Bummed out fixing your MB? Get a load of THIS!... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

jbach36 · #1 11-08-2014, 11:56 PM

I'm having to find a fix for my transmission problem on my '91 300d with 191k on it. I had a quote of $3,400 to put in a rebuilt, and roughly $2,800 to fix the existing one. In the end, if I'm lucky, it might turn out to be just a plastic gear that can be replaced fairly easily for $15, plus labor.

However, in the meantime I've been looking at different cars since I've been tired of repairing other issues with mine over the years; new struts and shocks, glow plugs, cleaning the injectors, replacing 0-rings, shut off valve, etc.

So I was looking at later models of Toyota Avalons, 2005, 2007, etc. I thought it'd be nice to have a newer car with no issues. I googled up "common issues with 2005 Totota Avalons" (and some other model years), and was aghast at what I found. Some of them had acceleration issues while braking or while going down a hill. One of them was in a car wash in low gear, surged forward and hit the car in front of it, and when the guy put it in reverse, it surged backwards and hit the car behind him. The car going down the hill smashed into a wall. Another one went over a hill.

WOW! Talk about having a bad day! Of course other makes/models have their problems, with owners talking about transmission failures, etc.

Now my MB repairs don't look so bad.

leathermang · #2 11-09-2014, 12:01 AM

And you did not mention some 8 million with a potentially deadly air bag shrapnel bomb.

Zacharias · #3 11-09-2014, 12:33 AM

There are no completely issue-free cars. Toyota is a prime example of an automaker that lost its way for a while in corporate greed. How VW maintains its customer base I have no idea. It has been turning out some really awful stuff for decades now.

GM, well okay they are producing something resembling products people actually want now, but how can you stomach buying from a company with such a polluted internal culture that it allowed the ignition switch defect fiasco to go on so long and result in so many deaths?

Ford? Meh. Their biggest claim to fame is self-parking and inSynch? Uh?

Do I want to announce to people that I own a KIA? Would you? Sounds like a personal hair removal device.

I am not sure how much longer I am going to fight the good fight with these old cars. When I do I will most likely go forth into the marketplace with an absolute minimum of enthusiasm....

97 SL320 · #4 11-09-2014, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbach36

Some of them had acceleration issues while braking or while going down a hill. One of them was in a car wash in low gear, surged forward and hit the car in front of it, and when the guy put it in reverse, it surged backwards and hit the car behind him. The car going down the hill smashed into a wall. Another one went over a hill.

I don't buy most of the "sudden acceleration" stories no matter the car. A car just won't have a brake failure and snap the throttle wide open at the same time then exhibit no signs of brake failure.

Pushing the wrong peddle is a much more likely situation. Some of this was reduced when shift interlocks ( press brake to get out of park ) were added but apparently isn't enough.

As for "common failures" there are millions upon millions of cars out there, if a hand full of people have a failure it looks like an epidemic once the internet gets involved. Even worse is when customer neglect / misuse causes a problem and it is blamed on the manufacturer.

Dexcool is a prime example. With Dexcool, low coolant levels lead to an air pocket at the _top_ of the cooling system, this causes Dex to deteriorate and sludge up. The bottom of the system remains completely clean, cast iron is still bright silver even after 12 years 125,000 miles.

With regular green antifreeze, when neglected, the sludge stays at the _bottom_ of the cooling system unseen by the consumer so they remain blissfully unaware.

Both systems have sludge due to neglect, but Dex is considered bad and green OK.

Skippy · #5 11-09-2014, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 97 SL320

I don't buy most of the "sudden acceleration" stories no matter the car. A car just won't have a brake failure and snap the throttle wide open at the same time then exhibit no signs of brake failure.

Pushing the wrong peddle is a much more likely situation. Some of this was reduced when shift interlocks ( press brake to get out of park ) were added but apparently isn't enough.

I agree. It also seems to me that Toyotas are the car of choice for people who suck at driving, which is why you see it more in Toyotas.

mike-81-240d · #6 11-09-2014, 07:45 PM

Try pricing out v6 coilpacks for a 2nd gen avalon... No thanks.

dude99 · #7 11-09-2014, 08:04 PM

Avalon's are nice, my parents have a 1995. Although the V6 is a pain in the ass to work on, and they drink fuel.... They also have the turning radius of the Queen Mary.....

I'd keep your 1991 if you like driving it. Most of the repairs you mention are maintenance items that will go bad in any car.

Also, the $3400 you've been quoted for a rebuild, as a one time cost, is pretty minimal when you look at the $25,000+ a new car is going to cost you.

HuskyMan · #8 11-09-2014, 09:32 PM

Trading one set of problems for another set of problems. Yes, that time comes in any automobile's life when it needs to be parted out and put out to pasture. That said, IMHO, pre-1995 Mercedes Benz automobiles were designed to be rebuilt and rebuilt and rebuilt over and over. They literally are a 100 year car. Buy once and drive for life. Yes, there are some strange weird idiosyncrasies but don't all cars have some weird issues?

VW1300 · #9 11-09-2014, 09:54 PM

[QUOTE=HuskyMan;3405870]Trading one set of problems for another set of problems. ...QUOTE]

+1 on that. I'm not as handy as some other folks here so I've had to spend money to have things done that I can't do, like front end work, and recently glow plugs - decided to have someone who's a better mechanic than me deal with that potential headache. So every so often I have to pay more than I'd like to keep driving my '97.

