Tuscan1311

Hey guys i just brought a 2003 s500 4 matic and is wondering should i do a motor and tranny flush to start my journey on the road to a better exprience with my benz? The car has 124 thousand miles on it. Thanks

MB-Dude

There are two schools of thought... The Purists say 'No' because MB says 'No'. And there is some valid reasoning behind their thinking. On the other hand, if you picked up 124K miler that has a dubious-at-best maintenance record, there are probably some upper-end oil passages that look like coronary arteries of a 65-year old carnivore that lived on double-battered, deep-fried bacon strips for decades.

I'd suggest you remove the oil filler cap and have a look inside. If the metal pieces look reasonably shiny, then you probably don't need an engine flush and I wouldn't risk the potential bearing damage. Just change the oil and filter. But if the inside looks slimy and discolored with sludge build-up, then you may want to consider a motor flush. But use it only once... and follow the directions to the letter.

As for the transmission, I wouldn't recommend it. Clutch plates, electrical components and such can get damaged during a transmission flush. Chemical reactions to the solvents, thinned-out, lower viscosity fluid during the flush, etc. And if something does get loosened up but gets stuck in a tiny passage, you may have a bigger problem on your hands. Just change the transmission oil and filter, and then change it again after about 10K. Fresh transmission oil and filter should naturally clean out a transmission. Certainly more gentle – and a heck of a lot safer - than a transmission flush. And if you can drain the torque convertor at the same time, all the better.

Cheers,
Jeff

Tuscan1311

Thanks alot. I will take the advice. I just want to start out right with my s500 a take care of it. I Plan on having it for a while. Question? My sunroof pops up with the button. It took me 5 minits to realize its not a slide open kind. Is that a normal sun roof for ths 03 s500. I thought all had a totally slide open sunroof. Thanks again guys

MB-Dude

Regarding the sunroof, there are two modes: pop-up and slide-open. Pushing the button up (vertically) should pop-up the back of the sunroof. Pulling the button back (horizontally) should slide the sunroof back. It's an either-or sort of thing. To close from either open position, push the button forward. The Owner's Manual will be your best resource for this one (and other operational questions). Above all, have fun with your new-to-you S-class!
Cheers,
Jeff

turbocad6

mb dudes got it right on the motor flush, if it doesn't need it and the engine looks very clean internally and you have no ticking on intial startup then no flush. if it looks like there may be some sludge or the oil is very black and you have any ticking on cold startup that goes away in a minute or so then I'd say an engine flush would help. it's the kind of thing that you want to avoid unless there are issues where it can help.

tranny flush can mean 2 different things, one is an additive that cleans and flushes and then you change the fluid. I would agree don't even think about this... the second option for what is also considered a "flush" is when the car is hooked up to a machine that connects to the tranny lines, it then takes out the old fluid and replensihes with new, all while the car is running and the tranny fluid is being pumped through the system. mechanics label this as a flush and this is a very good thing to do if you have access to a good shop with this equiptment, and you must use the correct fluid to do this

marktan

If the car had been sitting for a while and the battery drained, the windows and sunroof may need to be recalibrated/normalized. I think the owners manual mentions how to do this, but it basicly involves repeatedly pressing the button until it opens fully, then holding it for a couple seconds. Then doing the same thing to "set" the close position.

Tuscan1311

ok i will try that because my sun roof just pops up and do not slide back.i thought that was strange that it did slide but when it poped up and then back down i figured it was a model that just pops up. is there a model that just pop up sunroof? This forum is great, alot of information for those who are not that wise to the issues.Thanks guys!

tusabes

No there is no roof that only pops up. Yours probably needs recalibration

tusabes

Tranny flushes like that can stir up the metal particles on the bottom of the pan and ruin your transmission .

The right way to do it is drop the pan and change the fluid and filter and clean the pan.
The flushes are stirring up the gunk in the bottom of the pan and should only be done if the pan has first been dropped and cleaned . No shop does that because it's more work

turbocad6

I agree that it is best to drop the pan and clean it and replace the filter but just doing a fluid exchange with a tranny "flush" machine isn't going to do anything to stir up the metal particles and ruin the transmission.in this process the fluid is pumped from the pan to the cooler line the same way it is pumped at any other time. if the metal particles are not disturbed with a normal drive cycle they will be no more disturbed with this method. all it's doing is taking used fluid out as it is pumped from the tranny and replacing it with new fluid to the coolant return line. it's a pretty passive operation aside from the fluid exchange.

cool_lagoon

do not flush tranny just change fluid if you wish, for the engine, i strongly recommend flushing, flushing takes out the sludge that may accumulate on the valve and the rest of the moving parts inside the engine. A clean engine is a sound engine inside out. Official MB preventive maintenance requires a flush every other change oil interval. Using a good flushing fluid is a must, get the bluchem brand (made in germany) nano technology.

cool_lagoon

Totally agree

tusabes

I thought the pressures used with the flushing machine are higher than just normal fluid cycling to the trans cooler? No?

classyS

get some new spark plugs too after all said and done!

turbocad6

no, the machine is supposed to just measure what it receives on it's input, and then replenish a matching amout of fresh fluid on it's output. the output isn't high pressure, it's pumping back to the tranny the same way the original fluid would have returned had the flush machine not been in the coolant flow loop. it's actually a pretty cool setup