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Thanks guys, sorry for the delay in updating. Yes, had seen that WIS document but was not sure on the rear mount till Yidney clarified where on the differential I should place the jack. I used a thick towel between the jack and the differential and worked ok.
Here is a quick update of the job completed on Sunday, not sure if it was a success...
1. Was able to raise the car on all 4 (in stages as Yidney had suggested).
2. With front and back on all 4 notches on the jack stand, the level meter on the PAN indicated that the back had to be raised, did so by putting the rear jack stands at 5 notches. At this point, car was perfectly leveled on both x and y axis.
3. With a prayer, got under the car, removed the protective cover, replaced the transmission pan bolt (replaced only the one which the guy had broken), heeded Rudney's advise and my wife's as well. Torqued that to 4nM.
4. Confirmed new pan design with slope at the rear. Next removed the drain bolt and whoosh, almost a qt and half of oil came out. WTH ? I did not expect much as I thought we were about 1-2 qt short to begin with. Luckily had collected the same in a clean pan. Does it mean that when the car is cold or not running, most of the oil comes back into the PAN !?
5. Anyway, through a make shift funnel end (4 for a $1 at HF) as the adapter and Harbor freight pump pumped in what was drained and 2 fresh qt of ATF. The funnel pipe (1 bigger than the smallest one) fit perfectly in the drain plug hole and stayed there through the entire refill for almost an hour. Every now and then, I would apply some pressure to make sure it stayed there.
6. Started the car, my Torque phone App to monitor the Trans temp (more on that below) and then started cycling through the gears. But after 20-30 minutes, the temp would not exceed 96-98 degrees. Was showing the same thing as on the guy's OBD. It never went past 98. So I decided to give it more time and after 45 minutes or so, it actually went down a bit. So I realized something is wrong and decided to check the oil level. At this point, funnel and the tubing had really become warm and soft.
7. While in there, I got several burns touching the exhaust pipes, lesson learned (to always wear a thick fire/temp resistant full sleeve shirt). Anyway, when I let the funnel out, whoosh, almost 2+ qt of hot oil came out gushing . Got a scald on my fingers this time from the hot oil . Had removed the gloves just prior.
8. At this point, I am really getting frustrated as my wife who was helping me all along said, that she has collected more than we actually pumped in. F-bombs are going all over.
9. I said F-it . That !@#$%^&* was probably right that the ATF pan was full when he did his overflow test with the car raised only in the front. But then how come he drained 8.25+ qt and put in only 6.75 qt. Then it dawned on us that he probably had oil from another job in his container and he himself was not sure about. I was feeling like a complete fool. But I had to make sure, hadn't I !?
10. Anyway, opened up the drain bolt again, pumped in about 600ml, half of which came out before I could close the bolt again. This was to make sure that the level of oil was more or less the same before I first let the oil out.
11. Lowered everything, cleaned the floor, took the car out for a spin, no difference I could tell, it ran beautifully as ever. Above all, no leaks to be seen.
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Now about the Torque App and Trans temp, after the ordeal next day, when I was going through the screenshots I had taken, I suddenly realize that the Trans temp was displayed in C vs F. So all the time I was thinking it was 96-98F, it was celcius. But then my wife told me that when I first started the car, the trans temp reading on the Torque started at 60 degrees.
When I converted the reading in the App from C to F, the reading went from 96C to 185F. That day when I drove to work, the trans temp reading through the entire trip (35 miles) hoovered around 96C.
So Q - Is the Trans temp different from the Trans oil temperature, I guess so. If true, the App or the ODB2 tool does not yield the Trans oil temperature. I apologize for the false information.
Also that OBD2 reader I got from Amazon stopped working properly (kept on connecting / disconnecting from ECU as per Torque). Luckily I had my friend's unit still and it worked flawlessly. The both look exactly identical but I guess the new ones are PoS.
Attaching some of the OBD2 Torque screens if it helps anyone. I have the OBD2 connected all the time while I am driving and fun to see the real time stats on my phone, incl instant fuel economy.
