Hello everyone,

I have always driven Mustangs, and have now just traded in for a 2003 CLK 500. I drove the car for about 100 miles and it was great. The next day, less than 24hr, the engine light came on and the car would not get out of 2nd gear. I do not have a owners manual but have come to the conclusion that the car is stuck in limp home mode from reading posts here. I called the dealership and they have the car right now. I still do not know the problem. My questionsare as follows: I have been reading about the transmission / radiator defective combination on these cars. I am very concerned about this. Does Mercedes have a new radiator for this car to avoid this problem? How much would it cost for replacement if they do? Is there any recall or help from Mercedes on the issue?How many cars have actually failed due this problem? Will Mercedes help me if the issue arises? I really don't have an extra 6600 laying around for this.[:'(]

 

I have found a couple of used transmission for around $2,000 on a 2003 CLk 500 on Ebay and on different website you can google it.

 

I got the car back a couple of days ago. They replaced the conductor plate in the tranny and I was told it was all fine ( $700). I drove the car for about a half day and started having more problems. The car was shifting hard out of first gear. In second and third gear there was a vibration, it sort of felt like driving over the "wake you up cement" on the shoulder of a freeway for sleepy heads. Then driving up a hill the tranny was slipping or laboring to get up it. I called Mercedes and notified them of the problem. They told me to bring it in and take the mechanic for a ride. So I did, and luckily all the aforemetioned manifested itself as it does not do this on a regular basis. I asked the mechanic about the Valeo radiator situation I have been reading about here. He said it did not seem like that. This leads me to believe from his statement that there is a known problem with these radiators and trannys for these specific models. He went on to state that it seemed like the torque converter, which by the symptoms and feel I agree. Estimated cost.....3000. I bought this car from a Toyota dealer 1 week ago. They are paying for the repairs for now, but in 90 days or 4000 miles the lemmon law will expire on this car here in NY. What the hell am I gonna do. I don't even know if they will agree to fix it. They may have to take the car back.....but I certainly don't want a Toyota. I am scared it will be fixed but I will have problems down the line after the expiration of the lemmon law. Suggestions or comments please.[:@]

 

Hi, What was the outcome? I have a CLK 55. One time I took in the car and there was coolant in the transmission. The transmission at about 1800 rpm would make a slight shuddering feel in 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear. They replaced the torque converter. Now about a year later and of course out of warrantee, the car lurches when it hits 1800 rpm slowly in 1st and second gear. It feels like maybe this is happening when the converter is supposed to be locking? Have you heard if this is something that can be fixed be retraining the transmission?