I borrowed a friends merc with the semi automatic gearbox today (the one with the clutch pedal and the tiptronic gear stick) and found it to be a bit confusing. Now I love an auto box, it makes life so easy, and I love a manual, especially if it’s in an old foden, as when you eventually get it right you have such a sense of achievement, however with the semi I just didn’t know what to do, I wanted to change when it didn’t, it wanted to change when I didn’t, then when I got it wrong and pulled away it would just stop and start buzzing at me, let alone the struggle I had getting it up a hill!
So is it me, is it the merc box, or is this the usual with semi auto boxes…
3 Feathers Haulage:
I borrowed a friends merc with the semi automatic gearbox today (the one with the clutch pedal and the tiptronic gear stick) and found it to be a bit confusing. Now I love an auto box, it makes life so easy, and I love a manual, especially if it’s in an old foden, as when you eventually get it right you have such a sense of achievement, however with the semi I just didn’t know what to do, I wanted to change when it didn’t, it wanted to change when I didn’t, then when I got it wrong and pulled away it would just stop and start buzzing at me, let alone the struggle I had getting it up a hill!
So is it me, is it the merc box, or is this the usual with semi auto boxes…
Silverback
3 Feathers Haulage
Could just be you not being used to it. The semi box in the merc just does not like to be rushed. If you do rush it, you just end up with that clicking noise and eventually the box will just go into neutral. Once you know how it works, its probably just as good as any gear box. The trick is to just take your time with it.
I was driving one today, first time for about 6 months, and it took a few changes to get used to it again, but once you know the box, i find it quite good, just don’t rush it, preselect the gear before you need to change, and it works well.
select gear you want it to engage,dip clutch, wait 15 mins, release clutch,
do not attempt to change gear on a hill either up or down or your stuffed and have to stop, engage crawler and then start again and crawl to top, awful things
Are you using the side buttons as well as the forwards/backwards lever? If you just use the main lever it will select whatever gear it wants. If you use the button on the right it will go up or down in whole gears and you can “pre-select” 2 whole gears either way before you dip the clutch to change. The “flappy paddle” on the front works in half gears.
Either “pre-select” the gears before dipping the clutch or de-clutch then select your gear. Both work well with practice.
As damoq said, take your time and you will tame it, but like any wild animal, you will never have complete control over it
green456:
select gear you want it to engage,dip clutch, wait 15 mins, release clutch,
do not attempt to change gear on a hill either up or down or your stuffed and have to stop, engage crawler and then start again and crawl to top, awful things
I found 20 mins was required when going from 6th to 7th.
I had one the other night, most stressfull truck I have ever driven, unloaded the pos wanted to go through every gear, got my timings perfect for single shifts but the trouble is you never know when it will decide to shift 2 gears which requires the pedal down longer, click click click arghhhhhhhhhhhh, then the damned thing decided to come down from 8 to 5 rolling into an empty roundabout and nearly sent me via the windscreen whilst needlessly revving the ■■■■ out of the engine, worst system I ever drove, learning a knackered eaton twin was easier, funny enough two nights later I had the scania version, worked perfect and faultlessly, I love full auto or manual, and I can even get on with that scania semi but that actros can burn in hell !!!
Phantom Mark:
I had one the other night, most stressfull truck I have ever driven, unloaded the pos wanted to go through every gear, got my timings perfect for single shifts but the trouble is you never know when it will decide to shift 2 gears which requires the pedal down longer, click click click arghhhhhhhhhhhh, then the damned thing decided to come down from 8 to 5 rolling into an empty roundabout and nearly sent me via the windscreen whilst needlessly revving the ■■■■ out of the engine, worst system I ever drove, learning a knackered eaton twin was easier, funny enough two nights later I had the scania version, worked perfect and faultlessly, I love full auto or manual, and I can even get on with that scania semi but that actros can burn in hell !!!
Yes it will pick what it thinks is the most appropriate gear for the weight, work required and road speed, often it can be a tad low.
2 ways round it:
If you can see the RAB is clear, change down a bit earlier than you did. i.e. before you’ve braked so much speed off. It then won’t drop so low. You’ll soon find the right place to do it with a bit of practise.
On early approach drop the flap & drop the clutch momentarily so it drops half a gear.
Then at the same time as you do the change down, flick the flap back up. Tricks it into giving you half a gear higher than it thought it was.
They are a very relaxing drive once you know how to use them. Best to read the handbook
Well in typical agency style dropped in at the deep end with no manual, in fact I sat there like a ■■■ wondering why the damned thing would not engage a gear for about 5 mins when I first got into it, being dark (night shifter here) I didn’t see the clutch pedal and assumed it was an auto merc like the auto Axor I had driven before with no issues, so no I was learning on the fly with it all night, certainly did make an ■■■ out of me eh
Conversely I had never driven the scania semi until the other night either, had not a single issue with it from the start.
It’s a terrible idea, the only advantage I ever saw when using it was a bit more control when reversing. But I was a newbie at the time and have never since wished for a clutch pedal when reversing in a full auto.
I found it more succesful using the paddle that is on your fingertips (which works in half gears), rather than the main lever on the top of the armrest which seems to select whatever the hell it wants, usually the wrong gear.
I’d sometimes love to know what the Mercedes designers are smoking. I have hated (almost with a passion) every Mercedes I have ever driven, I just do not get on with them, everything about them annoys me. As soon as I get in and turn the key, the dashboard lights and layout make me want to smash things.
