Email back from Merc says engine can overheat and hence needs extra cooling. Anyway have it in black and white. All the references I can find only state might need extra cooling, so perhaps is down to the transmission.

But the ECU doesn’t know

You’d be amazed what the ECU can tell you!

My ECU tells me not to buy an auto if you plan on towing !

It also says just get a Landy for your £1500 and job done !

Honestly, the manufacturers just ass cover and make things difficult in the name of advancement. I do hear Mercs don’t even have a dipstick these days. God help owners of one in ten years time.

FWIW my better half tows (box and 2 horses etc) with her auto Freelander, and that needed nothing doing

I also thought that most fluid based autos already had oil coolers nowadays.

It also says just get a Landy for your £1500 and job done !

Lol! You mean £1500 per year don’t you?

Had a look in my xc90 owners manual and itnsays that an oil cooler can be fitted if required bur it’s not a ‘must’.
Also says that if the gear oil heats up too much the car will be put into limp mode, in which case you should stop the car and allow the box to cool before resuming your journey.
I would imagine Merc would have a similar system.
Not sure about the cheese thing with xc90s though.

Having stuffed an auto transmission by towing, and the car just months out of warranty, I’d suggest the OP does what Merc tells him, whether others think its ‘necessary’ or not. I count myself lucky that Toyota agreed to give me a new transmission, and I just paid the labour to fit it.

£1500 for a fan? What utter bollocks. Your car has been designed to cope with the hottest possible conditions without overheating – do you know there are Ro-ro ferries shuttling between Rotterdam and Lagos every week carrying hundreds of second-hand Mercedes cars to West Africa where they are highly prized for their ruggedness? Nobody modifies the cooling system or fits fans, your dealer is taking the piss. A fan kit costs about £200 anyway.

Having stuffed an auto transmission by towing, and the car just months out of warranty, I’d suggest the OP does what Merc tells him, whether others think its ‘necessary’ or not.

Yes, but the OP is saying that Merc are saying the engine needs extra cooling and not the transmission – this is what’s rather odd.

What utter bollocks

Hmm, I’d bet that there’s more to it than just a fan. My money’s on the extra cooling being an oil cooler, as above. Did you read the thread?

I believe that several cars need this doing to maintain the warrenty. I understand a couple of years ago the Caravan Club did a list of cars that required upgraded fans for towing. Apparently it is cost saving that they reason that not many of the cars need as big a fan for cooling as they won’t be used for towing. I drive a Freelander and tow a 1500kg caravan, no need for an upgraded fan as LR believe most of their cars will be used for towing1

Spud, good luck for the weekend, hope everything goes ok!

I think this will be a suitable solution to your problem.
It will also help out the rest of us who have to use the roads.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyOa1tRzYeA[/video]

Why are caravans a problem on the roads glenh? Unless you were the sort of person to get wound up about having to drive 15% slower than otherwise… Can’t imagine what kind of angry bundle of road rage would get upset about that….

I think this will be a suitable solution to your problem.
It will also help out the rest of us who have to use the roads.

I quite often get a call from my mate when he’s towing his caravan (because he’s bored) and when I ask him what the traffic’s like he always replies “the roads are completely clear in front, but you should see the carnage in my mirrors!”
🙂

Leaving BBB on the Sunday afternoon was the first time I’d towed on single carriageway roads with cars around. I picked up a tailback after a mile or so and I was very proud to pull over immediately.

£1500+ is what it would cost to retrofit an MB towbar kit to the vehicle, more probably as the kit is £1036 plus 5 hrs labour.
At least when the fan is fitted I can drive along safe in the knowledge that when I’m slowing up traffic on the way to the West Country I won’t overheat! 😉

molgrips – Member
…. 15% slower…

Yeah right 😆

“Not sure about the cheese thing with xc90s though”

the 2.9 petrol XC90 has a reputation for weak autoboxes-its due to the packaging constraints of the engine size that forced Volvo to use a physically smaller GM sourced box that was a weak design beforehand, coupled with the torque of the 2.9 resulted in a lot of failed boxes.
The D5 limits torque in 1st and 2nd gears to help the problem although it is fitted with an Asain Warner box which is better.

All Volvo’s with the 5spd autoboxes have issues though in the fact the autobox fluid is rarely changed and is an expensive non-Dexron type oil as a result they struggle to see 100k+ miles. Pull the box dipstick-the fluid should be red, if its discoloured and smells burnt-get it changed. But read up before hand how to do -and do not use standard ATF or you will kill it straight away.

Similar to Mitsubishi VR4 autos then. Quite a few of them use Amsoil ATF in those works a treat and tends to improve the shifts immeasurably!

Whilst we are (not) on the subject of caravans, I crossed the footbridge by mine today which I practically never do, and happened to notice that the skylight is missing! Wtf?

We’ve had loads of rain lately too 🙁 Had to go and get a tarp double quick, but I fear the worst, that my caravan is even more shagged than it already is 🙁