Transmission w124 E420 + Girlfriend = Problems

In a nutshell.

I bought a 1994 E420 W124 for my girlfriend.

53K with an aftermarket warranty for $12,000

I schedule her oil changes. Also this woman is a raving luntic when she is carless- you would think I cut off her right arm when her car is in the shop- automatically she will latch onto anyones car she can.

She knows she is not allowed to drive my E500 1994 but insists on it. (currenly she drives her ex-husbands car)

So at around 59,000 miles the A/c goes. After a long battle with the warranty company all is covered except for freon and tax...you would think she was gravely wronged by the way she acted.

At 60K miles her car is due for a service. A transmission service. I tell her its an $800 service at the dealership. She refuses to pay that- saying she can't afford it right now (I say better to put it on a credit card and pay it off over time- she says "no").

I say- pay a little now or a lot more later. She says....I'll do it later.

A few more oil changes and we notice oil leaking from the gear box.

Her gear box is replaced covered by warranty. (except for $100) She doesn't get an alignment at that time. Then she gets new snow tires...stilll no alignment.

Then at 80K miles her transmission starts slipping. She sends it into the the dealership and they can't reproduce the problem. It leaves her stranded a few times. She send sit into the dealer and they can't reproduce the symptoms.

The symptoms:
When she pulls up to a stop sign and then tries to go again the engine just revs. No gear engagement. If she then downshifts into 1st or 2nd gear the car engages and moves but still won't shift into 3 or 4.

IF she gets home and lets it sit it behaves for a few hundred miles more.

Recently there has been a grinding sound and a "oil like smell" coming from the car. Stil this is also intermittent. I've been in the car with her and experienced these problems.

I looked in the search function and thought perhaps her old ATF turned into varnish and is clogging her brake booster cable or her vaccuum modulator. Or perhaps those "plastic fingers" in the valve itself.

We took the car to a mechanic and had the old ATF flushed 5 times, dropped the pan and had it cleaned out + new transmission filter. It drove fine for about 300 miles...and again the same problems.

Any ideas?

Hopefully she will learn from this lesson - that if you don't do the required maintence you will almost always shorten the life of the car and end up with a huge repair bill.

Ideally I would like to be able to tell the dealership what diagnostic proceedure to try to pinpoint the problem.

[guydewdney]

that trans prob sounds EXACTLY the same as I had on my CL420 (1996/7)

turned out the main input shaft had spat out half its teeth (photo below)

needed a full 'box re-build at 1200 quid (15-1800 bucks?)

[sbourg]

Originally posted by ERASE
In a nutshell.

Any ideas?

Hopefully she will learn from this lesson - that if you don't do the required maintence you will almost always shorten the life of the car and end up with a huge repair bill.

Well, I wonder who should actually be learning the lesson? While I don't know the details of your situation, your description makes it seem this car was the wrong choice for this woman - was it HER choice? Anyway, maybe you should convince her to try something a bit lower maintenance, which should appeal at this point.

Steve

[psfred]

1): Never buy a car for someone other than your spouse or your mother.

2): Replace transmission, sell car, keep the money, and let HER buy a cheap Toyota or something. She's gonna drive the crap out of anything she doesn't own, beat it to death, and blame you. If she throws a fit, throw her out. If she can't afford a car, she can walk or beg -- you don't owe her fancy transportation. Don't pay for maintenance on her cars either -- sounds like she drives foot to the floor until it won't move, then abuses someone about it.

Sorry to be blunt, but unless you are willing to put up with this kinda stuff forever, that's the only way to avoid the problem.

If you MUST keep the girlfriend, you two are gonna have to have a serious talk about responsibility -- sounds an awful lot like she's using you for "lifestyle enhancement" without being required to return much on her part...... You really shouldn't be supporting someone you AREN'T married to in the style to which she would like to become accustomed! Bad mojo.

Peter

[Ferdman]

It's time to dump the girlfriend and sell the E420.

