I bought a 2002 S500 with about 14k miles two months ago. I recently noticed that when I shift from N to D, there is a delay of about 2 seconds until the transmission engages. I also noticed that after driving the car for more than 10 miles (i.e. the transmission is hot) and shift from D back to N, the transmission makes a "tooug" sound as if a disc has disengaged. I am not sure if this was a pre-exisisting condition when I bought the car. Any ideas on what is going on with the transmission. Since this car has an electronic transmission and is complicated in general, should I be concerned? The car is still under warranty.

its hard to interpret transmission feel through words,

As I think it states in your owners manual car should be stationary when going from reverse to drive and a moment should be given for engagement.

but drive to neutral should be quiet - try it with your foot hard on the brake pedal and see it you notice any difference

test drive another S to compare -

where are you feeling the heat from the transmission? tunnel carpeting?

what speed and outside temps for the ten mile heat build-up?

Thank you for your reply. The transmission does not make any sounds when shifting from N to D (i.e. it is only a delay in engagement). When shifting from D to N, I have tried with my foot hard on the brake padel and noticed a difference. The "tooug" sound is hardly noticeable.

I have also tried another S500 (2000) and noticed that it immediately engages when I shift from N to D unlike my S500 which takes about 2 seconds to engage.

With respect to the heat, I may not have been sufficiently clear on my post. I have not noticed any heat from the transmission. My reference to "heat" was intended to describe the vehicle's behaviour after driving it for a while.

Hello,

I see that the car is only 2 years old with just 14,000 miles...

But from the symtoms described it is crossing the threshold of needing the transmission fluid and filter changed...

Just trying to help, thanks.

Should have mentioned that if the tranny came from the factory with a special blend/formula style transmission fluid...

i.e. special synthetic trans fluid

Replace transmission fluid with same exact style fresh fluid...

Thanks.

Thank you for your replies. Since the car is still under warranty, I took it to the dealership last week and they are currently investigating the problem. I will keep you posted.

Thanks.

I just brought the car back from the dealership. The dealership told me that the car had a bad torque converter and they replaced it under warranty. I asked them how much would it have cost had it not been under warranty and I was told about $ 3k.

Transmission fluid on a 722.6 DOES NOT need to be changed after 14,000 miles for no reason. Did the torque converter change remedy the problem?

__________________
Ali Al-Chalabi

2001 CLK55
1999 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel
2002 Harley-Davidson Fatboy
Merlin Extralight w/ Campy Record

Replacing the torque converter DID remedy the problem...