fastneutron

Because of the tranny failure on my OB C43, I want to take care of my car a little more. I would like to find out if anyone know of a posting on how to replace the oil, gasket, filter on the transmission/torque converter?

I've searched on all the website, but no luck. I think it would be great if someone who has performed their own transmission oil change can do a posting with detailed instructions, including parts & tools necessary.

I just hate having to give more money to the dealership or having to wait for an appointment.

Thanks in advance.


Planning on buying an '05 E55 or a Euro E60 wagon (which is already in the US, but not yet federalized), which would be the family car. I'm still keeping the 2 C43's as commuters. So, I want to keep both on top shape.

KC36AMG

I have looking into this myself. I understand that you need a special machine for this because it is a "sealed" unit and "technically" you are not required to service the tranny. The machine is required because there is no dipstick to check levels and the machine will also get the fluid to operating temperature. It is not that expensive. It is about an hour of labour and probably $100 in parts.

Something along those lines. Do you know when the spark plugs require changing ?

hangup

I'm also interested. I bought used C43 2+ years ago w/40K and now it's almost 60 and i tried to talk my service mgr last time i did my oil change into servicing the tranny but i got the usual "you are a moron" kind of attitude w/speech about how this tranny is sealed and is not supposed to be serviced ever, etc.
reading these forums i gather that i probably had reasons to worry and was not a moron
so if anyone knows a good place in Boston area or could point out some good info on this subject please help me out with some advice!

linuxfoo

you will probably need this http://oem.overnightautoparts.com/pa...rt=AT+Dipstick

also you will need to flush the torque converter.

hangup

wow, cool.
can't the engine dipstick be used (after some cleaning perhaps)? do i really need to pay 50 bucks for a one time thing?
and . . . most importantly where do i stick that? ))
sorry for a silly question but i just had to ask

is there a writeup anywhere on how to flush the torque converter? what kind of fluid is it using?
with the tranny all i could gather so far is that if you drain some fluid (up to a galon?) from the pan you could replace it with new fluid (what is the MB recommended ATF btw? Mobil-1 doesn't seem to be recommended by MB). but is there a way to change the filter?
TIA!!!

linuxfoo

i haven't seen any write ups for a tranny flush, but even for me, and i work on all my cars, i would rather have someone else do the tranny flush.

as for the tranny dip stick, there is a place where the dipstick goes next to the tranny, its currently covered with a sealed cap i believe, take the cap out and insert the stick to check the fluid level and once its done, you will wantt o replace the seal cap. using a engine dip stick although a clever idea, you will not know the exact fluid level in the tranny, so that idea might not be good. i hear that some w202 change their tranny fluid like every 5k so maybe purchasing a $50 tool to do the job might warrant their expense in the long run. also i would only get the MB tranny fluid and i think they are like $12 per qt.

mbbodytech

The most important thing about transmission fluid changes in MBs is the fluid level. However, you can't know the correct level unless you know what the exact temperature of the fluid is, due to how much the fluid expands with heat. The only way to know the temperature inside the trans is to have Star Diagnose to read out the sensor that provides the fluid temperature.

I'm thinking that having the dealer do this work is money well spent. I wouldn't want to chance the health of my tranny over a few dollars and probably a lot of time, too.

hangup

sounds complicated.
i actually wanted the dealer to do this in the first place, but they told me that the tranny is sealed, not supposed to be touched, that "these cars are great", etc.
(and obviously me, being a complete moron, coulnd't possibly begin to comprehend how great those cars are and therefore there is no need listening to any of the other crazy suggestions i might have . . . changing the tranny fluid, are you nuts???
perhaps i'm a bit overreacting but you get the idea
so i need to look around a bit for a qualified shop to do this kind of work.
or maybe leave it alone and trust the professionals that the tranny really doesn't need to be touched.

nsfkid

I have a 1998 Volvo V70 "R" , Volvo also has this "no need to change the trans fluid" & Volvo also has NO service recommended interval regardless of mileage. I just had the trans flushed with Mobil 1 synthetic ATF. (Volvo uses standard ATF in this year) Major improvement in shift quality, better quality shifts, smoother. My car has 120K
The old fluid was dirty, borderline burnt smell (typical old ATF). I changed the fluid as a preventative measure, not to fix a problem. My friend did the same on his 97 850 turbo, same results
I will be having the trans fluid changed on 1999 C43 shortly.(60k) Most likely at the dealer.
I will post the results as soon as I have it done, Also the condition of the old fluid vs the new.
Mike H

hangup

Thanks Mike, i'll be waiting for your results
My 99 C43 is almost at 60K right now . . .
BTW, guys, have you seen this DIY:
http://www.mercedesshop.com/Wikka/Trans7226Fluid