However, to put things in perspective, consider that a new car costs you at least $1000-2000/yr in depreciation. And if it's not new, it's still going to depreciate every year to some degree, and even a Toyota will still break every so often. Your Mercedes is fully depreciated so if $2800 gets you a few more years of service, and you're otherwise happy with the car, I'd say you're doing OK. If you sell the car in a few years, perhaps you can recoup some of the cost with the sale price. No doubt a lot of these cars are going to need transmission repairs as they all age.

If it comes down to the expensive repair, be sure to keep records. Back when I test drove W123s in 2007, several owners told me how they had the transmissions rebuilt, but none could produce paperwork of course, so it didn't help them make the sale.

ROLLGUY · #10 11-10-2014, 01:26 AM

If it is just the governor drive gear that is bad on your trans, it is actually a very easy thing to fix. The problem is probably not the gear though, it usually is the secondary pump that the gear drives. You could replace the gear today, and tomorrow it will be broken again (ask me how I know this). It is best to remove the secondary pump gears while replacing the plastic drive gear, and your trans will carry on it's duties thereafter. It is about a 2 hour job from start to finish, and I have a thread here somewhere with a how-to. I would also replace both gears and the gasket. That reminds me, the wrong part was ordered when I did mine the first time, so I ended up with 2 of the larger gears. If you need one, I will sell it for my cost ($7 something)+ shipping (about $6)....Rich

EDIT: found the thread http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/355915-trans-experts-join-huddle-i-need-help-diagnosis.html

vstech · #11 11-10-2014, 09:15 AM

heh, my boss always ribbs me about my MB's, but he's had a new accord since 13, and it's been in the service department monthly... cvt transmission problems, and honda is mum about repairing it... service department will not touch it... and it's under warranty!

Zulfiqar · #12 11-10-2014, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vstech

heh, my boss always ribbs me about my MB's, but he's had a new accord since 13, and it's been in the service department monthly... cvt transmission problems, and honda is mum about repairing it... service department will not touch it... and it's under warranty!

ahhhh

the lovely CVT - apparently it should work so good that the car should have zero issues and it should work for 300,000 miles without oil change. Somehow it fails at that.

I read that it also can solve world hunger

Zulfiqar · #13 11-10-2014, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbach36

I'm having to find a fix for my transmission problem on my '91 300d with 191k on it. I had a quote of $3,400 to put in a rebuilt, and roughly $2,800 to fix the existing one. In the end, if I'm lucky, it might turn out to be just a plastic gear that can be replaced fairly easily for $15, plus labor.

However, in the meantime I've been looking at different cars since I've been tired of repairing other issues with mine over the years; new struts and shocks, glow plugs, cleaning the injectors, replacing 0-rings, shut off valve, etc.

So I was looking at later models of Toyota Avalons, 2005, 2007, etc. I thought it'd be nice to have a newer car with no issues. I googled up "common issues with 2005 Totota Avalons" (and some other model years), and was aghast at what I found. Some of them had acceleration issues while braking or while going down a hill. One of them was in a car wash in low gear, surged forward and hit the car in front of it, and when the guy put it in reverse, it surged backwards and hit the car behind him. The car going down the hill smashed into a wall. Another one went over a hill.

WOW! Talk about having a bad day! Of course other makes/models have their problems, with owners talking about transmission failures, etc.

Now my MB repairs don't look so bad.

The sudden acceleration issues are just bar stories like you hear of the girl who did LSD and got permanently high.. etc.

there are a ton of other stories out there and mostly related to toyota and sudden acceleration, I worked at a dealer once and the amount of morons swinging in to claim sudden acceleration was crazy - apparently toyota drivers though that toyota themselves were equally dumb - you would hear stuff like - your car sucks it tries to kill me everyday.

Zulfiqar · #14 11-10-2014, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 97 SL320

I don't buy most of the "sudden acceleration" stories no matter the car. A car just won't have a brake failure and snap the throttle wide open at the same time then exhibit no signs of brake failure.

Pushing the wrong peddle is a much more likely situation. Some of this was reduced when shift interlocks ( press brake to get out of park ) were added but apparently isn't enough.

As for "common failures" there are millions upon millions of cars out there, if a hand full of people have a failure it looks like an epidemic once the internet gets involved. Even worse is when customer neglect / misuse causes a problem and it is blamed on the manufacturer.

Dexcool is a prime example. With Dexcool, low coolant levels lead to an air pocket at the _top_ of the cooling system, this causes Dex to deteriorate and sludge up. The bottom of the system remains completely clean, cast iron is still bright silver even after 12 years 125,000 miles.

With regular green antifreeze, when neglected, the sludge stays at the _bottom_ of the cooling system unseen by the consumer so they remain blissfully unaware.

Both systems have sludge due to neglect, but Dex is considered bad and green OK.

At first I though that dex was the reason. after a few experiences I came to know its not. Dexcool is really good engine coolant, the usual problems as you said were low levels of coolant (no help from GM designing a system where the radiator cap is lower than the highest point in the cooling circuit (W body 3.4 engine cars)

Simpler=Better · #15 11-10-2014, 10:42 AM

The devil you know is the better devil.

If the Ferd ecoboosts turn out anything like the Limas or Duratechs they will be fine.

Edit-the sudden acceleration has to be operator error 90% of the time, and a stuck throttle body the other 10%. Couple a stuck TB with an idiot driver who panics, and brakes that probably are only serviced when they fail, well then you get crashes.