So you have purchased your brand new Mercedes and everything is sailing smooth and your life is rainbows and butterflies. But come few months or years, things are not the same. Your gearbox is acting up and for no reason. Your car may suddenly feel under-powered or experience delayed starting problems or it may not accelerate as it should. These are few of the signs you need to look out for in order to diagnose automatic gearbox problems.

But before you head out to the mechanic, stop for a second and see what the underlying problem is with your gearbox. Peruse this article to get to know your gearbox on a deeper level.

It is all About the Fluids

This is one of the most basic things you have to do once you have purchased a car. It is imperative to check on your transmission fluids at least twice a year. Low fluid level can cause your car to shift poorly. This can lead to automatic gearbox problems and you may even have to replace it.

Leaking can be a Problem

If your car seems to be losing fluid constantly, you may have a leakage problem. Since the gearbox is a closed system, leaking may arise in very few places. Most transmission fluids are red in color making it easier to detect leakage. To check for active leaks, place a cardboard under your car and check for transmission fluid leaking. The fluid can be bright red, dark red or brown. Here are the places you can check for leaking:

• Drain hole under the gearbox
• At filler tube base
• Area between engine and transmission
• Near the selector shaft: The rod that is connecting gear shift to gearbox
• Speed sensor mounting point. This is the cable screwing the gearbox or the electronic box that is bolted to the housing
• Radiator: This arises only if your car has a transmission cooler. A leak in the gearbox may result in transmission fluid leaking in to radiator fluid. Since these 2 fluids don’t mix, they just float around.

Now that you know that there is a leak, you need to replace the transmission fluids. While replacing, you need to be cautious of overfilling. Because overfilling can cause an even bigger problem to your gearbox.

Slipping Problems

If you are feeling like you are driving in one gear and then the gear changes automatically for no reason, then this may be one of the signs of gearbox problems. Your engine noise may change in pitch and it may start to sound more like a whining noise.

Did you Check Your Filter?

Coming to the filter, it is pivotal that you check your filter before heading out to your mechanic. You may have to replace the filter once in a while, depending on several factors. Depending on usage, you may have to replace your filter every 2 years or every 50000 KM. Replacing the filter can solve most of your gearbox problems in your Mercedes A160.

Your Car is Not as Smooth as it Used to be

So your car is making unusual noise that gets to you every time. Your car may refuse to change the gears as it used to do normally or the shift changing is harder and noisier. There is a very prominent clunk noise or a thud every time you shift gears. Your precious car is definitely not up to the speed it used to deliver.

Long Pauses are Definitely not a Good Sign

Now this is a very obvious symptom. Your car is not quick in starting and there is a considerable delay before your car starts moving forward. As you shift from P to D, you may experience a long pause and the car may rev the engine as you give gas to it, but refuses to move forward as it used to. This is a clear indication of gearbox problem in your Mercedes A160.

Light Can Guide You

If you experience one or more of the above mentioned symptoms and there is a transmission warning light, you may have to visit a mechanic and get your gearbox checked. The shop will have a diagnostic equipment that can check the error code that was generated by the computer.

Now if your Mercedes gearbox has problems and needs to be replaced, then you can buy used Mercedes gearboxes from us. We are authentic dealers of Mercedes A160 gearbox and are based out of South Africa. Now, you may have your doubts in buying a used Mercedes gearbox. But let us tell you, buying a new used automatic gearbox does not always mean that it is damaged or old. We savage gearboxes from cars and other vehicles that were involved in accidents, meaning the Mercedes A160 gearbox that we sell can even be brand new and you may end up saving thousands of Rands this way.