julian14

Hi guys i currently drive e63 amg 07 but i have kept by old baby 2000 E430 sport that I truly cherish(old memories). iam the second owner since 19k till now 109k. I have ask the stealership throughout the year about changing the transmission fluid and have always they have always down played it. With the same old story "Sealed for life" but i never knew this up until i join this wonderful forum. I am sorry if i sound like a broken record from previous post. Would you guys rec changing the tranny fluid on a 109k trany that does not smell burnt or having a shifting issues or would you??
thank you in advance guys sorry about the re-post for the tenth
thousand time of trany oil changes.

saintz

If it does't have shifting problems now, it probably will within the next 10k miles. My CLK got rough around 80k miles and my E55 got rough around 120k miles. A drain, filter, and fill made them both shift great again. It's good preventative maintenance to do it early. You don't need (or want) to flush it, just drain it, change the filter, and refill.

The Mercedes spec says sealed for life. There's no oil that can last forever, so "sealed for life" really means "sealed until it breaks the transmission." Kind of like saying your heart is guaranteed for life... because you'll die when it breaks.

julian14

thanks you saintz do you think i should due it myself or have the stealership performed the work.

tmandel

Hmmm -- why do you suggest that he *not* flush it?

Figuero

I would never have any garage perform any work that they recommend not to do.....you are just setting yourself up as the scapegoat if anything goes wrong.

+1 on don't flush....too much risk of forcing dirt into places you don't want it.

saintz

Most flushing machines pressurize the system, which can force particulates to circulate. You just want to get a new filter in, get the heavy particulates out of the bottom of the pan, and get most of the oil changed. The benefit of a flush (getting every last bit of oil out) is generally outweighed by the downsides (pressurized fluid sending particles flying).

Also, in order to change the filter, you have to drop the pan, and to drop the pan, you have to dump most of the oil. A lot of shops that use a flush machine want to minimize the amount of oil used (it's really expensive) so they may just hook the flush machine up and flush the system and call it a day. What you need to do after a flush is then drop the pan and change the filter, which is now not only old but clogged from everything that just got flushed through it. However, this requires dumping all that fresh oil you flushed into the system and then adding new oil back in. So unless you're paying an arm and a leg for them to flush, dump, change filter, and refill, they're probably doing more harm than good (fresh fluid but a clogged filter).

As for whether it's recommended, Mercedes originally marketed as sealed for life but then revised and now say you need to change the fluid (about every 40k miles). Some shops may not know the spec changed. Others may want to sell you a new transmission next year instead of an oil change today. Who knows. But common sense should prevail over what your dealer (or MBUSA) tells you.

If it's under warranty, let them do what they want, they're paying the bill. If it's not under warranty, I would do the preventative maintenance you think will save your wallet.

Musikmann

I'm in the drain, don't flush camp too. If you don't have any obvious symptoms yet you're lucky. Also due to the wisdom on this forum, I had mine serviced at 58,000. They dropped the pan, replaced filter and gasket, and refilled. As far as I know I didn't, and still don't, have a pan magnet. I'd have them add one to yours if you don't. I had the old fluid analyzed by a lab (Blackstone). Based on the sample and what I told them, they said to repeat these steps at 90,000.

SpaceCity E 430

Julian, you can change 99% of the fluid without flushing it.

1. Jack up the front of the car and remove the bellypan. Jack it high enough to put jack stands under it. BE SAFE!

2. Drain the transmission pan and replace the filter. Clean the pan before reinstalling it.

3. Fill the transmission to the proper level using a dipstick.

4. Place a large drain pan under the front of the car.

5. Disconnect the return line that comes off the radiator. On my car it is on the passenger side.

6. Place an empty fluid bottle in the middle of the drain pan and run the disconnected hose to it.

7. Start the car and let it run until the bottle is filled. Then open a new bottle of fluid, pour it into the transmission, and place the empy in the drain pan and repeat the process. Do this until the fluid coming out looks new.

8. Reconnect the return line, install the bellypan, lower the car, and top off the fluid after the car is warmed up.

It took about 15 quarts to do mine IIRC. It helps to have a friend watch the bottle and tell you when it is almost full. But if you're alone, it takes about 9-10 seconds of idling to fill an empty bottle.


I would DEFINITELY change all of the fluid out. You have too much mileage to just drain the pan.

saintz

Space City lists, what seems like, a good way to drain the whole system.

A very easy way to drain most (but not all) of the system is to drain, fill, run for a while, drain again, refill. That should get 75% out and will get the shift nice and smooth again.

julian14

Thanks again guys, Space thank you for the intructions how to get must of the fluid out. Again thank you all, now i have to find the time to do this job!

C280 Sport

I got 90,000 on my E320. Should I get the filter, flush and all done at Service B in 3,000 miles?

SpaceCity E 430

I didn't come up with it. It's posted in a thread here or on the other site. It works.

I changed mine ~100,000. Wish I would have done it at half that mileage. I couldn't believe how dirty the fluid looked. The pan looked pretty clean though, deposit-wise. Not a significant layer of clutch material, just a slight amount, and no metal.


I'll be doing it about every 40,000 from here on out.

saintz

You're past due, yes. If you plan to keep the car and/or the car shifts rough, it's good insurance.