I was wondering . . . if i drain the old fluid via the plug in the pan and measure how much i have drained (i know it's going to be just half) and then pour in the same amount shouldn't i arrive at the correct level? tranny never leaked as far as i know, so the volume shouldn't change much over time i hope.
i guess if i do this once and then do this again after a month or so (and also replace the filter at that time) i should probably get 90% of the fluid out.
i'm trying to simplify the process so i don't have to drain the torque converter (this part seems very messy).

nsfkid

Thank you for posting the link, It was very informative.
Mike,

linuxfoo

yes thanks for the link, very informative.

hangup

so i've carefully read that DIY page i posted earlier and decided to figure a few things out first, before making a decision on what to do next.
i didn't have any tools to do this myself (at least not yet) and i'm not sure i really want to . . .
so i figured i'll pop the hood and look around.
i finally found the tranny pipe back by the firewall.
it has a black cap on top with some red plastic something inserted in it.
i digged around and on a few sites that sell the A/T dipstick they call it "AT Cover Pin" part number "140 991 00 55".
the guy who wrote that nice DIY just said to "unclip it".
well, i really tried to figure out how to unclip it for about 20 minutes
then came the wife and pulled it out right away
the only thing is . . . it was now in two pieces. basically it has a cover that broke off, but it doesn't really serve any purpose. once the cover is off one can push the remaining of it inside and pull the black plastic cap up to open it.
once the cap was off i was trying to figure out how to properly uncap this thing. they probably have a tool for that too even with the black cap off in my hand i still couldn't unclip the red insert from the cap.
good news is that "140 991 00 55" is available online for about 60 cents, so next time i order tools or something i'll get a couple just in case

long story short, i cleaned the engine dipstick really well and pushed it all the way in. after a couple of seconds i pulled it out and . . . nothing. it doesn't reach . . .
so i made myself a dipstick out of a piece of some cable (carefully selected so that no debree could get into my tranny) and pushed that in.
that one reached OK and when i pulled it out i was surprised to see that the oil was nice and clear, didn't smell bad at all.
so after all i'll probably get a proper dipstick tool to check the level too and if all is well i'll leave the tranny alone for the time being.

next investigation: the differential
i noticed a lot of dirt on the back of it and the dirt was kind of greasy.
i always pay attention to any patches where i park the car and i know there wasn't any obvious leaks. so for now i've cleaned it with a piece of cloth and i'm going to check on it in a couple of weeks to see if it's still leaking or it was only leaking at some point in the past.
i'm also thinking that next time i take it for a long drive i should probably get under the car and see if the differential is hot or cool.
anybody knows what kind of fluid does MB recommend for the differential?
any good links to any DIY pages? i did some searching and found that quite a few people have complained about similar issues, but i haven't found any good DIY writeups yet.

StapleGun

I would suggest you change it. I just purchased a 1998 and even though fluid may look ok on dipstick, it would be to your benefit. Mine was brown and looked like coffee at 80K miles. Take to a shop where you can do a flush and fill- it's cheap insurance. These guys have the fluid and have everything you need toolwise. Hope this helps!

http://www.overnightautoparts.com/

MBHustla858

u do have to service it. the usually go out around 100k w/ the original fluid. it truely is lifetime fluid, its for the life of the transmission. not all transmissions have the torque convertor drain. i think 00 is the break in it. if u can only drain the pan u should put three quarts in and start it up. and hcekc it and fill if needed

J Irwan

there is no lifetime fluids.......

I couldn't imagine the fluids can take those beating especially with AMG machines...

I have read so many 5 speed electronics transmission has failed is not even funny anymore....
If you value your tranny I would replace the fluid including the torque converter.....
Any MB dealership should be able to do that. I have my fluid replace at 76k and my tranny shown worn clutch pack at 83k.....

I just created a poll for owner who has tranny failure (AMG and non-AMG) at www.club202.com


Regardz,

NitrogenBalance

Interesting Post. I have a two week old 98' C43 with 46,000 on it. It's going friday for oil, coolant, and Br.Fluid flush and fill. I plan on having(or doing) the Tranny fluid before it hits 50,000. I have all the tools san's the level check tool.

I enjoy walking around the house with the infared Temp gun checking everyone's brain temp. They hate it.

I saw that someone asked about Spark Plugs. I know that many of these last a while but was wondering when you guys like to change them and if they appeared to be in poor condition when done. Also, if so, what was the milage you changed them at???

THANKS.