Last week my 1st and 2nd gear began slipping, but 3rd, 4th and reverse work fine. This after having the tranny rebuilt nearly 2 years ago with 50 k on it since then. My hunch is the tranny shop, which specialized in MB and other foreign car trannys, who said they completely rebuilt it, didn't change the B2 out. Since then they've sold out and the warranty has expired, so I have no hope of getting them to honor the warranty. So after researching the infamous B2 piston change out and finding the links at mbz.org, diesel giant, and one other site, I managed to get the info needed to try this myself. Only I've hit a snag.

After removing the circlip and attempting to coax the aluminum cast cover off, it got stuck and pushed back against the piston and slightly past the orange o-ring. The notch for circlip removal is at the 7 oclock position, and as I pry against the edge of the cover to lift it out, the top side cants and moves into the bore. So I tried tapping the bottom end gently back in to make the edges equal and try it again, only it goes slightly further into the bore against the piston. The problem is I can't get anything into the top edge to hold against the cover to prevent it from canting back while I pry on the bottom edge of the cover, and I don't want to exert too much force and break something else in the process. I've tried dental picks, but they are too thin and don't give enough leverage to pry the cover out. I tried a small suction cup on the face of the cover in an attempt to put equal force on all edges and pull it out, but it won't hold a vacuum against the plate (made in china). I then tried a staple puller from the hardware store that has a 45 degree angle and a notched blade to gently pry the edge up,while simultaneously holding a thin flat bladed screw driver in the top edge to prevent it from canting but it didn't work. It feels like there is very little spring tension against the plate to make it want to come out.

I looked up through the valve body and can see what I think is the pin that pushes against the B2 band, but I cant see any part of the piston itself, nor is there room to push it out from behind to get it out.

I'd post pictures but don't have a camera. Has anybody else here gone through this process on a W124 series and had the same problem ? I've searched the forum and can only find references to w126 and w123 solutions. Granted they're not that different, but I found nothing like the problem I've encountered.