Ok, so I am about to pick up my 500sel with newly rebuilt tranny. Quick background - after shopping around for a month and finding prices from $4500 (dealer) to $2600 (most indy's), I found a guy who does MB auto tranny ONLY, and he quoted the entire job (R&I tranny, full internal rebuild) at $1200. During the rebuild, he suggested resealing the back of the motor ($25), and replacing the flex disc ($125), and I opted to do both.

The tech called me this morning and said that the tranny is in the car, and works properly. HOWEVER - there is an electrical problem in the kickdown system, and this causes it to shift funny (or not at all...). He says that if you disconnect the electric control and rely on just the hyudraulic control, then the car drives fine (shifting properly including downshifts). He said that the kickdown selection was not as precise as it should be (with the electric disconnected), but it could be fine to run it this way for quite awhile without problems.

Of course, I am certainly concerned that the tech didn't report that the rebuild went fine and everything was working great. He is certainly implying that the tranny is fine (rebuilt properly), and this electric problem is secondary (meaning not included in the cost or process of a normal tranny rebuild).

The tech is going to call back with a price on the electric parts needed.

Thoughts? Experiences?

-David

DaveL, that description does sound like the kickdown switch and/or cable is unreliable. My E420 (722.366) had erratic downshifts when I bought it, issue resolved after replacing the kickdown switch. The shifts will be "off" with the switch disconnected of course... almost feels like you are flogging the engine and can't reach the shift point.

-DM

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1995 E420 SE black/black
2004 Volvo V70R AWD

Hmmm - this is different than I thought...

It appears that the electrical component that was not working is the electrical switch in the selector that activates 1st when you slide it to the side. This was locked "on", which explains why my car was ALWAYS starting in first, and then having a hard time upshifting (usually going to near redline and then bouncing to 3rd). The tech is attributing this to reason that the tranny failed (having to work extra hard by starting in first all the time).

The switch is $48 to $88 (depending upon source), and installs through the console (inside the car). The tech is suggesting that I pick the car up today and drive it over the weekend. He will get the switch and install it on Tuesday (I pay for the switch, labor included in the total rebuild as quoted).

Again, I was hoping that the tech would simply tell me "everything is great", but he did say that he wouldn't have told a "normal" customer this much, but since I have my own shop he thought it would be ok to tell me the inner details (which he says he would have not necessarily revealed to a different customer - rather he would have had the customer wait another day and just fix it without giving the customer the details (again, like I said, I wished he would have just told me "everything is fine" - now I'll be driving along somewhere and hear a funny noise and be sure something is falling apart...)

-David

Since we spoke last, I have picked up the car with it's rebuilt tranny. I drove it 200+ miles.

The "1st gear" switch wasn't available (on order), so I am driving it with the electrical control disconnected. It works normal, mostly, with some resistance to kickdowns, and difficulty with first/second gear choices (accelerating out of corners it doesn't pick the "best" gear).

Hopefully, replacing the switch will cure the few minor problems, BUT - the bottom line is that it appears that you can get a good tranny rebuild on 140 cars for under $1300 if you shop and are willing to make some considerations for working with a small shop.

-David

As with everything, you get what you pay for.

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Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician