mis3

I went to my indie to do the ATF pan flush and he removed the bottom panel, he found there were some oil on the panel. He then found out that the upper and lower coolant lines were "wet, sweating".

He aborted the pan flush and said I should replace the 2 coolant lines. He asked me to get the 2 coolant lines and he would replace them for 2 hours labour. Is this reasonable?

I called the dealership and both parts are back-ordered and they will have to order from Germany.

Part numbers: 209-270-0696 and 209-270-0796.

Plutoe

That is fair as they are a pain in the A to replace!!

mis3

Funny. I went to the local dealership to order the parts and talked to the mechanics. He told me he never changed the transmission coolant lines for a CLK. Maybe they never serviced a 12 years old CLK!

merceBENZ

My guess would be... uncommon problem.

mis3

Not sure anything is uncommon for a 12 years old car. It has 220K miles!

I did look at it. Both lines were rusted and "sweaty".

merceBENZ

Maybe snow salt caused it?

mis3

Possibly but these transmission parts are all covered by the bottom panel.

Maybe age of the car or just normal wear-and-tear. I have been driving this car daily for 12 years!

Rudeney

"Sweaty" makes no sense on the transmission cooler makes no sense! Humidity in the air condenses on objects that are cooler than the ambient temperature (the way a cold drink glass sweats), but the transmission lines should be hot, even the return line from the cooler will be warmer than ambient temperatures. Are you sure you aren't looking at the AC refrigerant lines as they enter the condenser?

mis3

Yes, I was wondering about this as well.
The indie to.d me they were the transmission coolant lines and showed me that both lines were rusted and sweaty. He specializes in Sprinters which share the same 722.6 transmission. Actually, I see a lot of MB in his garage in the past 1-2 years.

mis3

Yes, I was wondering about this as well.

The indie told me they were the transmission coolant lines and showed me that both lines were rusted and sweaty. He specializes in Sprinters which share the same 722.6 transmission. Actually, I see a lot of MB in his garage in the past 1-2 years.

mis3

The 2 cooling lines were replaced this afternoon. Together with the pan flush, it took 2.5 hours. 4 litres MB ATF were used. Also checked the 13-pin pilot bushing, it was OK (dry).

Because of the ATF change, the car is now super smooth.

xsever

That's good to hear and definitely an awesome feel.

How much did that entire job cost you?

mis3

Parts: $357 (2 cooling lines (with 4 seal pins), 4L ATF, pan gasket, tax)
Labour: $240

So, about $600 in Canadian funds. Cost of parts includes 15% discount.

One note is I did pan flush twice and they both took in 3.5L This time it took full 4L, because of the cooling lines.

xsever

Yikes! I don't like to remember how expensive repairing an MB in Canada was. The conductor plate on my 03 CLK 320 went bad when I lived in Canada and it cost me $1,100 whereas here in Lebanon it's a $300 job.

When I changed ATF myself, I let it drain all night and I had 4.4L in the container pan by the morning.

This was the difference:
Attachment 443490

mis3

The work was performed by an indie. If I get this fixed in the Mb dealership, it would be more than $1,000.

Not sure why, MB parts are so much more expensive in Canada than US. Unfortunately US online stores do not usually ship to Canada.

xsever

Yeah I remember that. I was lucky by having my brother work in the US and live in Canada so that's how I used to get all the parts and fluids for cheap.