When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
DISCLAMER: Please!!!!! If you do not know how to safely jack up the car, DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS DIY. I am not responsible for any injuries resulting from your stupidity. Please be at least 8/10 on your technical skill level in order to attempt this. DIY performed on a 2002 C230 6MT Kompressor
Tools Required:
H14 & H17 tool bits and some extension bars and torque wrench or breaker bar, smaller one will work too. You will also need this harbour freight hand pump it is nice and cheap, a pic/link is attached for your review.
Supplies: For both the oils I purchased the redline products, you can buy whatever oil you choose but please buy only MB approved oils. For the tranny oil I bought "Red Line 50204 (MTL) Synthetic Manual Transmission Lubricant" and for the differential oil I bought "Red Line 57904 (75W90) Synthetic Gear Oil", I bought the above from amazone.
Note: Before you start the job fill a bucket with hot water and submerge the new fluid bottles in there and leave them in there so that the new fluid warms up and become easy for you to pump it in.
Transmission Oil Change:
ALWAYS MAKE SURE THAT YOU OPEN THE FILL HOLE FIRST, cause if the fill hole is stuck for whatever reason and you drain the old oil now you cannot fill fresh fluid and will be stuck .
Now the tranny oil fill hole is located on the passenger side of the vehicle. So it would be better to access this from the passenger side making sure that the vehicle is level. I jacked the front of the car and supported it on jack stand on either side and then used the same jack and jacked the rear of the car supporting the jack on the differential. Here are some pictures of the fill hole.
Use the H14 bit to loosen the fill hole and take it out completely, make sure to keep it in a secure place and not to lose it. Now use the H17 bit to open the Drain plug which is located at the bottom of the tranny it is clearly visible. Just note how much the plug is protruding out. Remember these plugs are just plugs and not some nuts and bolts holding something togather, so feel the pressure that you are using to loosen them cause you will use the same torque feel to fasten them.
Here is a pic of what the drain plug looked like with the metal shavings on it....... see the mushroom...lolol
The drain plug has a magnet, so clean it up well, I used the brake cleaner fluid to clean it real nice. Here is a pic of it cleaned ....not even a single spec of the metal shaving...
Let the tranny sit for some time so that all fluid is drained out. Now apply some plumbers tape on the threads of the drain plug. Just one wrap around is enough. Now gently thread the plug back on to the drain plug hole with hand making sure that you don't mount them cross threaded so as to prevent damage to the threads. Now you can tighten the plug using the H17 bit making sure that you tighten it enough to have the same amount of it left outside the tranny casing as you had before you took the drain plug out.
Now you will need some help from you buddy or your helper. Open the tranny fluid bottle and insert the intake/suction end of the hand pump into the fluid bottle and insert the discharge end of the pump into the tranny. Ask your helper to hold the bottle with the tube inserted in the bottle with one hand and the pump standing on its base on the floor with other hand. You hold the discharge end inserted into the tranny fill hole and use your other hand moving the piston on hand pump. The hand pump is quick within 10/12 pumps you will have the quart empty, switch it with the other quart and follow the same process. I kept filling till the fluid started pouring out of the fill hole, you can also measure the 1.5ltr fluid in a separate container and fill in a measured qty of 1.5ltr as mentioned in the manual. I have no problem or issue with what I filled in. It did not take the full 2 quarts anyways. The first quart that I filled I had some left over cause the dip tube of the suction end does not suck up every last drop from the quart and the same with the 2nd quart. In fact before it could hit the bottom of the second quart the tranny started over flowing, so in my guestimate I might have gotten in ~1.8-1.9ltr in there...cause I had some fluid left over in each quart.
Differential Oil Change: ALWAYS MAKE SURE THAT YOU OPEN THE FILL HOLE FIRST, cause if the fill hole is stuck for whatever reason and you drain the old oil now you cannot fill fresh fluid and will be stuck .
CANNOT EMPHASIZE THE ABOVE ENOUGH......
Now the Differential oil fill hole is located on the driver side of the vehicle on the top close to the drive shaft, you cannot miss it, it is right where the drive shaft meets the differential assembly and the drain hole is located on the passenger side on the vehicle at the bottom. So it would be better to jack the vehicle by placing the jack under the dfferential and raising the vehicle. Then you can place jack stands and rest the vehicle on the jack stands and remove the jack from under the differential assembly; so you can have easy access to the fill and drain holes. Here are some pictures of the fill hole.
