bjd:
If you look at the fleet board readings it gives you a good idea of what your doing right or wrong
Don’t have that
You control the truck with the accelerator the beep for neutral is avoided by gently tapping the accelorator. I run mine in ea usually unless im doing a lot of a road then i take it out of eco and use some manual input
The experts at Mercedes would say, the reason why the gearbox is not doing the things you want is because you are not using it correctly.
If you slow up gently the gears do drop. And pulling out of a junction, going against instinct you only need to use part throttle.
But IMO the reason why you have to drive it a certain way to make it work is because it’s a garbage gearbox.
A good auto box should be doing exactly what the drive is inputting.
An autobox is never going to be as effective as a good driver.
However, a good driver should be able to make the box sing the right tune. I found with the old Actros, when approaching an island it would change gear multiple times. This is so when you finally press the accelerator you were always in the right gear. The result of this is increased gearbox wear due to unnecessary gear changes. The new Actros seems to be different. I’ve found that when approaching an island it doesn’t seem to drop lower than 6th and if you need a gear lower than this to get back on your way then it won’t select it until you press the accelerator.
They’ve solved the excessive gear change problem and replaced it with another one. IE, pressing the accelerator to pull into that gap and having to wait until it splutters in to gear. I’ve come almost to a dead stop in 6th yet when I tried to accelerate it selected 2nd.
A way round this I’ve found is to slow down using the engine brake, then if the box doesn’t change down to an appropriate gear to pull away in just knock it into neutral and roll for a bit, especially if there’s a good chance you’ll have to stop anyway. Once you can see a gap is about to appear put it back in gear and it will be the one you need to pull away. Once you get the timing right it eliminates the problem of needing to change gear after pressing the accelerator.
The more I use this box the more I’m starting to dislike it. Another bug bear is activating the engine brake to slow down but the box revs up to 2300rpm, has a hissy fit, cannot decide which gear to select then drops back down to 1200rpm without changing gear after which you’re faster than you were before you activated the brake. You then have to hit the foot brake and the Fleet board tells you start rolling sooner to improve your braking. Yeah thanks Mercedes, great advice.,
the maoster:
On the contrary I’m obsessed with high fleet board scores,
What score you got. Not sure of mine exactly as I ain’t looked for a while but last year I got 9.52 for the year.
I’ve been driving same unit since passing my test a year ago and as habit now always go down the gears manually aproaching roundabouts or junctions where i know im going to keep going , 9th gear seems to be the key gear to take roundabout and exit , below that it just starts clunking and hawing between gears and above just dies lol. But manually going down the gears seems to eliminate the hesitation thing .
If your Actros is on Mercedes R&M contract then when you take it in for it’s next inspection defect the transmission. There are new software updates for the transmission and some of these include setting the type of work the truck does. Mercedes pay the Dealers to do updates but are not allowed to look for work. Some engine software updates for emissions faults (Adblue) don’t compliment the transmission software which should be updated along with other control units. Mercedes have had a lot of trouble with the gearbox gear selector (TCM) and many later trucks needed them changed due to air leaks. I’ve found rolling up to roundabouts and junctions and releasing the brakes momentarily prompts a down change for pulling away again, the gearbox is not foolproof though.
Terry T:
the maoster:
On the contrary I’m obsessed with high fleet board scores,What score you got. Not sure of mine exactly as I ain’t looked for a while but last year I got 9.52 for the year.
We don’t get a numeric figure Terry, it’s displayed on the notice board against the drivers name with letters ranging from A to G for various things such as green band driving, engine idling etc.
I get A’s all across apart from “harsh cornering”! Well I do like a “play” if I’m empty! 
gingo:
the maoster:
Because I’m better than the gearbox.your boss dosent seem to think so, or he would have got you a manual box.
instead of auto ,
Not if he wanted an Actros. You can’t get an MP4 Actros as a manual, I they believe they will build you a manual Arocs though.
You can get a manual arocs only. All the issues mentioned are similar to those of mp2 powershift.reading these topics on mb gearboxs confirms what i half guessed. 8 years on and mb still try to say there current autobox is fine. On a side note hows reliability with the mp4 powershift. Does it give ecu bother or gear cylinder failure.clutch booster and actutor failure and the dreaded gearbox whine reminiscent of the old powerliner that tells you the rangechange has broken against the housing. Not worth the hassle tbh.
