So it finally happened after a little over 15K miles with the A28@ 1.3 to1.4 bar. I was driving on the highway the other day and decided to do a 3rd gear pull everything was fine until I hit red line and noticed the car didn’t shift and the needle was at 75--RPM's. The check engine light came on, I got a few trans codes (checked with durametric), the car would not down or up shift, it was stuck in 3rd gear. I let the car sit over night this morning when I started it. I was in first gear. The car drove fine through 1st, 2nd,3rd, however, when shifting into 4th the car revs up a little then shifts as long as I am not pushing the car hard.

I changed the ATF twice in the 15k miles I had the car.

3rd gear shift slips when going into 4th. Someone told me to try the Lucas transmission fix. Since I recently changed the ATF and the new fluid might be too "slick?" I don’t think that will work, would be nice, but don’t think it will work.

The last dyno I had the car made over 600lb/ft of tq, however, that was before I got the TB, plenum, and rear intake piping. These modifications may have contributed to the failure.

Not sure who to trust in the states to do my trans work. I figure if I have to spend the money I want to do it for an upgraded unit that can handle my goal of 700-800awhp/tq. Any ideas?

that sucks but you knew it was going to happen....

Mark,

I know but now others know not to go past that power level and I hope this info helps other tip owners. I hope that I can find a good solution and share the info with other tip owners.

That really sucks, man. Sorry to hear.

You're in IL... doesn't Switzer (in northwestern OH) do Tip-strengthening builds? Might be worth a look.

Sorry to hear of your trouble Vince!

You should PM BHT and see where he sent his tip for strengthening. Otherwise, all I know of is an expensive rebuild by Mercedes. At least its still drivable.

What was you max hp at last dyno?

Have you run anymore 60-130s?

Congrats Vin, only took a year...

Man, that is a shame. I was about to install new turbos/intercoolers. Not nearly A28s, but this scares me from the upgrade.

Tips are ticking time bombs after 550whp. Bad107 is next. When are we gonna learn guys?

Can't mess it up if the car never runs!

My goal was to just clear 500whp.. k16/24, and everything from intake, to intercoolers, to fpr, to 3" no cat exhaust was going to go into the build... however, I put a lot of miles on the car, if 550 will make it fail fast, 500 will likely still make it fail, just a little slower..

007, let us know how it looks. I know this is a stretch, but my CLK500 AND g500 mercedes both acted up in different ways when electronic glitches. One required a new conductor plate in the tranny and the other had ATF wicking up the wire harness into the TCU, then shorted it out and put the car into low gear limp mode. This is on the 722 transmission though, don't know if they share anything

Yep, it's just prolonged the inevitable. . When you get your car sorted, if you turn up the boost, your tranny won't last one weekend..

His problem is that the clutch packs are shot.. His tranny is fine most likely. Just a rebuild is in order. But it will blow again.

So sorry to hear that.

Todd, thank you for not naming me after bad107.

That sucks! Keep us Tip owners up on what else you find out please.