This morning while listening to cartalk I am stopped at a stop sign. I press on the gas to start off from stop - hear a loud bang as if I hit something. All of a sudden my engine is revving hard, whining noise but no power to drive. Luckily I had enough gradient to put the car in neutral and float it to a stop by the curb. Car does not move on Drive or Reverse but engine runs fine and revs up but no power to both axle. Can anyone tell where the issue is? The car is 82K miles and has driven great. where is the issue??? Axle break down/ CV joint break down/transfer case break down/ What is it??? Help please
Sorry, but hard to tell from here, just get it towed to a mechanic. What year?
Transmission problem or broken CV joint or driveshaft would be my guess.
2005 year
its a transmission problem allright since power is not going to axle but would it be a gear box or transfer case issue or driveshaft/cvjoint issue. Also when I put on park te car starts sliding - that indicates that wheels are not attached to gears
What I am trying to do is to isolate to whether its a gear box or transfer case or driveshaft/cvjoint issue? if its CV joint (thats what the tow guy told me the issue is) would both rear and front have gone?? This is 4 matic and it does not move on drive or Reverse?
I would think that the 4matic system would drive the car if one or two wheels slip, so it would seem to be further up the system than an axle or cv joint. But with such a complex system it’s hard to tell.
Further up the system meaning - transfer case??? is that what you are hinting at??
Yes, something that is involved in feeding power to all wheels, unlike an individual axle or cv joint.
I called two mercedes repair shops and they all ask me to bring the car down. Since the car is not running I want to them diagnose on fone and get me an estimate. The trouble in towing the car to the repair shop is that I am locked with them. Any suggestions from all u experts?
If I was them, no way I’d diagnose over the phone either, too many things it could be. You’ll just have to pick one, look into reviews, recommendations, etc.
It’s impossible to diagnose this over the phone or the internet. Anyone who suggests that they can is either overly confident in their abilities by a great margin or operating in a parallel universe.
When you go from Reverse to Park, do you get a grinding/clunk from the transmission? Are either of the drive shafts turning (be safe when you look and have the car in gear)?
If you get the grinding/clunk and neither drive shaft is turning, the problem is with the transfer case or the transmission output shaft past the parking cog.
Since you own a Mercedes, you know that it is going to cost you whatever the shop deems necessary to get the car running. It is unlikely you will save much by shopping around. You probably have a Mercedes mechanic that you know and trust so have the car towed there.
When you discover the failure, post back to let us know so we can possibly help others.
Good luck on this.
Get ready to Benz over…Please let us know what broke and what it costs to fix it…Since we can’t put it up on a lift and inspect it, we can’t tell you what is wrong…
Guys: I sent the car to the Mercedes dealer. They spent two days doing their diagnosis. The problem was isolated to a outer flange inside the tranny driving the transfer case. No problem in transmission. No problem in transfer case. The mechanic found that the outer flange can be replaced as a separate part (and can be ordered that way) and no need to touch transmission. Its going to cost me $1300.00. What do you guys think? Too much. I have asked them to verify no metal shavings in side tranny or future problems in it. They say they will guarantee their work.
For getting an immobile MB back on the road that’s a bargain, I was expecting much worse…
Amen. You must live under a lucky star.
I guess. Especially with 82K miles that puts me out of warranty. Tranny or transfer case would have set me back. I hope the problem stops with the flange replacement. However I was interested in knowing if touching the tranny to put in the flange will take 5 hours.
Yes the guys are as usual right on track. We are HOPING that you snapped a CV joint or a U-joint in your driveshaft somewhere…the alternative is ugly… That alternative would be internal trans failure…HOWEVER…it is far more likely that you snapped a joint in the driveline somewhere…not expensive to repair…Parts wise…and owner repair wise… Who knows what they will do to you at the MB dealer for a possibly simple repair of a cv joint or U-joint.
IF you did snap a U or CV joint then NO your car will not go anywhere…as the AWD system relies upon ALL 4 wheels to be able to operate… Its not like an older Subaru where you can disable the rear wheels and use the Front wheels to drive you around…this system needs all 4 wheels to have a positive connection to the trans/engine/driveline.
You COULD…jack the car up…first in front and test the wheels by spinning them…see what you get… If one wheel is free wheeling…then you just found your issue…same with the rear…jack up and spin one of your wheels by hand… This will tell all of us A LOT…
DUH…you already solved the issue…I REALLY NEED TO READ SOMETIMES… But yes you confirmed what the guys were getting at… A break or separation in the driveline… all 4wheels depend on each other in this MB Glad to hear you got it…