hahaitzmickey

So recently brought my car in for service at Mercedes Benz in Mobile, AL, they had damage my radiator at the transmission connection *LOW* side. I went for a transmission flush and now its leaking transmission fluid everywhere.

Crack radiator, possible from the ATF machine putting out to much pressure and cracked it. I don't know exactly what type of radiator I have, Valer or Behr model. But I ordered a new one, it should be in tommorrow and I'm doing the job myself after those idiots wont fix it for me. Just want to charge me 1189 to fix it.
Got me a new radiator in shipping for 203 bucks at Carquest down the road from the stealership.

While its in shipping, I have been trying to remove the radiator. I'm on my last step. It wont come out and seems stuck. Can someone help me out here. Pictures below. I'm at the point where i push the radiator away and pull it up while I push the condenser away. But It will not come out. Everything comes up! m271 engine

Carsy

The radiator must be sitting on a mounting . Have you looked underneath the car & disconnected this mounting? . Some sit on rubber bushes with bolts running through them.

Can't believe MB would not come to the party seeing they did the damage.

SeaCoupe

The trans cooler lines are difficult to seat perfectly. Before you put the clips in, they have to be fully and firmly placed in. Add in that they have to be mounted in at the correct angle. You are working with a high pressure
Line.

I assume there are no restrictions or connections you are forgetting.

I am doing an oil change tomorrow, I will look to see what you may be missing.

hahaitzmickey

*old radiator is not out yet.... the transmission lines are easy and fexible to connect back.

Evertyhing is taken out and disconnected. From the instructions. The last step it still stuck on the hinges at the bottom i'm assuming. I can pull it up 2 inches but I can't see any further down there. I keep pulling it up and the a/c condsenser comes up with it.

*At this point I want to take my grinder out and cut the b*tch in half since its cracked anyways and i'm getting a new one put in. Go beast mode on it.

hahaitzmickey

I contacted MB CORP. already, Hadn't got a response back from those idiots who broke it. But nothing is connected at the bottom. It all comes up just stuck to the condeser. When I pull it up. Looking like some plastic piece is still connect near the bottom, but not at the very bottom. About 3 inches up I can see something connected with my flashlight.

bop11

these might help
Normally the fluid from the transmission is from the sump to the pump and therefore is low pressure. The cooler is in many cases just a tube that runs through the bottom of the radiator. These line can be fixed with a simple piece of fluid resistant hose and a couple of hose clamps. Ford even sells the hose and clamps in a kit for about $5.00 for cars where they routed the pipe too near something and it rubs through. This is good if you catch it early enough before the tranny runs dry and is destroyed.
Good luck with the repair.

hahaitzmickey

I have the exact same print on. I'm on stuck STEP 9, it wont come out from the buttom hinges. It don't have exact instructions to take off the bottom hinges. From what I have read in the forum. Most people get stuck on this last step with the hinges.

Thanks bop, this will come useful to many people who needs to change out the Valeo radiator to the Behr brand.

hahaitzmickey

Like most people I still have the Valeo brand radiator in the car with the CRIMP design. This must be change out for most of you w203 owner.
You can order most Behr radiator around $200 bucks online or at your local parts store.

bop11

further on the oil lines
"Something else that’s new for Mercedes is the cooler lines
no longer have threads or banjo-type fittings. The cooler lines
are sealed with rubber O-rings on push-in type fittings, secured
with a retaining bolt."
These are low pressure lines

hahaitzmickey

Okay here are the instructions on removing the hard tabs at the bottom of the radiator that aren't on the instructions from Mercedes Star sheet.
You will need a friend or you can do it by yourself.

Took me around 10 minutes to pop both sides off! Good luck!

hahaitzmickey

Continue...

hahaitzmickey

Continue, on this m271 engine , 2004 C230 K Sedan

C230 Sport Coup

Dr. are you sure that's part of the exam?
Well I didn't spend 5 years in Evil Medical school for nothin' !
Bend over and stop whining! LOL

Carsy

Mickey, Thanks for the solution . Good luck with reassembly.JC

ogomarg

Dudes, my c-clips kept popping out after changing my radiator. Both the transmission fluid and the water hoses.

Turns out you can bend them to make them tighter, this will fix your problem if they keep popping out.

peterwashere

I know this is an old thread but I was wondering about the transmission cooler lines, do they simply push in and lock in place or is there hardware like a nut to help secure them from coming out?

2005 C55 AMG

Thank you

ogomarg

The clips pop in the same way, just make sure you bend them back to their normal state, because they will pop out. That happened to me and it got everything wet with oil, alternator burned, and made a cloud of smoke on the freeway

peterwashere

Thanks for the reply. The metal clips were installed on the radiator purchased. So simply inserted the transmission line (male end) into the radiator (female end) and heard a click. I think it's in now. Correct?

Haven't driven it since last "click in", but changed gears and no slippage anymore in trans after mover car back and forth a tad.. no leaks I can see....

No plastic piece goes over it or anything, right?

If good to go I'm on to the clean up big piggy mess phase....lol

That totally sucks yours smoked on the freeway!...
I lucky (if call it that haha) was about 6 blocks from home so I drove back very slowly and in pain (while the wife and kids took an Uber to destination!

ogomarg

Push the hose in, then push the clip in

peterwashere

Thank you for your help. Have a great weekend

Donald McPherso

Found this on another site.

Finally got the radiator removed. The condenser mount did need to be unattached so it can be raised and then push down on the radiator, then push back and lift out. Maybe this will help someone else that's contemplating removing their radiator themselves. Had I known the condenser thing It would have taken me less than an hour to remove it, probably closer to 30 minutes.

Seabenz230Kcoup

The radiator is actually attached to the intercooler. The condenser is sandwiched in between. You have to remove the front bumper and then the intercooler. Then you can take out the radiator

blakburner

I had the same problem. After much frustration, the problem for me was simpler than I though. On the back of the radiator at the bottom of each side is a slot that a clip from the turbo cooler locks into that holds the turbo locked into the radiator and the condenser stuck sandwiched in between. If you take a small flat head screwdriver and use it to undo the clips and then to pry the turbo & condenser away from the radiator, then that should allow the other 2 clips that are midway up the backside of the radiator to release and then the radiator should come right out.
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texas008

This is very encouraging.
One Youtube video on replacing X164 radiator shows that the AC condenser needs to be removed together with the radiator, that seems a unbelievably bad design.