The above pictures is the finished job pic, but you get the idea....
Now for this job you will be using only the H14 bit to loosen the fill/drain hole. Loosen the fill hole and take it out completely, make sure to keep it in a secure place and not to lose it. Now use the H14 bit to open the Drain plug which is located to the passenger side on the differential at the bottom of the differential & is clearly visible. Just note how much both the plugs are protruding out. Remember these plugs are just plugs and not some nuts and bolts holding something togather, so feel the pressure that you are using to loosen them cause you will use the same torque feel to fasten them. Here is a pic of what the drain plug looks like
Clean both the fill plug and the drain plug, I used the brake cleaner fluid to clean it real nice.
Let the differential sit for some time so that all fluid is drained out. Now apply some plumbers tape on the threads of the both the plugs. Just one wrap around is enough. Now gently thread the plug back on to the drain plug hole with hand making sure that you don't mount them cross threaded so as to prevent damage to the threads. Now you can tighten the plug using the H14 bit making sure that you tighten it enough to have the same amount of it left outside the differential casing as you had it before you took the drain plug out.
Now you will need some help from you buddy or your helper. Open the differential fluid bottle and insert the intake/suction end of the hand pump into the fluid bottle and insert the discharge end of the pump into the differential fill hole, I was able to squeez the tube all the way inside so I didn’t have to hold it will pumping and it held in its place and did not fall out of the differential casing. Ask your helper to hold the bottle with the tube inserted in the bottle, hold the pump securely with one hand and start pumping. The hand pump is quick within 10/12 pumps you will have the quart empty, switch it with the other quart and follow the same process. I kept filling till the fluid started pouring out of the fill hole, you can also measure the 1.8ltr fluid in a separate container and fill in a measured qty of 1.8ltr as mentioned in the manual. I have no problem or issue with what I filled in. It did not take the full 2 quarts anyways. The first quart that I filled I had some left over cause the dip tube of the suction end does not suck up every last drop from the quart and the same with the 2nd quart. In fact before it could hit the bottom of the second quart the differential started over flowing, so in my guestimate I might have gotten in ~1.8-1.9ltr in there...cause I had some fluid left over in each quart.
Now this job is a little bit messy so have enough paper towels and rags handy so as to wipe down all the spilled fluid and the hand pump and the quart bottles.
also on a side note to members DO NOT USE GEAR OIL FOR THE DIFF FOR THE TRANNY OIL... they use two different kinds.
GL-4 is for transmission since the transmission components are made from "yellow" metals and GL-5 is for differential. Now the rear axle/differential do not have "yellow" metals and some recommend GL-4, and in this case you can use GL-5.
Great DIY I need to do my Rear DIFF fluid again as I am at 193,000 miles now and figure I will do it myself this time as it does not look to be hard at all.
I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to thank Javvy for posting this information. I completed this job last night. Fortunately, I have access to a lift at the auto hobby shop on the military base where I work and access was much easier than if I put the car on ramps. (I don't crawl under cars that I have personally put on jack stands. I don't have that much faith in my ability.)
I have three additional bits of information to add:
1. The fluid began to run out of the differential just as I finished pumping in the first liter. I had bought two liters so that I could add the extra 0.1 liter called for in the instructions. Since I had the car level on a lift, I'm not sure why mine started overflowing at the 1.0 liter level. For future reference, I'm planning to use just 1 liter the next time I do this job.
2. I found another thread that indicated the torque settings for the drain and fill plugs is 35-45 foot pounds or 50 newton-meters. Due to the location of the fill plug on the transmission, I couldn't use my torque wrench on it so I had to make my best guess by feel. I think it is more important to torque the drain plugs due to their location, so I'm not concerned about the guess work on the transmission fill plug.
3. If you need the hex sockets, Amazon has a nice set for what seems to be a reasonable price:
04-08-2013, 09:29 AM
, you can also measure the 1.5ltr fluid in a separate container and fill in a measured qty of 1.5ltr as mentioned in the manual. I have no problem or issue with what I filled in. It did not take the full 2 quarts anyways. The first quart that I filled I had some left over cause the dip tube of the suction end does not suck up every last drop from the quart and the same with the 2nd quart. In fact before it could hit the bottom of the second quart the tranny started over flowing, so in my guestimate I might have gotten in ~1.8-1.9ltr in there...cause I had some fluid left over in each quart.