[jrmd01]

Your car needs either a new transmission, or a complete rebuild. Approximate cost = $2500

According to your description of your girlfriend, she needs a maintenance free car like a Toyota or a Honda. (Mercedes will run forever as long as it's given the proper preventative maintenance)

Good luck,

jrmd01@yahoo.com

[Q]

Sell the girlfriend, use the money to repair the car and then sell it too.

guydewdney,

Many thanks- I hope this can cut down on diagnostic charges. For Now Clair Mercedes of Westwood,MA has only taken the car out for (2) 10 minute drives- shoulld I tell them to drop the pan…or would you still not be able to see any damage?
\
sbourg, I tend to agree with you at this point. This car was a sort of experiment to see if she could maintain a nice car. Her previous Dodge caravan was so thrashed that it had almost no working interior controls- useless headlights, and was filthy- to the point of being infested with maggots several times (Sad but true). I never once saw her clean the interior of that car and it was a 1995. After that she leased a Saab at an unbeatable $199 a month. for 3 years. The car got dents that she did not remove until she returned it to the dealer- and I was the only person who ever made any attempt to clean her car.


Her E420 ends up being a dirty tea mug container most of the time with scattered papers, kids half eaten lollipops and candy tossed in the seat map pockets. I am the only person who washes her car, and Rarely does she give me the opportunity to do so. As a result the car sat covered with salt most of the winter and her car (Originally the car is from from Mild Atlanta) now has first signs of rust on the trunk lid.

I still do love the car and think it is a great driving car and a real bargain given the mileage and condition of the interior. I do warn her that she will end up driving a Honda.

Leasing though more expensive is likely her best option- but she will never get another leasing deal for a decent European car at $199 a month.

I should add though that I merely flew to Atlanta and purchased the car for her- but she paid for it. I did make sure it had a warranty and when that came close to expiring we purchased an aftermarket warranty so she would not get hit with huge unexpected expenses.

Another of my ex-girlfriends had a Toyota Celica…I must have spent $200 a month on massage to correct my back after riding in that car. Honda seats also destroy my back.

I drove the car to Boston from Atlanta- and other than a ridiculous speeding ticket I thought the drive was great. I certain would buy another1994-1995 E420 in the future.

I have to spend a good deal of time with her in her car (likes to take me out on errands) so I picked the E420 because the ride was comfortable and even quieter interior noise levels than my E500. I've always really liked the E420 /400E w124 model. I also was hoping the car would be bomb proof enough for her- and that because the car was a mercedes she might take more of an effort to keep it clean…and compared to the other roving dumpsters she drove, she does take more care of this car.

Sometimes it takes 2-3 cars before people learn to maintain them- and The car to her now is an extension of her appearance - that to her is a new concept. I got her 2 beautiful Fox Fur hats for her wardrobe ( remarkable deal marked down from $300 to gasp! 9.99) I said to her that the hats go great with the car....its a long psychological road to the concept of car care being akin to putting on make up for women. She has to incorporate car maintaince into her "make up" routine. I've explained- filthy rims are like unpolished shoes....it took a bit but she understands that now.

You can see why I don't want her driving my E500.

[psfred]

Tranny problems like that are usually internal, you can't see anything by dropping the pan except metal shavings from clutch damage.

If the woman is a car pig, I'd keep my hands (and my pocketbook) a long way away from her car. No point, she's no more going to learn to take care of her cars that pigs are going to start flying.

Best bet on the tranny is to replace with a rebuilt one and send the current one back as a core -- it's very likely it has internal damage of some sort and will require a complete rebuild anyway.

Peter

[Gil]

She'd better be extremely hot for you to have to put up with all of that maintenence. The girl, that is.

[kramlavud]

Its your money but you will loose a lot of it on her and her car. High maintanence women are more expensive than high maintanence cars.
Mark

[engatwork]

is an extension of her appearance

I would be real reluctant to get involved with a woman that thought like this.

My wife does not drive my 126 without me in it and the kids are not allowed to eat/drink in it. She does not want to drive the 300D's. On the other hand the CRV looks like a rolling trash can on the inside. She does keep the exterior shined up though.

[tkd_M119]

I'm onboard with some of the others - get a new girlfriend! She sound like a RPITA! Or at least tell us some redeeming qualities to help the rest of us better undestand why you'd be w/someone like this!

Sounds as if she has NO appreciation for what she dirves - thus IMHO does not deserve to dirve such a fine car. What she needs/deserves is BASIC transportation. Actually being that she does not understand maintanace, she should be relegated to PUBLIC transportation!

[Gil]

I agree - girlfriends like that should take the bus.

That's why I drive a Mercedes but date the female equivalent of a Toyota. Just as reliable (maybe more-?), and no expensive habits.

[tkd_M119]

I drive a Mercedes but am married to a Ferrari -