M.B.DOC

Just came back from the indie.

Car was sent yesterday. Today, saw the transmission out and it looks 80% "done".

Spoke to the tech and he said that the governer drive gear was broken and showed me the part.Also showed me bits of clutch material which he said were blocking up the fluid channels.

Said they worked after 6pm onwards yesterday on my transmission so I could get my car back quick, like later today (I refer a number of W201s and W124s to their workshop).

I ask him for his opinion as to the cause of the breakdown and he said "fair wear and tear", given that my mileage is like 306,000 km.Or really hard driving (is that possible in a Merc?) in S mode.

He also informs me that the more common issues with Merc transmissions he has seen are B-piston failure (reverse only).

Then he gets into his seminar on gearbox maintenance (regular oil/filter changes, etc) which I listen courteously.

He also shows me a W202 with 130,000km having it's 2nd rebuild!1st rebuild was done by dealer.Owner must have been pissed at the dealer.

Anyway, this issue will set me back 1500 bucks (about USD800).

Looks like he is doing a complete rebuild.I wonder if that was necessary at all, but figure that the cost of labour would more or less be the same if it wasn't a complete rebuild.

The cost of the extra parts/labour required for a complete rebuild is probably worth that extra peace of mind...

After all, you get what you pay for...