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Honest John’s agony column Last Updated: 12:01am BST 06/10/2007 Your questions answered by the dealer you can trust Flog on the Tyne In 2002 I bought a three-month-old Mercedes C180 automatic from a main dealer in Newcastle. I have since had all maintenance carried out, on time, by the selling dealer.
The car went in for a routine service in April and passed its MoT in May, but in July it began self-selecting lower gears in an alarming manner (changing down at 70mph and surging forwards, for instance). Troubled waters: Design faults don’t make life easy for dealers At first I was informed that the radiator was “shot” and needed replacement. Later I was told that coolant had seeped into the automatic gearbox, causing contamination. A new gearbox was needed.
The final bill - including discount - was 4,077. Can coolant invade the gearbox in the way reported? Can a radiator become so damaged, so quickly, without warning? Why did the “no malfunction” light remain off? Should these difficulties have shown up during the service procedures? Most importantly, am I being “shafted”? V.M., via email Unfortunately, this can happen because M-B unwisely sited the transmission oil cooler in the radiator matrix.
If they fail, coolant enters the transmission and destroys it. It’s a ridiculous design fault and the failure is quite common. The “no malfunction” light shows up engine problems, not transmission faults. I would seek further goodwill from Mercedes towards the cost of the replacement. Wycombe wanderer advertisement I fully support your campaign for clearer speedometers. There is a way around it, if you don’t mind spending a little money. Buy a GPS-linked safety camera warning device.