Auto box advice needed

[nonegreen]

My Dads 1993 320E 5 speed auto has some slight faults. When very cold the box seems to slip allowing higher revs than normal (not major but noticeable). In addition the 5th to 4th manual change does not work and the sport econ mode swich is goosed. According to the gbox specialist the swich assembly is 500 quid and will fix the latter problems but the slipping requires a box rebuid at 1650 plus vat. I am looking for a cheaper solution, any ideas?

NB the car is genuinely mint (old mans pride and joy 3k annual mileage allways garaged) with all extras working it would be a shame to get rid.

[toby tucker]

Try topping up the autobox with the appropraite oil first - but dont over fill as that will damage the box - try 1/2 litre at a time to see if prob goes away - it worked with mine

good luck

[pentoman]

A 1993 320E should be a 4-speed auto.

When cold, the autobox will change up at higher revs - to help get the oil temp up I believe. If the box is 'slipping' however, i.e. revs rise above 2500rpm without an increase in forward speed, this would indicate a problem.

As for repairing it, I would do it and put it down to a first major cost on an 11 year old car. It is not likely to be the beginning of a whole host of these sorts of problems, but there are other expensive things that can go wrong at this age on this particular model, so get a Mercedes specialist to advise on likelyhood of head gasket problems (common on M104 Straight 6), or wiring harness degradation (happens to this model year). Otherwise, no reason it won't continue to be as reliable as it always has been.


check out www.mercedesshop.com forums, and try a search or make a post. there are many knowledgeable people there, tell them pentoman sent you. Give as much long winded detail as you can.. of the car, mileage, start of problem, other problems.