Hello from Indy

[Fetdog]

Long time lurker, first time member.

You guys lead me to my '05 C from lurking here for the last year or so. I love the thing and wish I could justify the SRT8. I bought it with 63000 miles from a friend of mine in Detroit. It drove like a dream until 65,000 where I noticed some vibration. I'm haggling with Chrysler right now over a new trans due to the often debated MDS harmonic (55-58mph)/Trans issue. They rebuilt it due to water intrusion (it was never parked outside until I owned it), replaced the drive shafts, indexed the drive shafts and then accused the vibration of being a bent wheel. The vibration is less now than when it had water in it but its still enough to vibrate the mirror between 55 & 58mph. As many of you guys say, slap the shifter to 4th and the vibration goes away.

Everything has been performed under warranty but now I'm at 69740 miles so they are trying to stall until they can say I'm out of warranty. I've got a new wheel coming and then they will have the car until the vibration is gone. It won't turn 70K with me behind the wheel.

Looking forward to learning all that you have to offer. Its a great place for Gearheads.

BTW, I'm a converted BMW guy..............never thought I'd own anything related to a Mercedes Benz before the C.

Cheers,

[CUEBALL]

Welcome to the forum..officially..LOL

Hope you get your problems sorted out...

[bund]

Originally Posted by Fetdog

Long time lurker, first time member.
I'm haggling with Chrysler right now over a new trans due to the often debated MDS harmonic (55-58mph)/Trans issue. They rebuilt it due to water intrusion (it was never parked outside until I owned it), replaced the drive shafts, indexed the drive shafts and then accused the vibration of being a bent wheel. The vibration is less now than when it had water in it but its still enough to vibrate the mirror between 55 & 58mph. As many of you guys say, slap the shifter to 4th and the vibration goes away.

hey i got the same issue. what do i do? is it bad for the car?

[Rambit]

Welcome Fetdog! Anyone with a dog in their name is good in my books...haha.

From your description I'm guessing you were one of those who had water contamination from the dipstick area and had to have your torque converter replaced and the transmission flushed.

You might want to review this TSB - http://www.wkjeeps.com/misc/LX/TSB/TSB_2100306.pdf because I'm wondering if they did the procedure by following the TSB to the letter.

Same for you bund. You should have yours checked out as well for this known problem.

Bernie

[bund]

hey forgot to say hello, when saw your prob first word out of my mouth was crap!

i just went looking across this site and came across some of the old posts regarding the issue, where it was suggested to be an exhaust problem is that still the case? all i get is a Drone at around 55mph, i dont experience any shudder but the drone goes away when i drop to 4th.

55-58 Vibration (1700 RPM) info & part numbers

[Fetdog]

Thanks Rambit, I've seen a lot of your posts over the last few months and they are always a huge help. This one keeps the streak alive. I have a buddy of my brother's that is the tech working on the car. He says he did it right but I'll put this in front of him just in case. I just want the thing running like it did when I bought it. I drove this car numerous times over the last two years and it always ran tip top. My friend that sold it to me is really feeling bad that I got 2000 miles in it before problems cropped up.

Bund: I get the "Drone" between 55 and 58mph but it gets progressively worse and vibrates the rear view mirror enough that you can't look into it. The "shudder" was there before they rebuilt the trans and got the water out. They changed the torque converter and valve body when they did it but I'm not a "rebuilt" fan, I prefer a "remanufactured" trans to OEM tolerances which is what I'm haggling over right now. My beef is that the "drone" was not even there until 65000 miles. If its a characteristic of the MDS/Trans interaction then it should have been there way earlier. Get the transmission fluid checked by the dealer because they found the water right away and rebuilt the trans within a day. This may have been because I knew the tech but it shouldn't take a huge amount of time to see if you have water in there.

[bruno]

Welcome Fetdog. Sorry to hear you have not been able to happily enjoy your 300c with its current problems. I hope you get it resolved soon and that Rambit's advice helps.

I'm curious...what aftermarket mods came on this vehicle when you purchased it?

bruno

[Fetdog]

Bruno: Bone stock except for the heavy E&G grill. My friend is late 50's and takes pretty good care of his cars. This problem I'm having is killing him.

I've done Zeckhausen's brake's with good results & I'm putting SRT Design wheels on tomorrow and have recently put in a Pioneer AVIC Z2 navigation system. (Had a slight accident with the stock navi screen). Working on finances for SRT8 front and rear facia and aftermarket exhaust plus CAI.

I've always been a mod freak so this is only the beginning I'm sure.

[bruno]

Seriously, before you spend $$$$ on those cool mods, I would make sure the car is in appropriate working order. This project could get very expensive, especially if your warranty runs out before it's all resolved.

bruno

[watsonofearnock]

Hi and welcome to the forum from Scotland. I would reckon that Bruno is giving you good advice there Fetdog. Keep the notes in the wallet until the car is running right - then have a splurge. Good luck with it.
Cheers John