? Maybe some alignment checks would eliminate that area....