My Mercedes is not Changing Gears, is There Anything That I Can do About It?

Gears are vital parts not only in Mercedes, but all the cars. They provide power from engine to the wheels and make the car run with required power. Shifters are provided to shift gears while driving in order to have a required power at wheels in certain situations. But sometimes we find that shifting the gears have become harder. So the car would not run with proper power on roads. If you are a Mercedes car owner and you are facing issues with shifting gears, then this article is for you. Here you will know what causes the issues in shifting gears and what you should have to do.

The shifting gears problems

In automatic transmission the gears get shifted automatically. But if the gears cannot get shifted or suddenly get shifted without warning then know that there is some issue in the transmission or gear box. If the gears are not shifted and freeze, then it would be very difficult to drive, or you may even unable to drive the car. Your car may get stuck in one gear and hesitate to shift it.

Most of the transmission problems occur due to transmission fluid issue. A transmission fluid helps the gear box to work for long and smoothly. But there are also other causes like failing electrical connector and some other mechanical and electrical problems.

What causes shifting gears problem in Mercedes?

Bad transmission fluid

If the transmission fluid is of wrong type or contaminated by various dirt and other contaminants. Due to this the transmission fluid no more protects the gear box from wearing, rather, it damages it.

Bad transmission fluid filter

The fluid filter traps all the dirt particles in it so that pure fluid will be circulated in the gear box. But if the filter becomes clogged by repeated trapping of dirt for a long time, then the transmission fluid would not able to pass through it to get filtered and the gearbox would not get clean fluid or oil.

Electrical connector

There is an electrical system that activates the gear box so that it can get engaged. But if it is faulty then the gear would not be engaged and you cannot even shift it to drive mode.

Faulty valve body

The valve body allows the fluid in pressure to make the gear shifting easy. If the valve body is worn, then shifting of gears would become very hard.

What to do to diagnose and prevent the issue?

To diagnose the issue, first you need to do an inspection at the transmission.

l Check the color and the level of the fluid. This checking must be done while the gearbox is warm. A good transmission is transparent and of red color.

l If the transmission fluid is of dark brown or black color then you have to change the fluid along with the fluid filter.

l Move the shifter to all the gear positions and again check the transmission fluid.

If your car is stuck in one gear, then your car might have got into limp mode carefully take your car to the side of the road and turn off the engine. Remove the key and let your car rest for 30 seconds, during this time you should not press any key or any pedals too. Then the car is restarted and the gears are checked if they are working or not.

This restarting method can surely but temporarily fix the transmission shifting problem. So you must have to take your car to an auto service center for repair or else your car will go to limp mode again and may lead to worse conditions of the gears afterwards.

To prevent such transmission issues, you have to take your car for regular gear box servicing which includes the transmission fluid change. The recommended time for transmission fluid change with its filter differ in different models of Mercedes. But generally, the transmission fluid change in Mercedes is done once in 3-5 years or 30,000 to 75,000 miles.

Conclusion

If the gear box is having problems, then take your car as soon as possible to the repair shop to have the components checked quickly. Make sure that the fluid used in the gear box while fluid change should of correct type for your car. Go through the user manual to know more about the gear fluid.

Motor Cars International located in Bridgewater, MA is a leading automobile maintenance and repair facility in the area. We specialize in European cars like Audi, BMW, Land Rover, Mercedes, Mini and Porsche. Our mechanics are ASE-certified.