I'm looking at a 1999 Mercedes Actros 2535 6x2 hook lift truck. The truck has a little over 500,000 miles on it. It's fully loaded with a semi automatic electronic power shift transmission. It was owned by a waste management company where regular service was theoretically performed. The truck shows expected wear for its age on the body work and cab interior (far from being a wreck but by no means will it ever win any awards). How many miles/kms can be expected from these trucks before they need major engine or drive train overhauls? Anything in particular to look out for?
I found a general "rule of thumb" statement (not specific to Mercedes) saying 15,000-20,000 hrs for engine overhaul. Is this correct? With 500,000+ miles on it with a lot of in town miles, my guess is that it has about 18,000 hrs on it. It will probably get expensive to own sooner than later. Anyone have any input?
i would not touch a truck with that gearbox with a barge pole
Why is that?
not heard many good words spoke about them , the truck has the nickname atrocious here
I'll have some words of my own to speak about them in the near future. Going to pick it up next week. :cool2
I picked the truck up. Overall, it's a stout truck with wear consistent with the year and mileage. The gearbox does have some issues with the shift module. Does anybody have or know where I can get service/repair/parts diagrams in PDF form for a Mercedes Actros G210-16 gearbox? I'm good on barge poles for the time being.
What problems does it have? There is a re-learn process you can do where it relearns the sensor positions etc. Does you truck have a clutch pedal? Whereabouts are you located? They are not bad, does it have hub reduction on the rear? Being 6x2 probably not. Things to look out for on those models is weaping head gaskets (easy to change being individual heads), wiring loom under the sump gets ****** from oil leaks and causes electrical faults. Suspension etc are pretty good, they are not bad trucks.
Thanks for the reply Mitch. I'm in France. I just found the instructions for the re-learn process which I'm going to go out and try. The gearbox won't shift into 2 at all and it grinds 6 and doesn't engage. 1,3,4,5,7,8 all shift in hi and low, but I have to use the clutch pedal. It shifts into neutral and reverse with no issues. It doesn't go into 1st gear on the first try. From a standstill, I have to advance until it displays 4th and then back down to 1st. It has a fault code gs 28. Any thoughts or observations?
I would try the re-learn first, haven't been on Merc for sometime so cant comment on the fault code. Maybe call up the merc dealer and see if they can give you a run down of what the fault is.
I had it at the dealer. They attempted the re-learn and it failed. It pops out of 2 and 6 indicating a mechanical problem inside. The gear box must be removed for further diagnosis. I'm going to pull the gear box and see what's going on in there. I've been trying to find a service manual for this truck, but no luck so far. If anybody knows where I could buy one, please let me know.
they didnt have a lot of issues over here, until they got high up in the kms
Did you know this before your brought it? if so did you get it at a good price?
The transmission issue was a surprise. As for the price, if I put a rebuilt transmission in it, it still comes out less than anything comparable that's for sale locally.
Just an update. I found some info on the transmission. One of the problems was voltage related. When I went to charge the batteries, I discovered that the dealer's mechanic never tightened the battery terminals. The negative battery post had been arcing and was reduced to a skinny stub with a pile of lead slag around it. This was the cause of the transmission jumping to 8th gear on start up. I repaired the battery post and performed the major re-learn. Now it starts off in 1st gear right off the line. First issue resolved. It still has an issue with 2nd gear. Before repairing the battery and performing the re-learn, there was no movement in 2nd gear. Now, if put in second gear, the truck will advance a few inches then disengage. If I put the transmission into 2nd gear using the emergency shift at the transmission procedure, it still pops out of gear. 2nd and 6th gears are the only positions that don't engage. The splitter shifts fine, and it goes between high and low range. It shifts 3-4 no problem and 4-5, and 7-8 without issue. I want to rule out the gate and gear sensors and shift cylinders before taking it to the dealer$hip for diagno$i$. When scrolling through the GS codes, there are a series of values preceded by "MW". (MW 01 through about 40 iirc). When reading the values with the engine off, a couple of the values fluctuated. One value in particular stood out: MW 37 +20002. I have the MB WIS software, but the information that I got of the truck does not correspond to any of the listed fault codes. I can't find a resource that defines the GS data that I pulled up. Thanks in advance for any help.
Sounds like there is indeed a problem with 2nd/6th gear as its the same gear just "doubled" when the range is changed. Perhaps the syncro or selector unit is faulty. Or the snap spring that holds the syncro unit together is broken and not engaging. If all the other gears are good then the gear/gate sensors and shift cylinders are good. There is a way to check clutch wear but I think it might only be possible with a star. Pull the box yourself and get someone to repair it. On the V6 with no retarder its not a bad job. It can come out the top or bottom.
Mitch I did the opposite of what you said. I had the box pulled and I repaired it myself. It took about a half day to split the gear box. Finding the time to work on it was the biggest challenge.
What did you find once inside?
The 2nd gear syncro was worn out.
At least its all sorted! I've been offered a Star Diagnosis but not sure I would utilize it enough for the asking price. Not that many Mercs around these parts.
If you get a copy of the Mercedes WIS, it will give you all the info you need to disassemble and reassemble any Mercedes....without the benefit of the plug in diagnostics.
Yeah WIS is good but Star is the way for fault finding, programming etc. Did 8 years on Mercedes Commercials.