lowphat

Title says it all.

Had the rear up on jacks for a couple of days and tranny fluid leaked out in substantial amount. There's no tranny fluid dipstick and I'm at a loss as to how to add back the fluid that leaked. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

MarcusF

Hey Marco,

You’ve probably noticed that the dipstick tube is there, but the tube is capped. You’ll have to buy a dipstick. Now for the rub – there are two sets of minimum and maximum marks on the dipstick. When a dealer adds transmission fluid to a car with a 722.6* transmission, he hooks the car to a STAR diagnostic machine to tell him the fluid temperature. When the transmission fluid is at 25 degrees Celsius, the fluid level should be between the Min and Max settings that are at the end of the dipstick. When the fluid 80 degrees Celsius, the fluid level should be between the Min and Max settings that are further up the dipstick. The fluid level is temperature dependent. My WIS states that if too much or too little fluid is in the transmission, malfunctions and damage will occur. A $50 infrared pyrometer (that’s assuming they haven’t dropped to the $25 range by now) can be used to check the fluid temp.

jbenz99

Here are the links for the Dip Stick and the Digital Infrared Thermometer,
Link #1: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercedes-Ben...item5d3079873a
link#2:http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-IR-I...item20b1fe6651

dlbehrns

80 degrees Celsius = 176 degrees Fahrenheit, Marcus is this standard operating temp? If the level and the temp is down how do you get the temp up without risk of damage to the trans? TIA.

Silv430ClkR

Drive it maybe 15 min. at the motors normal operating temp. dont beat on it. How do I know? Ive had to do this. Check your measurements on the 80*c scale on the dipstick, And to add fluid, just add it trough the dipstick tube.

lowphat

Thank you all so much for your detailed replies, definitely alot of good information there that will help me get her back on track. The thing is that I don't even have a dipstick tube - at lease not one that's readily visible. What I mean is that I'm aware of where the capped off tube should be but it doesn't appear to be there. The only thing I can think of is that it may be under the intake tube, and I haven't had time yesterday or today to remove the intake to check. Below is a pic I took a while ago and though it's not of the immediate area and it's somewhat dark, you can see that the tube is absent from where I've circled, which is where I know it would normally be and where I've looked and not seen it.

The intake setup on my 430 is different from stock, as the original setup was replaced when it was Kleemannized. Hopefully the tube lurks below the intake. I'll remove the intake this weekend and take a look and report back. But definitely thank you all for the info on the rest of the process, once I'm tubed.

Silv430ClkR

Yea man, It should be right under that intake tube. BTW, I envy you for having those two beautiful machines! LOL!

Pancho

You'll have to snap off the red lock tab on the filler tube cap in order to release the cap. When you snap off that red tab, the red stem remains in the cap. It rides on the outside of the tube, but within the cap. Be sure that the stem does not fall into the fill tube.

When you replace the fill tube cap, if you don't install a new locking tab/stem, the cap might bounce off of the tube as you drive around. The dealer should have these tabs for about a buck. I modified one so that I can remove it and reinstall without having to break the tab off.

MB came up with the idea of lifetime fluid--brilliant. If your fluid is very dark, looking black, don't be surprised. The Trans. has graphite components that will discolor the fluid prematurely. So, just being very dark does not necessarily mean that it is burned or old.

For the 722623 transmission there is no need to buy the larcenous MB fluid.
Valvoline Maxlife is fully compatible at less than $3 a Qt.
I can post the MB Tech. service bulletin, and the Valvoline compliance letter recommending the Valvoline product.

dlbehrns

I am in full agreement with you on Valvoline as I have read extensively on the subject. Why pay more? Would you please post that MB Tech. service bulletin. TIA, DB

Pancho

Here are the MB TSB, and the Valvoline Compliance Letter, and the cap and red locking pin. I found the TSB on the forum, and the Valvoline letter on the Valvoline website.

dlbehrns

"I modified one so that I can remove it and reinstall without having to break the tab off."

