MercFiveHundred

2003 E500 - Drained the tranny oil through removing the pan below (3.5 qts) and refilled with 4 qts through the tube on the top left of the engine compartment (the thing with the seal). Now the car wont come out of park! When i change the setting from "S" to "W" i hear a clicking sound as if the tranny is trying to electronically shift to 2nd - in Park & Neutral?

I had a strange harsh vibration from the tranny that kept getting worse and i figured i'd change the oil and see what happens. I took it to the dealer - no glycol and no codes came up for the transmission. They suggested the valve body needed replacement, but i didnt beleive them. I don't want to start swapping parts.

Can anyone please help?!

ap10046

Hi,
if you check a few months back, I had the exact same problems with a few extras added for good measure..!
Mine wouldn't move or would need at least a couple of thousand RPM to even begin to move and then no shifting into manual mode, smoke, et al...
i drained the oil completely, both engine and gearbox and then started adding a little at a time into the gearbox and making sure all was ok and the car moved before going further..
Even though I put in the same amount of MB oil as what had been drained, it didn't work and I was told gearbox problems, valve body issues, etc etc...I used a slightly thicker grade of Mobil transmission oil and all was great!
Hope this helps

konigstiger

“May” be the torque converter. Was there particulate in the pan or at the magnet, check your email.

MercFiveHundred

I put the tranny oil down the engine oil dipstick tube! BUT, i changed the engine oil, and filled the tranny oil with 4 qts (i only had 2 MB bottles left -i put 4/6 quarts into the engine- and i couldnt get to an MB till later Monday and then i went to an autoparts store and got Mobil 1 synthetic Tranny oil). Now the tranny slips and now it runs in safe mode only. Why would that happen?

Konig, No, no metal shavings or anything in the magnet.

SUNILP

Holy crap. I hope you didn't do any damage to the engine. tranny fluid will give it a good cleaning! You may have damaged parts internal inside the transmission from running it dry or you may have some stored codes inside the transmission control unit that need to be cleared out.

MercFiveHundred

Sunilp,

Yea i reset the codes by removing the battery, but same happens.

ap10046,

The "Mobil 1 synthetic" is thinner than the MB oil!? What kind of Mobil oil did you get?

Is it possible to do a flush myself? I want to get rid of all the tranny oil that's in the transmission now and start with all new MB OEM oil.

ap10046

Hi,
As I said I had the same issue of the slipping tranny, revving the b%@#s of it to even move it.
Try this :
Drain the tranny oil completely. I believe if you let it drain overnight, the oil in the Torque converter drains too..??...or I believe we also used high pressure air to make sure all the oil was drained completely.
I honestly can't remember what EXACT oil it was, but Mobil, it was. I was told to try this by a very experienced mechanic who claims the MB oil can be very watery thin for older gearboxes, like mine was..
Fill the absolute minimum and then add 250-500ml at a time while starting the car and putting into gear and trying to get it to move.
This is what we did and almost like a switch coming on, the tranny shifted and all was well..it was by far one of the scariest experiences of my life as I was told get a new tranny at almost $5000!!!

ap10046

Oh and I forgot this one, clear the errors codes that probably exist. I had an error code that needed to be cleared.

ohlord

mobil1 trans fluid in a 722.6 transmission,I don't care what your trusted mechanic said.He is a fool and it will be the quickest way to death for your transmission.MB 722.6 fluid,diy on benzworld.org w210 diy section(same trans)
also on mercedesshop.com
You have no drain plug on the TC so use the yumling procedure to drain it via the cooling lines.
OP
Use a pen to get it out of park.And check the fluid level with the special dipstick
(pm me if you need to purchase one)it is a must to be within the proper narrow fill range at the proper temp.That mistake alone can kill a good 722.6 if not observed.

Mobil1 transmission fluid
even Mobil will tell you to never ever ever use their syn trans fluid in a 722.6.
ap10046 your mechanic is a hack.
You will be needing that transmission before long,you stopped sweating prematurely

ap10046

Mercfivehundred, I believe you would need a laptop with some software (STAR?) connected to the car to clear the codes.
Also, ohlord, thanks for your rather "explicit" response.
I beg your pardons, it was Mobil 1 Synthetic engine oil used and SHELL 3403 for the tranny. Sorry for the mix up.

vettdvr

Don't feel bad I did the same thing. Unfortunately the MB doesn't have the tranny tube marked in VISIBLE yellow or some other method. I put full 4 qts (about $100) of tranny oil in the engine. Started it up (yes I had a dipstick). Put it in R and didn't move. Immediately shut it down went under the car put my hand on the tranny fill tube and traced it out. Then found the rectangle cap with the red lock tab. Dah. Glad it was so clearly marked. I drained the engine and filter, refilled then made another 100 mile trip to the MB dealer for the correct fluid. I drove 6000 miles and all was well. Then the rear air spring failed. Took it back in under warranty and they checked the tranny. They found a leak at the electrical connector o-ring. RR the o-rings as per the manual and they told me tranny was in great shape.

Summary. If the car didn't move I don't think you hurt it but you might have just had air in the system. Adding oil a bit at the time allowed the air to purge. I would recommend using only MB oil as per the manual. Will M1 synthetic work. Probably. Would I panic? No, but it isn't the recommended oils and Rolls Royce found years ago that the fluid really makes a difference when they were trying to improve the GM hydromatic used in the RR cars. So for your next service, you might consider going to the dealer for the service and a flush with the correct fluid. I suspect all will be ok but consider the flush.

MercFiveHundred

Update:

Changed the valve body as said by the dealer. Shuttering/harsh vibration when i'm accelerating still happens. Car is out of safe mode tho. No codes came up for anything in the tranny. What else can it be ? Differential fluid? Spark Plugs? I dont want to start putting more $ in this car . Already spent (wasted) $800+ for the valve body.

Best possible explanation/narrative of the problem is this:

Problem first occurred when i noticed a vibration upon acceleration uphill (like when driving over an road that has been grinned down so the DOT can resurface the blacktop). The sound starts from the rear passenger tire and works it's way into the tranny. Then a week later, when this vibration occurs, there is like a "slip" in the tranny. The RPM's go up about 200 or 300 but never go past that. This problem does not happen the whole time my foot is on the gas. It sort of builds up and then goes away within 2 seconds and then builds up again for 2 seconds and then goes away for two seconds. I've never checked a differential before so i don't know what to look for. I havent changed my spark plugs (i have 120K miles) - but if there was a misfire - the CEL would flash on - and since the RPM's go up during the vibration, i'm guessing this is more drivetrain related. Thanks for any help guys!

TMAllison

You need to clear codes using a high end scanner like SDS. Unplugging a batt cable or scanning with OBDII scanners wont do the job.

Have you checked the shifter bushing to see if it is binding preventing it from comming out of park. Any brake codes appear? The brake switch prevents the trans from shifting from park too.

vettdvr

Correct. Consider if it was the differential it would not slip. It is a go or no go issue.

My transmission was going to fail safe and it turned out to be the PCM (Powertrain control module). But you must read the codes. My code indicated the TSR or shift switch that controls which gear the transmission is in when you move the selector. So we put a TSR on new and it still threw codes. Then we changed the PCM and all is well. This was on my diesel truck not a MB car. But the principle is pretty much the same. You still should read the codes for clues.