Richard / E320

Hello;

I’m going to order the necessary transmission oil dipstick kit with the locking pins and o-rings for my 2001 E320 with the 7.22 transmission. What is the color of the OEM fluid from 2001? I see various transmission fluids available but they seem to be red in color. I thought my transmission fluid was more of a slightly yellow / clear color.

Thank you
Richard

RKP Waco

Just go to Oreilly’s and get the Valvoline synthetic, it’s red. I rebuild transmissions and there is no reason to waste money on the expensive stuff, unless you want to.

Richard / E320

I’m not ready to do a complete fluid change, only want to check and top-off due to a very small leak, what’s likely a sensor on the transmission pan.The leak could be from the conductor plate.

Thank-you!

Richard / E320

Thought I’d add an update to this thread. After trying to research the color of the transmission oil (red), the color in the drip pan under the vehicle didn’t match with the color of the OEM transmission oil. I decided to check the engine oil dipstick and sure enough, the colors match. I last changed the engine oil more than a year ago but haven’t put more than a couple hundred miles on it, so the oil hasn’t changed to a dark color at all that I would have recognized as used engine motor oil.

Some years back I had developed a minor drip-type leak and the repair facility replaced some-sort of sensor on the transmission oil pan. Hence, when I saw the ‘fairly clear’ fluid, I just assumed it was the same issue. I didn’t know the transmission fluid was actually red.

So, ten years ago I purchased a transmission fluid dipstick for my W210 but never used it. Today I tried it, hoping to determine the transmission fluid color for myself. The dipstick would only drop down about 7.75”. No matter how I rotated it, it didn’t want to go any further, though I did try three or four times. Since it’s a plastic piece on the end, I wasn’t interested in pushing my luck and breaking it off into the transmission pan.

Anyone have a recommendation for the dipstick that has a narrower connector that actually fits into the dipstick tube?

Thank-you
Richard