I’ve 3 mp2s and 2 have done well over a million the 3rd one im in now Yes the gearbox is slow. But driven properly I don’t see why there so hated
alix776:
I’ve 3 mp2s and 2 have done well over a million the 3rd one im in now Yes the gearbox is slow. But driven properly I don’t see why there so hated
The reason they are hated is like all automated manuals (Volvo excepted) just are not fit for purpose, the gearchanges take too long even when they select the right gear, at moving junctions they invariably select the wrong gear leading to one or several changes in quick (if only) succession, they make pulling out in traffic hazardous at all times, they take away most of the pride and satisfaction in controlling their own vehicle that genuine lorry drivers enjoyed about the job which took away a drivers pride in their work.
All the above combine and the sum total is lack of proper progress, not as anyone necessarily wants to be racing about, but none of us really want to cause mayhem at junctions, and most of us are quite capable of learning our engines and the gearing of the vehicle and how to combine to get the best out of it, progress economy and long life, it’s whats we did for generations as lorry drivers.
Lastly they make manoeuvering and picking up/setting down trailers more difficult, with a clutch (or torque converter auto as Allisons and Terberg tugs) the driver has infinite control of power and its application with balancing the throttle and drive engagement and vehicle movement, little wonder there is so much vehicle and property damage, then missed pins and the like, too many of these boxes have on/off switch clutch engagement, try and feather it for precise control the bloody thing starts jumping about.
These gearboxes have had a massive influence in the dumbing down and deskilling of our industry.
As a result of this thread and also in an attempt to disprove the old adage “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” I’ve decided to try to find a happy medium (Doris Stokes has passed, so she’s out of the running).
For the last week or so I’ve been doing the following; maneuvering, town work, heavy traffic I’ve been driving exclusively in manual. This enables me to select the gear I want at the right time, it also negates the bloody thing revving it’s nuts off uneccessarily. The difference now however is that once I’m on a clear m/way or d/c I drop it into auto. This allows me to take advantage of the Eco roll facility. It is however necessary to drop back into manual if you are going to need to curb your speed slightly as engaging the exhaust brake when in auto results in a two gear drop and revs deep in the yellow band. Put the exhauster on in manual and it remains in top and gives you the slight retardation that you were after in the first place.
How has this affected my fuel economy? Bit early to say tbh, but my gut instinct tells me there may be a slight improvement driving in this manner, it’s certainly not detrimental. If anyone is interested I’ll come back to this in a month or so and give a definitive answer.
Juddian:
alix776:
I’ve 3 mp2s and 2 have done well over a million the 3rd one im in now Yes the gearbox is slow. But driven properly I don’t see why there so hatedThe reason they are hated is like all automated manuals (Volvo excepted) just are not fit for purpose, the gearchanges take too long even when they select the right gear, at moving junctions they invariably select the wrong gear leading to one or several changes in quick (if only) succession, they make pulling out in traffic hazardous at all times, they take away most of the pride and satisfaction in controlling their own vehicle that genuine lorry drivers enjoyed about the job which took away a drivers pride in their work.
All the above combine and the sum total is lack of proper progress, not as anyone necessarily wants to be racing about, but none of us really want to cause mayhem at junctions, and most of us are quite capable of learning our engines and the gearing of the vehicle and how to combine to get the best out of it, progress economy and long life, it’s whats we did for generations as lorry drivers.
Lastly they make manoeuvering and picking up/setting down trailers more difficult, with a clutch (or torque converter auto as Allisons and Terberg tugs) the driver has infinite control of power and its application with balancing the throttle and drive engagement and vehicle movement, little wonder there is so much vehicle and property damage, then missed pins and the like, too many of these boxes have on/off switch clutch engagement, try and feather it for precise control the bloody thing starts jumping about.
These gearboxes have had a massive influence in the dumbing down and deskilling of our industry.
Absolute rubbish the problem is drivers not learning or not adjusting there driving style. As for manuvering I’ve never had a problem yet
I’m so sorry for posting ‘‘absolute rubbish’’, and thankyou for those in depth constructive point by point arguments.
I’ll go back to learning then, lets see now select D press throttle pedal, job done.
Moaster personally I use ea town work a aroad and always leave the hill hold on if I batter it on an a road then its in manual or a depends how twisty or how much I want the exhauster in. Most of my work is town center or a road
I can’t understand all this obsession with mpg , they’d be better off looking at the type of work , ours get a day hire rate for me and I’ve drove 50 miles and been sat on site since 7.30 and it’s now 12.20 , no fuel used for last 5 hrs !!!
Mine also needs clutch no. 5 at 3/4million k’s…every mp2/3 powershift’s the same…and the salesmans trying to sell me another…
700k clutch 2
Don’t hold it in the accelerator at traffic light or on hills