Cost of rebuilt 85 SD tranny - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

jtholmes · #1 08-13-2006, 11:30 PM

Would like to know cost of rebuilding an 85 SD
tranny.
Current owner says it needs tranny. Has 396K
and I dont doubt him.

Also who around Atlanta GA would you recommend.
I am not looking for the cheapest price, I want a quality
job, but I dont want to help someone pay for their building.

Also, general cost of any 81-85 tranny connected
to 617 engine would be appreciated.

thanks
jt

Volvo Diesel · #2 08-14-2006, 12:28 AM

JT-

See post #22 in this thread:

300D in yard with dead cylinder

titled something along the lines of '300D in yard with dead cylinder.'

Maybe you'll want to wait until that one gets up and running to see if the fellow did a good job w/ the tranny rebuild. According to the post, he's in ATL and recommended...

-Chris

Hit Man X · #3 08-14-2006, 12:43 AM

Anything more than about $1400 installed w/ warranty is too much. There simply isn't that much to a 722 to require more cost. I think the cost of the internals (clutches, bands, paper + rubber kit, bearings, etc) was just shy of $300...

jbaj007 · #4 08-14-2006, 01:24 AM

Just a "heads up". The 1985 300SD has a different trans than the 81-84 300SD. It is a 722.4xx, and not the 722.303 I have.

Hit Man X · #5 08-14-2006, 01:54 AM

My '85 has an '84 trans it in... car was built October 1984.

sixto · #6 08-14-2006, 03:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtholmes

... I want a quality job, but I dont want to help someone pay for their building.

How about helping someone pay for a website you use? I know you mean well but there are a lot of professional techs that keep this forum going who wonder why they should not profit from their services. As unreasonable as labor rates seem to DIYers, there's rent, insurance, taxes, families and whatnot to pay for before anything goes into their IRAs.[/sermon]

To bracket how much to spend check for rebuilt units from www.adsitco.com (so-so reception around here) and www.peterschmid.com (thumbs up reaction around here). I paid $2200 ~3 years ago to have a 91 300SE transmission rebuilt locally. The shops that quoted less weren't anywhere I'd leave my car. Local economics to consider, of course. In retrospect I should have swapped in a rebuilt unit myself. I was after a quick turnaround and I thought having a shop rebuild it would be quicker than waiting for a rebuilt unit to be shipped. I learned too late that the techs worth their salt have transmissions lined up around the block. No wait at Aamco :/

Sixto
... stay tuned

jtholmes · #7 08-14-2006, 09:00 AM

I didnt mean to impune any particular persons integrity with my comment about
paying for the building. I was referring to the fact that there are so many
shops that are literally ripping the customer off. I had an auto air business
a while back and if I could not fix the problem I did not charge the customer.
I once spent two days trying to fix a freeze up on a Lincoln and was unable
to fix it. Cost to the customer for my time was $0.

sixto · #8 08-14-2006, 04:45 PM

And I didn't mean to sound condescending since I'm not a professional and have no direct experience with your side of the game.

Sixto
... stay tuned

Hatterasguy · #9 08-14-2006, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtholmes

I am not looking for the cheapest price, I want a quality
job, but I dont want to help someone pay for their building.

Customers like you drive me nuts. Try running a small business sometime and see where that $70 per hour labor charge goes. Where is the trans guy supposed to rebuild them? In the street? Do you think all those handy tools he has just grow on trees?

Do it yourself if you don't want to pay someone to do it.

Volvo Diesel · #10 08-14-2006, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

Try running a small business sometime and see where that $70 per hour labor charge goes.

I agree. I remember when I was young I would get embarrassed when my dad would tell customers at his dry cleaners, "If you don't want to pay my prices go somewhere else and you will get what you pay for, and then you can come back here and tell me what a terrible job they did." Now I tell the customers the same thing. It takes an incredible amount of money to keep a small business up and running and turn out a quality product. If you're not willing to pay to have it done right, there's always a cheaper place....

Anyway, I think the gent I referenced in my above post charges $1300 for the rebuild, which doesn't seem excessive to me. I paid almost that much to get a tranny rebuilt in 1999 for a Mercury Grand Marquis....

Hatterasguy · #11 08-14-2006, 05:25 PM

$1k-$1,500 is a fair price for a rebuild on one of these.

jtholmes · #12 08-17-2006, 09:21 PM

to Hatterasguy

I said in an earlier post that I did not intend to impune anyones reputation.

I also was in business (small) and I know how hard it is to turn a profit.

The problem I see with some shops is that they see MB or Lexus
or BMW and they immediately think big $$

I have never squawked about paying for a quality job, in fact I want
the person who performs high quality work to earn a decent living and to keep
their shop open so the next time I need their assistance they are
available.

Thanks for the second post about the cost. I have no problem at all
paying 1K to 1500, as a matter of fact before I had asked the question
I expected the answer to be between $2500 and $4000 because of
the letters MB on the car.

thanks
jt

JimmyL · #13 08-17-2006, 09:38 PM

The guy just wants a tranny rebuilt for the best price he can get. All this other self-righteous crapola about small business and labor rates doesn't really seem to apply to his original post.
Yall have a business go belly-up at some point to be this hyper-sensitive? If so, we're sorry, but it still has little to do with the gentleman's original post.

sailor15015 · #14 08-17-2006, 09:45 PM

When you guys say 1-1.5K, are you figuring in the cost of removing the tranny, doing the work, then reinstalling the tranny? I'm going to be pulling the engine and tranny out of my '85 sometime in the near future and the tranny needs a rebuild. How much cheaper would it be if I took them the tranny already out of the car? By the way, I finally found the reciept for the rebuild on my '84. It was done in '98 and cost the owner $1300. I don't know the shop because the car is from a town that's about three hours away but its been eight years and it still shifts like a dream so, so far so good.

Hatterasguy · #15 08-17-2006, 10:27 PM

Removal and replacement at least on a W126 can't be that much. I'd say 2-4 hours labor, with a lift it comes right out, you don't even have to touch the exhuast.

Sorry for the post I didn't mean to sound like I was jumping on you, I was having a long day with some poor customers, you know how it goes.