1997 e300 "valve body conductor plate"

[torsionbar]

does anyone have a howto for replacing the valve body conductor plate in the automatic transmission of a '97 e300? it doesn't "seem" like it ought to be that complicated. i'm guessing remove drain pan, unbolt valve body, put valve body on the bench and swap the conductor plate. installation is reverse of removal.

would be nice to see some step-by-step stuff if anyone has written it up, or has done this before and can offer some insight.

on mine, the threaded hole where the plastic electronic connector attaches is stripped. the little bolt just spins and spins. i'm guessing this requires replacement of the whole conductor plate.

[torsionbar]

in case it helps anyone, i found these two documents on benz world. i'm going to perform this conductor plate swap in a few weeks on my 97 e300.

[TheDon]

Place te valve body on a surgically clean surface. A brand new baking sheet would be best and in a dust free environment

[Can't Know]

There's actually a youtube video of it, I'll see if I can find it. If you're going in that far, I'd also replace the pressure control springs as a preventative. They were a weak link in the earlier years and they are cheap.

Also...

on mine, the threaded hole where the plastic electronic connector attaches is stripped. the little bolt just spins and spins. i'm guessing this requires replacement of the whole conductor plate.

Be 110% sure you have the adapter/spacer/connector/pilot bushing (all names for the same part) FULLY SEATED in the well. It's really easy to think it is fully seated when it in fact is not, and if it isn't, the threads won't engage. Pull the pilot bushing, get a good light up in there, be sure the pins are all straight and true (sadly, a reason the adapter won't seat), put some ATF on the O-ring, and slide the adapter straight in, being sure to align the pins properly. Then set it home all the way. And remember that this tiny little screw is basically firm, hardly more than finger-tight. Too many conductor plates have been removed and/or replaced because someone snapped off the screw.

Good luck.