Transmission Fluid level for w203 C180
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
C180 Kompressor (W203)
Transmission Fluid level for w203 C180
Hello trying to determine if my fluid level is low. When the car is "cold" there is fluid in the pan according to my dipstick. I have read a lot of advice in this forum explaining how to check the fluid levels when "warm 80C" so when i did that and retested the fluid level it no longer appears on the dipstick level at all. Now this makes sense as the oil would be distributed around the galleries and channels that make up the transmission. Therefore my question is "How can I possibly measure this?
My thoughts on this are that the fluid level is so low that there is no fluid left over and the transmission is "just" working - the problem i have is that the transmission goes into limp mode fairly often -I think that this supports this. Therefore i just wanted to clarify what level the transmission should be at "cold" - i bought an aftermarket stick that has graduations 1-12 on it. Measuring from the bottom of the stick it it reaches "9" which is 52mm and as previously stated when "hot" doesnt register on the stick at all.
Any advice would be great along with the type or brand of oil to buy as i live in Brisbane Australia and cannot drive the car to the local MB dealership over 50km away without possibly damaging the transmission??
Thanking you all in advance.
My thoughts on this are that the fluid level is so low that there is no fluid left over and the transmission is "just" working - the problem i have is that the transmission goes into limp mode fairly often -I think that this supports this. Therefore i just wanted to clarify what level the transmission should be at "cold" - i bought an aftermarket stick that has graduations 1-12 on it. Measuring from the bottom of the stick it it reaches "9" which is 52mm and as previously stated when "hot" doesnt register on the stick at all.
Any advice would be great along with the type or brand of oil to buy as i live in Brisbane Australia and cannot drive the car to the local MB dealership over 50km away without possibly damaging the transmission??
Thanking you all in advance.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,263
Likes: 169
From: So. Oregon Coast
C230 Sport Coup + 2006 W164 ML350 + 99 Ford Escort RIP
Well 1st off get yourself a dipstick with 20c- 90c on it, or you can probably get an idea where it should be on
your dipstick based on these photos. 2 sides of the same dipstick.
I'm guessing when hot you need to be in the 9-11 range, and cold from 1-3 ish.
You should see SOMETHING even when cold.
So yeah, sounds like a fluid leak, sadly it might be going up inside the wiring from
the connector. If the orings are leaking, it will push the fluid from into the cable and up into the
TCU under the passenger or rather right side or...hmm not sure on right hand drive footwell.
Pull the carpet up and remove the plate, like 2 screws, and see if there's oil in the TCU.
Regarding the level, from the bottom to the top of the dipstick is only like 1 quart,
though the system holds 9 quarts or liters, something like that. So fill slowly and check often, overfilling causes problems too.
So you may only be a quart or so low, the question is, where's the fluid go?
You need ATF134, ,Shell makes a great product for cheap.
Any product on this list will work.
Last edited by C230 Sport Coup; Dec 19, 2017 at 05:42 PM.
