4-Speed Gear Box Lube? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

gmog220d · #1 08-03-2006, 02:10 PM

Would someone be so kind as to tell me what oil goes in the 4-speed manual tranny that is in my 1973 220 Diesel? The experts at the local dealership could/would not tell me.

Many Thanks!

rrgrassi · #2 08-03-2006, 02:14 PM

I do not know about the old MB. Could be gear oil, or ATF. You could also call your local Jiffy Lube as well, under the pretense of wanting service...

H-townbenzoboy · #3 08-03-2006, 02:23 PM

I believe you're supposed to use 10W or 20W motor oil in your 1973 220D's manual transmission.

bgkast · #4 08-03-2006, 02:24 PM

My Haynes manual for the 123 body says to use "type A ATF" in the 4 speed gear box. Not sure if the older cars would use the same oil or not.

rs899 · #5 08-03-2006, 02:34 PM

I don't think the old gearbox changed much over the years. Mine is doing great with Redline MTL synthetic. Do a search- I think you will find that that may be one of the preferred solutions. Heck, you are probably only going to change it once- why not the best?

Rick Miley · #6 08-03-2006, 02:59 PM

Definitely Redline MTL. Mail order it if you have to.

Stevo · #7 08-03-2006, 03:07 PM

I "third" that...."Definitely Redline MTL" It takes less than two qts, go for the best.

estod · #8 08-04-2006, 02:12 AM

My father had a '74 240D, taken care of by a lifelong Mercedes mechanic.

When I met this man, I had my '84 240D .... he told me to use ATF in the tranny, and change it frequently. I am under the impression that he used the same oil in my father's car. I use Castrol Extended Mileage ATF, and change it every 3 oil changes, or 9-10,000 miles. It's not that hard to change.

That said, I'm looking at Red Line MTL as everyone says it makes the box shift better -- and should make it last longer, too. I'll still change it, perhaps every 15000.

One of the guys on here used Mobil 1 10W-30 in his tranny, but he was only able to put 533,000 miles on the car ...

rs899 · #9 08-04-2006, 06:55 AM

Lycoming-

Sorry, my mistake , I was respectfully disagreeing with t walgamuth's inference that the seals were too old in a '73 gearbox and that synthetic would cause leakage. My point was that any of our gearboxes could be considered "old" and I have not heard of any horror stories about leakage.

and estod, you are refering to Larry Bible , who is first among equals around these parts. I take everything Larry says very seriously, and it is hard to agrue with success, but if there if a product out there that is specifically made for this purpose, that seems to work, why not use it? I don't think MTL has been around quite long enough to have racked up 500K on a vehicle, but I have been using it (and MT90, the heavier oil) for over 10 years and have put 300K total on several cars

Rick

t walgamuth · #10 08-04-2006, 07:11 AM

hey you all can run whatever you want.

synthetic might be better. i dont really know. but i do know what i would do on a tranny that old. especially if i didnt know if the seals had been replaced. i would put in as close to what they were engineered to use as i could find. and since i am old enough to have actually had one of those 20 some years ago, i think i can remember that they called for 10w30. i dont have an owners manual though. so i am not sure.

now it may not be any weight to the synthetic advocates, but i have had at least a dozen and probably close to 20 benzes with over 200k on them. i have had very very good luck with the manual trannies, never running any syntetic in them. i did replace one tranny in a 240 once because of an apparent synchro problem that it had when i bought it, but after replacing it i had it opened and looked at and he could find nothing wrong with it, so it probably was a shifter problem.

i am running synthetic in three of my cars now. the engines.

tom w

bgkast · #11 08-04-2006, 01:41 PM

I have an owners manual from a 115. I'll look at it tonight and post back.

Lycoming-8 · #12 08-05-2006, 12:53 AM

Although not an official MB shop manual, I do have one for the '68 to '72 220/8 gassers written by Kenneth Ball and published in the UK in 1972. This manual has a very extensive section on the syncromesh transmission with description of the unit, R&R instructions and disassembly and renewal instructions, including drawings. I suspect that this is the exact same tranny used in the 220D/8 of the same years. In the description it says "Automatic transmission fluid (Type A) is used as the lubricant in the gearbox."