JonG89

I am considering a well-maintained 2014 CLS550 with 20,300 miles and its factory warranty in force until late August 2018. Once the factory warranty expires, I expect to do my own routine maintenance. I currently maintain our 2005 Jaguar S-Type sedan, our 2006 Jaguar XK8 convertible, our 2013 Subaru Outback 3.6R SUV, and our 1999 Dodge Ram pickup. If I purchase this CLS550, it will replace our Jaguar S-Type. I have been doing my own routine automotive maintenance since the late 1970s.

What diagnostic tools will I need to own in order to properly maintain this CLS550, and where can they be sourced for reasonable prices?

I plan on making my final decision regarding whether or not to make an offer to purchase this vehicle by end-of-day tomorrow (Friday).

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.

sxs191

JonG89

Thanks for your feedback. No, I have not purchased the vehicle yet. Still doing my research and I remain on the fence in terms of whether or not I can justify spending this much cash on a niche vehicle that I want but do not need.

Very few forum members here seem to do their own maintenance. Are you one that does? If so, what has been your experience with the reliability of the air suspension system, the direct injection system, the on-board computers and electronics, and the brake rotors warping before 30,000 miles?

sxs191

JonG89

Thanks for the additional feedback. Have you obtained any service manuals to assist you in your self-maintenance efforts? If so, where did you find them?

sxs191

The service interval manual should come with the car.

JonG89

I have the service interval documentation. I am looking for an owners workshop manual.

sxs191

Workshp manual I don't have.

dcastine

Hi guys, I've been lurking on this post.

I just purchased a 1 owner 2013 CLS550 4Matic - it gets delivered to me next week from Nevada (I'm in MA). It's replacing my trusty old '03 Audi A8L as my DD. I also "try" to do my own maintenance. My car has 36k miles on it so I'm interested in the 40k trans flush and what's involved. My car is OUT of warranty so it's on my dime now. Is there somewhere I can lookup what's involved? Or should I just buddy up with local MB tech?

Thanks and good luck with your search Jon!

JonG89

Hi dcastine,

Thanks for the kind words. Glad to see others chime in who are doing or want to do their own maintenance. Lots of DIYers on the Jaguar forum that I have been utilizing for 9 years now. That forum has saved me more than $10,000 in self-servicing our two Jaguars with the help of several other forum members who have become great friends.

Regarding doing a transmission drain-and-fill on your CLS550, I believe it will be very similar to the drain-and-fills on the ZF 6HP26 transmissions in our two Jaguars. Easy to drain, but difficult to properly fill. The car needs to be raised at least a couple of feet off the ground and be perfectly level. The first thing you do is to make certain you can crack the fill plug open. Sometimes they are difficult to get the proper tool on due to extremely limited working room in the transmission tunnel. Once you know you can remove the fill plug, you go ahead and drain the pan through the drain plug hole (not the fill plug hole). In most cases, you only get about half the old ATF out using the standard drain-and-fill process. Another litre or two of old ATF may drain out of it if you let it sit overnight and continue to drip. Once you have drained as much ATF as you can, you reinstall the drain plug and start pumping fresh ATF into the fill plug hole until it begins to dribble out the fill plug hole. We use a hand pump that has a clear plastic tube running into the fill plug hole so you can watch your fresh ATF being pumped in. Once the dribble begins after you have pumped in about 4 litres of fresh ATF, the second person (this job goes much better with two people) gets in the drivers seat, starts the engine, and brings the ATF up to a specific temperature that the person on his back underneath the car measures with a cheap infrared temperature gun by pointing it at multiple spots on the pan. For our Jaguars, the gun needs to be registering around 125 to 130 degrees F. Once the gun is consistently registering within that range, the person underneath the car pumps in more fresh ATF while the person in the drivers seat takes the gearshift through a specific gear pattern. Typically, we can then get another 3 litres or so of fresh ATF into the pan before it once again begins to dribble out the fill plug hole. When that up-to-temperature dribble begins to occur, your transmission is finally at the correct level of ATF. You then remove the clear plastic tubing from the fill plug hole and quickly screw in the fill hole plug and crank it down tight. Only then can you shut off the engine. If you shut off the engine before the fill hole plug has been reinstalled, the person underneath the car will be soaked with hot ATF as it comes shooting out of the fill plug hole.


A Jaguar forum buddy of mine and I have done two separate drain-and-fills on both of our Jaguars within 5,000 miles of each other. This was to get as much of the old ATF out as we could. After two drain-and-fills, I estimate that the ATF in both of our Jaguars is approximately 85% replaced. That is good enough for me. One Jaguar now has nearly 114,000 miles and the other Jaguar now has more than 105,000 miles. Both transmissions continue to perform normally.


After looking at the Mercedes-Benz ATF replacement kits online, it appears that this same drain-and-fill process is utilized. What may be different would be the amount of fresh ATF needed for the job, at what temperature the pan needs to register on the gun before you start pumping the final amount of fresh ATF into the fill plug hole, and what specific pattern the gearshift must be taken through while the final dose of fresh ATF is being pumped into the fill plug hole.


If anyone has done this job on a CLS550, please chime in here and add the appropriate information as necessary.


Note: I never "flush" a transmission, I only drain-and-fill. "Flushing" may carry a higher degree of risk because it can drag long-settled debris in the pan up through the valve bodies and create problems that were not there before the flush.

And by the way, I remain on the fence about purchasing this 2014 CLS550. I would love to have it, but I am having a hard time convincing myself to spend that kind of money on a car that I want but do not need....

embassured

FWIW and at least with the maintenance schedule I have, the transmission on the CLS550 (M278) doesn't call for flush and filter until 70K. The CLS63 (M157) is 40K.

Good luck!
Eric

rumb

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ce-thread.html

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/gene...-change-2.html

JonG89

There are a couple of great how-to videos in that second link posted above. Thanks to rumb for posting them.