W107- Help with Tranny in 88 560sl
 

My GF's 88 560sl seems to have a tranny problem. It shifts fine and smoothly, not perfect, but as good as any car from the 80's that I can remember.

The problem is when you engage either R or D from a standstill. It seems to take a second or two before engaging, then with a noticeable clunk. At first I would have thought it was tranny mounts given the noise and thunk, but that doesnt explain the delay in engaging the gear. Say if you are backing up and then go to drive, it takes a second or two before engagin. Doesnt sound like a long time, but when you are backing out of a parking space etc and then have to wait for it to go into gear, it is a long time, lol. Compared to any other automatic I have driven, none have done this.

The fluid is at the right spot and fairly fresh. She has owned the car for 13yrs and it is maintained very good. Any ideas?

Thought it was cool to meet this girl, as I just bought a 87 635CSi for a daily driver coming from a 95 M3, she had a RX7 and bought this for a daily driver. Much better than the typical Accord or Lexus chic around here.

Mike

Welcome! this is a familar question and usally is answered that the test for the condition of an MB tranny is how quickly it ingages reverse,my 81 Sd snaps right in but my 86 SE hesitates, but the both shift fine with no flare.Check the search section there are a lot of threads on this subject.......

William Rogers........

A few more details
 

Thanks for the reply. I searched, but didnt really find anything other than the typical reply of "they are known to do that"

On her car, it is worse than a "they all do that". If any did it to the degree her's does, Mercedes would have been slammed for building such a car with that defect.

Also, it has been getting worse over the last few months. When I first drove it, not that bad or noticeable, and I did put it off to being 'thats the way the car is'. But lately, it feels as if the driveshaft or trans is moving a few inchecs up or down when it engages. But at the same time, I dont feel it is tranny mounts or bad u joint in the driveshaft. In fact, no idea of the drive shaft has joints as I havent found much info on the car.

I personally feel it is a hydralic pressure problem internal to the transmission, as I have seen ZF trannies do this before breaking. I am clueless to what the Mercedes tranmissions looks like or how it works.

WHich brings another question, are there any other sources, websites that have technical data about the W107? I have found some, but none very useful say compared to what I have found on my BMW's. With them, almost any and every procedure or problem is documented and usually there is a how to page about it.

Thanks for the help.

Mike

Where in Atlanta are you?

you didn't mention how miles are on it ,it's probably just time for a rebuild.............

William Rogers.......

Mike,

apparantly there is a vacuum leak somewhere, this is causing a slow build up of a vacuum, thus when when it finally does --wham -- car shifts into gear.. Check vacuum lines , particually in the front of the motor and after removing air cleaner , at the rear to the passenger side..



Regards, Perry

'89 sl