Pancho, what did you do to modify the red locking cap please? TIA!

Pancho

I wish I could tell you with more specificity, but, as I recall, I used a grinding dremel tip to radius an otherwise sharp angle or edge on the red stem so that it would not do a permanent lock, but be re-moveable. That is, I can grab the little red tab and pull the entire stem out without having to break off the tab.

Examine and action the stem/tab in the cap until you can figure how it works, and locate the locking edge on the stem, then radius it.

Best I can do.

lowphat

I'm tubed. Took the intake off and sure enough the capped fill tube was under there. I've ordered the dipstick and will pick up a tab at the dealer.
I feel like a total noob having failed to remove the intake in the first place! This forum is really great and I sincerely appreciate the all of the advice and the time you've each taken to post it.

moondust

Don't forget that ATF levels in the transmission are always checked with the engine running, and the gearshift moved between D, N, R, and P.

A digital IR thermometer aimed at the trans pan will give an accurate fluid temperatures. The lower one is more or less at ambient for the initial filling check. The higher one (80 deg C) is checked after a 5 mile drive has warmed up the oil.

insame1

where did the fluid leak from when you had it on stands?

grane

This is a great thread.

The procedures correspond to what my tech did on my amg and my G. now I understand the driving he had me do while he was carefully replacing the fluid.

My old fluid was clear. The weren't worried but does anyone knowable have an opinion?

He also dropped the pan and thoroughly cleaned and dried it, changed the transmission filter and cleaned the magnet that thankfully was pristine. He replaced the gasket with a new one, and if I recall torqued the pan to spec. We used new MB bottled fluid since he gets it in bulk.

Op - was you leak caused by the electronic interface possibly in the front or a bad gasket? Just some thoughts....

lowphat

Update:

Got the dipstick tool and the IR Thermometer and spent last night getting her all squared away. Since the fill tube sits directly under my intake tube, and since the car has to be running (with intake in place) in order to check trans fluid level, I had to loosen/remove the clamp at the upper end of the fill tube that secures it in place so that I could nudge the upper portion of the fill tube out towards the firewall and out from under the intake in order to be able to slide the dipstick tool in and out to measure level with engine on.

She drank 1 and 1/2 quarts! Not good.... I haven't traced the leak, but I suspect that it's the connector with the lousy O-Ring that's been described in other threads. It's a slow leak, unless I have the rear raised way up on jacks. Plan to do the O-Ring replacement next. But she's shifting like a champ now.

Used Valvoline MaxLife fluid, based on the info in this thread.

I really want to thank you all so much for the advice and guidance and wish each of you a Merry Christmas!

WILLYWESTSIDE

Hey everybody currently own a 2000 CLK 320 in a 2002 CLK 430 convertible I am currently resurrecting the 430 she had 11 mafunctions to go along with interior sun damage and suspension I have done lots of the car in better shape. I wanted to check transmission fluid level I recently purchased this dip stickor at local hardware store and noticed that exact same thing that everyone else notices that it stops at one point and another. I actually called the dealership and get some info from the Mercedes tech and he said to me to bottom out the Dip stick tool I mention to him that the tools about 45 to 47 inches in length and he confirm to bottom the tool out I just want to check and see if I you guys think

Also have rub sound from steering wheel creak sound from right rear side and clunk sounds like it is right under me. If anyone can help I would appreciate it and maybe there is something I can help you out with since I had to do a lot to both cars . thanks and I hope to hear from you guys

Lorenzo

Guys,FYI i have a 2001 clk320..... For checking the trans oil I bought a cable same size as dealer uses for flexibility. It goes all the way down in. It measures 35 inches from the bottom to the top of the dipsticks tube. Im wandering if this is correct or is it goin in to far. When measuring cold the reading is almost 3 inches up from bottom of the cable. Any thoughts?,,,,,,,,,,,, actually i just started her up then checked the oil and it seems to have dropped down the the correct cold measurement.....still checki g it out waiting for it to warm up