tranny fluid

[KenzBenz]

anyone do a tranny fluid change here?

[kameraguy]

Yup. I changed my fluid at 70K. No reason. Just seemed odd MB says it's "lifetime". Felt better doing it. Well, it seemed like the logical thing to do, but regardless...I still had tranny failure at 93K

Damn MB 5sp Auto. Grrrrr...

[moebiusgold]

Originally posted by KenzBenz
anyone do a tranny fluid change here?

Yep, check Speedybenz's post.

[vas2vas]

yiap, changed fluid, filter and pan gasket... at 108k miles... fluid was getting brownish.... shifts much better now too...

[jnolte]

Im just about to pretty damn soon, all these tranny faluire storys are makiing me nervous!

[AUS-C36]

I have the old type 4 spd hydraulic auto transmission, I change the Dexron III fluid every 30,000Kms along with the filter everytime. There is a drain bolt on the torque converter so most of the fluids gets changed.

You didn't specify your model, if you have the later 5 spd electronic auto trans then you should still get the 'long life' syn trans fluid changed at least 100,000Kms despite the sealed for life rec from MB. As there is no dipstick and access to the oil level is difficult to ascertain at home, you should get a workshop to carry this out who is familiar with them and use only the MB long life trans fluid.

[moebiusgold]

I've been told by folks who work on them that the old 4 speed lasts a lot longer. Al I can say is my 43's trans. wouldna made it a lot longer with the oil that was in it. Only 56K ! Waaa I don't even think that I'll make it another 10K w/o changing it again. Cost of fixing it scares me enough to think that changin's cheap.

[jnolte]

Originally posted by moebiusgold
I've been told by folks who work on them that the old 4 speed lasts a lot longer. Al I can say is my 43's trans. wouldna made it a lot longer with the oil that was in it. Only 56K ! Waaa I don't even think that I'll make it another 10K w/o changing it again. Cost of fixing it scares me enough to think that changin's cheap.

ahh dont be talking like that P ur scaring me do deaath! shit thats number 1 priority on my list change tranny fluid!

[AUS-C36]

Sorry to dissappoint you guys, unlike the old 4 speed box, changing the ATF in your 5 speed electronic box regularly won't stop it from self destructing. Here is a copy of my reply to a simliar post on another forum:

"I see many late models Mercedes 5 spd auto transmissions failing a lot earlier than their old 4 speed hydraulic conterparts at my local european car specialists. The distrubing thing is that they don't neccessary fail due to old age and high mileage either, many fail as new as 3-4 years old ( 3 years warranty in new MB delivered in Australia ) and little as 65,000 Kms ( 40,000miles ). Most of the time the culprits lie within the valve body where one or few or the springs have broken and stop the trans from changing gear properly. Some owners elected to ignore the missed/rough gearchanges and drive on; this will cause huge consequential damage to the rest of the internals of the gearbox and cost $$$$$ to fix.

For an in-house MB designed state of the art gearbox, one would expect better durability than this especially locally produced cars from GM and Ford in Australia and America can make their electronic auto trans last longer that this. I'm sure as a product matures and the bugs are ironed out it'll be a magnificant transmission; may be they have sorted out most of the bugs by now, that's why they've introduced the new 7 speed auto trans and look forward to iron out the bugs on that one "

So.....here you go.

I often wonder what shape the long life oil is after high mileage, I would have like to get the drained ATF lab tested ( at my expense mind you ) while my mechanic worked on their customers' blown up 5 spd boxes; but I haven't come across one with high enough mileage yet (say 100K miles or 160K Kms) to give us an fair indication of its longevity.

The old 4 spd box is virtually bulletproof, esp one found on the C36 and the S class in the late W126 and W140 eras. When they released this box in the late 70's, Porsche bought this from MB instead of ZF to handle the torque from the 928 coupe. They used the same box with revsions all the way up to the early 90's when they discontinued the 928 GTS. What amazes me is that despite a mechanical box with no electronic intelligence it shifts beautifully. It's ideally suited to high torque engines, fit the same box onto a 190E and the changes are often jerky and the kickdown feels slow. When they let go they slowly start slipping thru the gears thus plenty of warning. I've seen many of them overhauled over the years and usually they can be overhauled with new bands, teflon seals, drums and a good clean and valve body once over within one working day on the bench.

To sum up, if you have the 5 spd box, enjoy the pleasure of that extra ratio and replace the fluid if it has done high mileage but there is absolutely nothing you can do to prevent the electronic valve body from breaking its springs inside. The most important thing to remember is to stop the car immediately when it starts playing up when it bangs thru the gears, miss a gear, or goes to neutral unexpectedly. Even if could be highly inconvienent, it's cheaper to summon a tow track than having to fork out for a new gearbox ex MB. I've seen one or two example beyond repair due to their owners' ignorance.

[jnolte]

So basically if i take it in somewhere will they fix the spring? Will the dealership know what im talking about? they always play the ignorant route

[AUS-C36]

Some francised MB dealers/ workshops can be very arrogant and simply demand the poor customer to open up his/her wallet and pay for a new or at the very least a MB reconditioned unit at $$$.

As with many dealer workshops out there, it's far easier to order to get one of their desk jockeys to order a gearbox or engine from MB then to complete dissemble one and rebuild it. As many experienced and competent technician tend to opening up their own business, you can understand if they had someone of such calibre on their workshop floor that person would be too in-demand for other troubleshooting tasks rather than getting stuck on the gearbox overhaul for a few working days at a time.

Most decent Auto transmission repair specialists are well equipped to repair electronic value bodies these days and fixing the springs wouldn't be a problem, but as I said b4 in my last reply it's the consequential damage that's the depressing part. While the box is apart, most ppl go the whole hog and replace the friction plates, seals and drums.....unless of course they are planning to fix the immediate problem and then offload the car right afterwards.

[jnolte]

Mb shoulda done a recall.

Is there anywhere i can get more info on these 'springs'? Or info on the tranny itself? I just got a C43 and tranny is kinda weird, i had a C36 that shifted violently but thats more normal since it is a Vacum controled tranny. I am worried about the tranny, but it may be normal, i just wanna get it fixed before any thing BAD happens. thanks man

[KenzBenz]

can anyone tell me where the torque converter is??

[moebiusgold]

Ah the big roundish thing between the engine and trans. There is a drain plug hiding there.

[jnolte]

Originally posted by KenzBenz
can anyone tell me where the torque converter is??

I called moebuisgold to ask him Ken, u logged of the AOL so i couldent tell you what he told me! But u gotta Crank the engine till the torque converter spins around till u see the keyhole for the drain plug, kinda confusing when i try explain.

Perhaps Moebuisgold can explain better?????

[moebiusgold]

JN, give Ken my No.

[marksbenz]

A week ago i went to Petes an independent shop here in San Francisco and i saw three C36s with bad tranny. They all have less than 60k on the clock. The head mechanic at Petes said that the tranny on the C36 are to weak and cant hang with a powerful AMG engine so they just break. And he told me it will cost them $4,000 to fix the tranny. Just rebuild the tranny.