Mercedes Rumble strip sound (RSN) during slow acceleration (w209,w203 etc.)
Car is a 2002 Mercedes CLk320 with 170,000 Km's on the clock, but the make and model is irrelevant this can happen to any car or truck model. I would say this is a very rare failure on most cars and it's probably why so many people have replaced the wrong parts trying to diagnose the issue. The most common source of the RSN according to the internet in Mercedes cars is if the transmission and coolant fluids are mixing and the torque converter is blamed, I highly doubt the RSN is ever the torque converter as I just can't see how it could possibly make such a noise and probably explains why it's almost impossible on the internet to find someone who has confirmed that replacing their transmission did fix the problem.
Hope this video helps many people and they don't end up wasting a tone of money on what should be easily detectable by any mechanic yet somehow it seems that everyone has really struggled to find the culprit including myself.
Symptoms: Around 60KPH you hear a a sound as if you are driving over rumble strips and it only happens if you are accelerating slowly as soon as you touch the accelerator a little harder the noise goes away. The issue also seems to come around the 100KPH mark as well. You will feel no vibration in the steering wheel, seems to be mainly felt in the vehicles floor and seats. I must stress that in my situation the transmission is shifting fine and has no slipping. If your transmission is slipping it may be the torque converter although honestly I can't see how it could make such a noise. Video shows you an easy way to check your U-joint and drive shaft for play.
There’s a company in Ireland (Charleville Co Cork) called ShaftTec that specialize in replacing universal joints in prop shafts
How did you fit it? any video link to that?
There's a plate inside the transmission that need a 1/16 inch hole drilled in it. I just had it done and all the rumbling and shifting problems are gone. Amazing
Thats a little misleading, its actually a #55 drill bit 1/16 is way to big and could damage the converter as it would be very hard for it to lockup at all. Don't want to be a dick but I also dont want people drilling 1/16 inch holes into their valvebody plates.
@@damechanik218 I sent the video to my mechanic. The difference is night and day.
@@time.528 yeah the fix does feel like a miracle lol
I dont know how i feel about this fix, I've seen people doing it but it seems like a hack fix to get around the issue then an actual fix for the problem. If it saves people money then all the power to them but I personally wouldn't do it, if it needed that hole, the transmission would have come with it.
@@aleks0001 Its actually a problem with the torque converter. Mercedes came out with a fix as have several other torque converter rebuilders. This fix has been proven to work . I personally have seen a transmission I did this mod on go another 100,000 miles and still going . But updated torque converter is the right way to fix it . As long as you get the updated one.
The rubber around the carrier bearing in the center of the drive shaft what's up
I have a suburban 2019 and it does this. Stops when I let off the acceleration. Also hesitates and shudders but not when tow mode is turned on
Do you know what could be the reason for dropping RPM in idle? It lowers down to 800 900 rpm and goes in few seconds do 1.2 1.3k rpm all by him self! Sometime engine dies on the stop light when im waiting for the green so I have to take the key out and start it again? Maybe MAF sensor? Car was driven by my mom has over 250k miles and it was well maintained never driven above 120kmph in her hands...so Im gambling it is some sort of sensor failure? thanks
You should definitely get codes scanned that will show up. You can test the maf sensor. Just unplug it and see if the issue goes away, although you will get a check engine light, but I think it will go away by itself eventually. Google "How to test maf sensor" There are many ways you can do this test yourself and it's pretty simple. I just can't remember them.
@@aleks0001 tnx... we have run the scan and it shows errors: P0300 all the way to P03006 hahah says cylinder misfire detected for all 6 cylinders and the sparkplugs were changed like 10k kilometers ago...ill see with the mechanic
@@Infinityxx3 dont forget the ignition coils. But if its showing all cylinders then I doubt its spark plugs or ignition coils. Seems like a wiring issue.
@@aleks0001 well see when we put a car on a lift cant be nothing too serious since that car was driven by an old lady xD
@@Infinityxx3 I'm sure whatever it is, it isn't too serious. Good luck.
koliko je prešao km ?
This happens to my Honda Civic. After I make a sharp right turn and then straighten up and accelerate to about 40-50 mph it sounds like I am driving on a rumble strip. When I get up to 55-60 it stops. Do you think I have the same problem? Is it unsafe to drive?