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Finally, thanks to Yidney and Rudney for all the valuable help and tips, w/o which I would not have braved this one. Only thing good about the project apart from confirming the oil level was correct to begin with, was the kids were constantly helping and experienced first hand operation of the jack, jack-stands, transfer pump, etc. My daughter did get hurt a little in the end on her thumb trying to get one of the jack stands down, but she is ok now. Also wifey was a bit proud I suppose to see her Man doing some more macho stuff ;-).
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One other thing though I get from this that the process outlined by MB and here in the forum is good guide to follow but not all that necessary. Biggest point being that the car does not have to be raised on all 4 to check the overflow level and the temp does not have to be exact 113F. I guess the way this so called MB master technician did my job, so are other MB dealership technicians as well.
The overflow/drain bolt is towards the front/middle of the pan, so if the car is raised from the front only, chances are you have to add more oil to make it through the overflow pipe.
I had a hard time getting mine up to temp (45C/113F). I ended up putting my foot on the brake and shifting into drive and gently increasing RPM. The first time I did this, it quickly went over temp, so I had to shut down and let it cool off. Next time, I was more gentle, but hitting and maintaining 113F seems to be a challenge.
Man, I'm honestly not sure what you confirmed with that process. If the level was correct with just the front of the car jacked up it would be by accident. If you have a pipe sticking up in a reservoir, and you tilt the reservoir, the level of fluid relative to the top of the pipe depends on where the pipe is located relative to the edges of the reservoir. If the pipe is exactly in the middle front to rear, then you'll be pretty close on the level. Picture tipping a glass of wine back and forth. The level goes way up and down at the edges, but always stays about the same in the middle.
But with the car level, if you got scalded you were way over 113, and it's 113 for a reason. But if it works, it works. Someday you can have an indy MB mechanic who knows what he's doing adjust for you.
In the meantime you can enter the "cleanest garage on earth" contest.
Dude, I know you're looking to save money here, but I think you may want to have the dealer check and adjust the fluid level. Your methods here are questionable.
Looking at the design of the pan and overflow tube, I think that temperature is going to be a bigger factor in proper fluid level determination than vehicle angle. Even if one axle id 5 inches higher than the other. It likely won't make more than a few ounces of difference in the level inside the pan when you check the overflow rate.
In the meantime you can enter the "cleanest garage on earth" contest.
Not by far, my 3rd car garage is where the typical garage mess is, nicely hidden from view
Yes by fluke, the level was/is right. Otherwise, with the car cold, approx 1.5 qt would not have drained out if I was 1-2 qt short to begin with. And I filled that back and a bit more to account for some spill / splash.
Folks, I would like to still know if Trans Temp displayed by OBD2/Torque is different from Trans oil temp !? Coz, I verified with the car barely started, the Trans temp displayed close to 60C (already past 45c/113F) and quickly climbs to 80c+ and settles around 96-97C and never goes past it.
In your or ideal case, how long do you have to wait for the Pan temp to read 45C/113F before you test overflow !? Not too long I suppose as 45C is not too hot.
What do you mean by not long after starting? What does it read when the car is sitting overnight as soon as you start it? I don't think anybody on here has used that app, so probably nobody knows what you are actually measuring. But looking online it seems that getting that app to read tranny temps is hit and miss. But to answer your question it takes a while when the car is in gear on jack stands. Unlike the engine, there is no combustion going on in the tranny, so it takes a bit, plus you are not running the tranny hard. It took longer than I though it would - maybe 20 minutes. Under actual driving it would be quicker.
I'm pretty sure that your level is not right, it's just in a range that works ok. It's not like a little either way makes a huge difference.
07-22-2015, 09:08 PM
of the job completed on Sunday, not sure if it was a success...
. Got a scald on my fingers this time from the hot oil 
. Had removed the gloves just prior.
as my wife who was helping me all along said, that she has collected more than we actually pumped in. F-bombs are going all over. 
.
