Help is needed....

My W140 S500 built end of 1993 always has slow reverse gear (1 - 2 seconds). All the forward gears are fine. In winter, the forward gears might be a bit hard but nothing too out of the ordinary. The car has done 160K and everything else works like dream.

Suddenly, my reverse gear take a long time to engage -- 10+ seconds. I told the dealer and they said to repair would cost more than AUD 3000.

What can I do? On the other hand, I have a 1984 380SEL which has done 300K and the tanny is still working fine... What is wrong with my W140?

Any suggestions? Any one got similar problems?

Michael Tse
Australia

COMMON ISSUE. Do a search in the archives and you'll find a great deal of info.

GOOD LUCK!

__________________
2006 E350 w/ 155k miles (Daily Driver)

Previous:
1993 300E 3.2L Sedan w/ close to about 300k miles
2003 E500 Brilliant Silver (Had 217k miles when totalled!)
1989 300E with 289,000 miles (had for <1 yr while in HI)
03 CLK 500 cabrio (Mom's)
2006 C230k (Dad's)
1999 S420 (Mom's/Dad's)
2000 C230k Sport sedans
2001 CLK320 Cabrio (Mom's)
1995 C280 My First Mercedes-Benz... (155k miles. EXCEPTIONAL AUTOMOBILE. Was Very hard to let go of!)

Wear in the reverse "clutch pack" is the most common problem, this requires disassembly of the trans.

__________________
MERCEDES Benz Master Guild Technician (6 TIMES)
ASE Master Technician
Mercedes Benz Star Technician (2 times)
44 years foreign automotive repair
27 Years M.B. Shop foreman (dealer)
MB technical information Specialist (15 years)
190E 2.3 16V ITS SCCA race car (sold)
1986 190E 2.3 16V 2.5 (sold)
Retired Moderator

Thanks for all the info. I did a search on "reverse clutch" and found some info. It does sound like this is a common problem to this car and I am bad luck with it.

I will take the car straight to the dealer and have it repaired. Looks like I will be up to a few thousands Australian dollars. I assume most of it will be labour.

Is there anything I could have done to prevent this problem???

Again, many thanks and will update you all once I have it fixed....


Michael Tse
Australia