dblock110

bought a used 03 e55 two years ago. I was not aware of the Valeo issue. thats what i get for not visiting mbworld first. My car is now in process of getting new rad, complete flush of all fluids at a private shop. they see coolant in the trans fluid and trans fluid in the coolant. I am hoping i caught it before i need a new trans, as it seemed to shift fine, just felt random droning/vibrations/shudders.

I am reading old threads from 07 08 and many are saying since it wasnt an official recall it was a good-will thing with MB and sometimes they paid half, full, a percent for out of warranty customers.

Any chance they would reimburse me for the work once its done?

current plan is to write to MB when its all resolved...

tw2

Almost definitely no.

The glycol dissolves the clutch plate material. It will have shortened the life of the transmission.

dblock110

so even if it drives fine when the work is done my trans is now weaker/shortened life? i went 250+ miles like this i think.

ygmn

plus yuo are having work done at non dealer.
Maybe sweet talk an MB Service adviser...

cnterline

Anytime trans fluid and antifreeze mix there’s never a good outcome ,only a matter of time , my experience

tw2

Yes. Replacing the radiator stops the destruction but unless the clutch packs are replaced, the damage is done. That's not to say there isn't heaps of life left so just keep driving it and if it goes into limp mode after a hard pull one day that is usually the beginning of the end.

dblock110

so i could techinically JUST do clutchpacks? or does that essentially mean you need a new trans

Strigoi

No, you're **** out of luck and this is going to be an out of pocket repair. Your car is also past the 15 year mark for the extended warranty on the fuel tank. You're still good to go on the 25 year extended warranty for the SBC.

You don't seem to understand the difference between a recall and a warranty or extended warranty. Recalls and warranties are completely different things.

cnterline

It’s like a horror movie when you see somebody get bit by the werewolf, next thing you know

tw2

You need to remove and disassemble the transmission to replace them. It is a rebuild. Or some have purchased them from MB direct for a fairly good price. They may still have plenty of life, you can never know how long the radiator has failed for. The process is slow. There has to be contamination for some time to cause failure.