Also have never understood how the Actros, being one of the highest cab heights on the road, can make the cab (and particularly the bunk space) feel so small.
Worse than a Scania, and that is saying something!
Hate the things. Got to be the worst of the automated boxes. Silly thing is that the early ones which didn’t require use of the clutch pedal seemed to work so much better. Must be something to do with German revenge for losing the war. Push the lever forward to change up, but flip the paddle up to change up■■? Lever is the wrong way round. I pull the gear lever backwards to change up in a car. Preselect too early and it doesn’t change at all. Approach a roundabout and often it either goes into too low a gear and throws you through the screen, or too high a gear and stalls so you lose the power steering. Just at the moment when you need to be checking the road and mirrors again, you have to look at the dash to see what gear you are in… but then you can’t, because the spoke of the steering wheel has just aligned itself perfectly with the display. Give me any crash box instead please.
WildGoose:
It’s a terrible idea, the only advantage I ever saw when using it was a bit more control when reversing. But I was a newbie at the time and have never since wished for a clutch pedal when reversing in a full auto.
I found it more succesful using the paddle that is on your fingertips (which works in half gears), rather than the main lever on the top of the armrest which seems to select whatever the hell it wants, usually the wrong gear.
I’d sometimes love to know what the Mercedes designers are smoking. I have hated (almost with a passion) every Mercedes I have ever driven, I just do not get on with them, everything about them annoys me. As soon as I get in and turn the key, the dashboard lights and layout make me want to smash things.
Also have never understood how the Actros, being one of the highest cab heights on the road, can make the cab (and particularly the bunk space) feel so small.
Worse than a Scania, and that is saying something!
The only people who don’t like Mercs are the ones who don’t or won’t adapt to the relaxed characteristics needed for driving them. I’ve driven a few Actros’s and still think they are one of the best trucks on the road. I’ve also had a MegaSpace too. While I’ve never had to live in one as i only do local work, it has to be one of the most spacious cabs I’ve ever driven. A perfect mix of living and storage space IMO.
I have a merc and i am not the most patient of people but i get on with the flappy paddle just fine.Think it was because i got fed up of hearing it click then my own clogs clicked and now i dont rush.I have got to 30 and now think i am paid by the hour and no nights out unless caught out.one in eight months is livable!So i will drive whatever they buy.This is the first job i have had where i dont have a flash motor and life is so much more relaxing unless they make me go over that bloody M62 to that god forsaken ■■■■■■■■ Manchester.
the only actros ive driven was a 53 plate and it was fully automatic but it had a clutch pedal which was folded up to the dash with a button to drop it for the many times the autobox went wrong but i must say it was a lovely cab planty of storage and lots of 12/24v sockets everywhere even one over the top of the drivers door
Drove all 3 types, the type where the clutch can be folded away (Link Logistics), the type with the clutch (Ware Transport and Maritime) and the auto type (Maritime, Circle Express and Archbold).
Love all 3, think they’re a brilliant relaxing gearbox when used to them.
ONLY thing I HATE on Actrosses (is that a word?) is the stupid cup holder, it’s on an angle, it’s the wrong size and it just plain ■■■■■.
One time I had a brew splosh over and end up in the gearbox as I was approaching a barrier (Stupid huge speed bumps they put in RDC’s) and that was it, no neutral, no gears, stuck there in 7th had to switch off for 2 mins before it’d reset, which made me a bunch of new friends who like Nescafe
The Telligent box is too complicated i agree,MB say it’s for driver comfort and so on but the early SK’s where manual and you needed bionic arm’s to shift the stick so they came up with EPS because they had to do something. Thankfully now they come standard with Powershift,a good box from MB,it only took 40 year’s to get it sorted.
I agree the new fully auto Mercs are a nice enough box, but they are still blighted by poor software control system, for example try cruising down a nice level calm A road at 40mph on cc, 11,12,11,12,11,12. Damned thing can’t make up its mind, a least you can flick into manual mode to get around that tho, a long way behind all the other makes in that respect.
Phantom Mark:
I had one the other night, most stressfull truck I have ever driven, unloaded the pos wanted to go through every gear, got my timings perfect for single shifts but the trouble is you never know when it will decide to shift 2 gears which requires the pedal down longer, click click click arghhhhhhhhhhhh, then the damned thing decided to come down from 8 to 5 rolling into an empty roundabout and nearly sent me via the windscreen whilst needlessly revving the ■■■■ out of the engine, worst system I ever drove, learning a knackered eaton twin was easier, funny enough two nights later I had the scania version, worked perfect and faultlessly, I love full auto or manual, and I can even get on with that scania semi but that actros can burn in hell !!!
Yes it will pick what it thinks is the most appropriate gear for the weight, work required and road speed, often it can be a tad low.
2 ways round it:
If you can see the RAB is clear, change down a bit earlier than you did. i.e. before you’ve braked so much speed off. It then won’t drop so low. You’ll soon find the right place to do it with a bit of practise.
On early approach drop the flap & drop the clutch momentarily so it drops half a gear.
Then at the same time as you do the change down, flick the flap back up. Tricks it into giving you half a gear higher than it thought it was.
They are a very relaxing drive once you know how to use them. Best to read the handbook
Brakes are for slowing, gears are going!
Another cause of them dropping a massive block of gears on a downchange is if the exhaust brake is on, likewise when they only go up half a gear per change. The exhaust brake comes on anyway if you touch the brake pedal, the lever is only there to activate it for long decents without riding the service brakes, so knock it off if your not using it.
