Transmission Replacement
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 112
Likes: 24
From: Orlando, Florida
2009 E550, 2011 GL550, 2013 GL550
Transmission Replacement
Backstory: I had multiple posts years ago regarding my 2011 GL550 intermittently automatically shifting to neutral. The car would still display "D" but physically won't accelerate and RPM's only go up when you floor it.
Temporary fix which worked for a while was draining/flushing the transmission oil and refilling it at an independent shop. After researching most of the forum, others seemed to have a common issue which directed toward conductor plate/valve body replacement. I've brought this car to 3 Mercedes Benz dealers, one which denied replacing conductor plate/valve body because it is a security part and they couldn't duplicate the issue and no codes showed. The second dealer reported they could not duplicate the issue and did not do anything.
Recently, the third dealership stated they could not duplicate the issue. Fortunately, I did take videos this time of the car shifting to neutral at highway speeds (60 mph to 90 mph range) and the service advisor said they would dig deeper. I believe the first two dealerships did not even investigate due to lack of diagnostic codes appearing on their scanner. This third dealership dropped the transmission pan (keep in mind, the transmission oil was last changed TWICE within the last 2 years). She stated the pan displayed metal shavings that was significant compared to the amount of times the transmission has been serviced in the last 2 years. She stated the torque converter is falling apart and due to the age of the vehicle, a full transmission replacement along with torque converter is the solution. I was quoted 10,236.27 for the entire job.
Questions:
1. Has anyone attempted a transmission change themselves? Did you use a new or rebuilt or used transmission?
2. Since the conductor plate/valve body is a security part, did you have the dealer install that new? (I was quoted $3,000 for a conductor plate/valve body replacement)
3. Do you think the dealer misdiagnosed?
Temporary fix which worked for a while was draining/flushing the transmission oil and refilling it at an independent shop. After researching most of the forum, others seemed to have a common issue which directed toward conductor plate/valve body replacement. I've brought this car to 3 Mercedes Benz dealers, one which denied replacing conductor plate/valve body because it is a security part and they couldn't duplicate the issue and no codes showed. The second dealer reported they could not duplicate the issue and did not do anything.
Recently, the third dealership stated they could not duplicate the issue. Fortunately, I did take videos this time of the car shifting to neutral at highway speeds (60 mph to 90 mph range) and the service advisor said they would dig deeper. I believe the first two dealerships did not even investigate due to lack of diagnostic codes appearing on their scanner. This third dealership dropped the transmission pan (keep in mind, the transmission oil was last changed TWICE within the last 2 years). She stated the pan displayed metal shavings that was significant compared to the amount of times the transmission has been serviced in the last 2 years. She stated the torque converter is falling apart and due to the age of the vehicle, a full transmission replacement along with torque converter is the solution. I was quoted 10,236.27 for the entire job.
Questions:
1. Has anyone attempted a transmission change themselves? Did you use a new or rebuilt or used transmission?
2. Since the conductor plate/valve body is a security part, did you have the dealer install that new? (I was quoted $3,000 for a conductor plate/valve body replacement)
3. Do you think the dealer misdiagnosed?
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 3,114
Likes: 782
NGL450 w/EORP, S550
There are many non dealer options for the valve body replacement, third parties can code this for you at a tenth of the cost if you diy it.
that being said, replacing the whole trans is fairly rare, but if you have shavings in there and the failure is backed up by oil analysis is look for a known good used one and just drop the whole front subframe with motor and tranny, unbolt the old one and offer up the new to you tranny.
reassmble and then treat the remainder as a valve body replacement in terms of coding etc.
if expect around half the dealer price for this path in labor to pull the engine, source a knownngood trans and have it all reassembled and coded.
no, yeah those first two dealers weren’t interested in your money because it wasn’t a slam dunk. No code showing means that I have to keep the vehicle for a while and try to make the issue happen, that’s labor-intensive and also risky for them.
that being said, replacing the whole trans is fairly rare, but if you have shavings in there and the failure is backed up by oil analysis is look for a known good used one and just drop the whole front subframe with motor and tranny, unbolt the old one and offer up the new to you tranny.
reassmble and then treat the remainder as a valve body replacement in terms of coding etc.
if expect around half the dealer price for this path in labor to pull the engine, source a knownngood trans and have it all reassembled and coded.
no, yeah those first two dealers weren’t interested in your money because it wasn’t a slam dunk. No code showing means that I have to keep the vehicle for a while and try to make the issue happen, that’s labor-intensive and also risky for them.