PS. The Honda Dealership replaced my right front strut 3 months ago because they said it was leaking oil. They rotated my tires at the same time as well.
It can't be the same. As far as I'm aware Honda Civic's are all front wheel drive, which means you don't even have a drive shaft.
@@aleks0001 Oh...thanks for letting me know. So maybe it is the transmission :(
@@MajorCulturalDivide These things are very tricky to track down. Start with a fluid flush for the transmission and see if that helps. I'm having a hard time believing that a transmission can cause vibrations in the cabin no matter how bad it's worn, but others say it can. As far as I'm concerned all a transmission can do is not engage gears, slam into gears or slip, I just don't see how it can vibrate, but who knows, I'm by no means an expert. Try also changing gears and see if it makes a difference, like it it normally vibrates 40-50 MPH in 5th gear try doing 40-50 MPH in 4th and see if it's the same. If it is I would say it's most likely drive line related.
@@aleks0001 My car is an automatic. But I notice as soon as I hit the gas hard the vibration stops. It also seems to happen mostly after straightening up after sharp right turns. 3 months ago I had the right front strut replaced because the dealer said it was leaking oil. I don't know if that has anything to do with it. It's a 2002 car. Very old.
That’s a bad u joint not the rumble strip noise... But you better to fix that!
Mislim da je korisno ali ipak posetite majstora.
Nisam nikad skonto staje pravi problem. Prodo sam auto prije sto sam imo sansu da jos probam nekoliko stvari. Mislim da je naj vjerovatnije bio center support bearing al mozda je i mjenac, nisam nikad vidio nikoga da je ovaj problem stvarno resio na ovoj klasi
Did you fix the RSN??
No mate, got rid of the car before I could waste more money on it. I suspect it was the drive shaft support bearing but I'll never know for sure.
This is semi ASMR 1:21
Gay
It is the center bearing that needed replacing, 50$ part.
I also suspected it but sold the car before I had a chance to prove it.
Bearing on the drive shaft? Thx
"they don't seem to be too expensive" are you smoking crack, sir? They're $1,000. Just in case your wondering what that is in smackaroos, it is 1,000.
It's a Mercedes dude, $1000 is pocket change on most parts. Either way anyone going down this route I suggest you just get it rebuild. My local driveshaft specialist would have done it for $300 including balancing and you would have a as new driveshaft. Also this was not the cause of the rumble strip issue. I did replace the driveshaft with a used one and it did help, but it didn't fix the issue. So if you have this little play I wouldn't worry about it, the driveshaft can last a long time even with it, you will know when it gets bad as you will have clear excessive play. I'm pretty certain the issue was the center support bearing, but I never got around to testing it, I ended up selling the car.
@@aleks0001 Hi Aleksandar I have a question since we have the same engines maybe u had problem like i do now, so when u turn on the car its all alright when u start driving it and u go from like 60kmh to a stop it goes below 1k rpm and sometime dies.... sometimes it goes over 1k rpm by himself to 1.2-4k and goes back down below 1k... car has new gearbox with 15k miles... and yeah gearbox sometime doesnt want to change speeds normaly.... 1 speed goes to max rpm and others sometimes switches in half gear to upper one LOL.... if u drive it in "manual" mode then all the shifting is fine... idk what to think... car was driven by my mom for over 200k miles since it was brand new and everything that was dead in the car was replaced.... so what could it be? maybe some electric problem so I should hook it up to a pc and check if it can even show that problem pc? idk
@@Infinityxx3 That is a very random problem but it does sound transmission related since the car is fine in Manual mode. I think there is some speed sensor in these transmissions that can do crazy things but it should throw a Code. I suggest you get the car scanned for codes properly, it will probably tell you what's wrong, you need a good tool that can read all the Mercedes codes not just a generic OBD ones.
@@aleks0001 tnx, yea tought so it has to be some sort of sensor ill try to reset it first maybe mechanics didnt do that idk...
@@Infinityxx3 You will need a tool to do any transmission resets. Forget the whole hold your pedal to the floor for 30 seconds etc That doesn't do anything to the transmission. If the mechanic replaced your transmission send it back to them and get them to fix it, it's not your problem.
u joints not hard to fix