Will be speaking to dealership and tow company as son as they open for business. Thanks for the encouragement - it's good to be able to talk this out in a tough time.

Anybody in the market for a parts car on or around Long Island?

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Aaron
85' 300 TD

Keep your cards close, and an ace up your sleeve....as in say something like, you have a car you want to tow from a to b and it is a rear wheel drive, but you have concerns based on a rumour you heard that towing rear wheel drive cars with the rear wheels on the ground can burn out the transmission, and if he's ever heard of that and what does his company do regarding this kind of tow situation. The car you have is a classic and has sentimental value and you don't want to risk anything....see what he says, and you can fill in the rest.

As hard as it may be...Stay calm and don't go in announcing what they did to your car right off the bat, play it in reverse as above. That's the ace up your sleeve.

Excellent advise.

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You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime you just might find you get what you need.

Just something to bear in mind: You said you did the tow through Geico, so I assume you mean it's some kind of policy benefit?

If that is the case, chances are the towing calls are done at wholesale rates. Many tow companies pay drivers by their runs, not hourly. So when the job is wholesale, they get less than they would from a 'retail' call as well. They don't like those jobs. They might be inclined to cut a corner on such a job to rush it... 2x so when it was a short run to begin with.

Just a thought.

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

I know the first W123 cars had two pumps in the transmission, one in the front ran by the engine, and one in the rear ran by the drive shaft. The rear pump allowed you to pull the car to start it, like you would a manual transmission. Not sure if all W123 cars had the rear pump, but I'm pretty sure all non-turbos did. The owner's manual would say something about pulling the car to start it if it does. If it has a rear pump, then lack of lubrication would not be a problem, especially for 3 miles.

I also do not think 3 miles would trash the transmission. I've towed one that far without a problem at speeds of 30 mph or so. Did you check the fluid level? Maybe it leaked oil out somewhere when it was towed. Did the shift linkage come off? Must be some logical reason it won't move.

So the car is in at the dealership, getting looked at first thing in the morning. In the meantime they gave me a 2014 C class to drive around(!).

The folks at the dealership were great. In addition to drooling over my car and giving lots of compliments, they were totally understanding of my situation and helpful. Great customer service. I should have a diagnosis of transmission and brake issues some time tomorrow and we'll go from there. I consider the charges reasonable, given that its a dealership.

I called the towing company's main line, anonymously and they said that "you can do it either way, no problem". So that leads me to believe that they are not going to readily admit fault here.

I called another local guy, asked him how he would normally tow the vehicle, and he said definitely flatbed. No question about it.

I have both conversations recorded.

More to come tomorrow...

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Aaron
85' 300 TD

Interesting about the two pumps. The manual does detail the process for pull starting.

I did think about a linkage at some point today as well. At this point I'm just waiting and seeing. I was in a bad state of mind yesterday and wasn't really going through the steps of sober diagnosis. I did not check fluid level.

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Aaron
85' 300 TD

That's definitely what happened. But I'm also pretty sure this company just doesn't do a thorough job. I will not be towing anything else with Crossfire Towing Inc. anytime soon....

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Aaron
85' 300 TD

As far as I know, all 722.3xx transmissions have a front and rear pump. They can also be pull started by dropping into 2nd from neutral. It is not recommended to tow in neutral with the rear wheels on the ground and the drive shaft connected. You may have better results doing that if the engine is running while in tow but I would not let anyone tow my car without a flatbed.

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1991 F250 super-cab 7.3 IDI. (rebuilt by me) Banks Sidewinder turbo, hydroboost brakes, new IP and injectors.
2003 S430 - 107K
1983 300SD - Tanoshii - mostly restored ~400K+.
1983 300SD - Good interior. Engine finally tamed ~250K.
Monark Nozzle Install Video - http://tinyurl.com/ptd2tge

I had hoped that the diesel side of this list had gotten over its sue happy mentality but apparently it hasn't.

Towing 3 miles at sub 40 MPH is hardly enough to damage _an otherwise good condition_ transmission to where it won't go forward and reverse at all. For those that say that the trans was damaged, what _SPECIFIC_ parts are being damaged? Not a " Well, it burned up " either.

Taking a run at the tow company before you even know what is wrong is a very bad idea as accusing someone of wrong doing without facts reflects badly on the accuser.

Does anyone know _for sure_ what model trans is in the car and if it has a rear pump?

Some possibilities:

Shifter linkage came off

Trans output flange was loose, splines finally wore out now trans can't turn the drive shaft. ( this happens more frequently that you would think on high mile cars, search this list. )

A drive shell had worn splines and they finally completely wore out.

The early 90's .3 don't have a rear pump, I pulled apart a 93 500SEL and it didn't have a rear pump. There is a place for it opposite the governor, but it is just a cover with no internals.

Just searched this thread for the word "sue", your post was the only one that came up. I think forum members simply want people to take responsibility for their actions. Whether it is the OP's fault for messing up his parking brake, or the tow companies fault for towing it incorrectly, the person at fault should take fault. I do not think this is a diesel side only mentality.

The OP has to cover his rear and get information quickly because A) he wants his car back and B) this is time sensitive a lot of the time.

No one has accused the tow company of doing anything but towing a rear wheel drive vehicle on its rears, which the tower did do.

I think everyone welcomes you over on this side of the forum, but please be colloquial. These people are voluntarily trying to help out, just as you are.

I bring nearly 40 years of being in and around the auto repair business. My mechanical advice isn't based on changing a tail light bulb once every few years. Here are some examples of why I feel the list is sue happy before knowing the facts.

Seeking advice for legal action on bad repairs.

The owner took the car in for non transmission related repairs and is blaming the trans failure on the dealer. All this before he even knew what was wrong with the trans choosing to seek legal action advice instead.


how could my om617 be compromised so quickly?

This is the thread that really slanted the diesel sue happy trend for me. There were a lot of people piling on placing blame on the oil change place. Few of the posters realize what is going on with most others choosing to blame the shop.

Have a look at the top pic in post 43 and tell me specifically how an alleged lack of oil pressure would have caused this failure? . . After 10 min of run time, while driving a few city blocks at low speed.

" I think the OP would have better luck just stating the Facts on a sign on top of his Vheicle and park the Vheicle near where it can be seen by potential customers. As long as the Sign sticks to the facts like; I brought my Car here, they changed the Filters and after that my Engine was damaged due to loss of Oil Pressure; they would have trouble if they sued you for deformation. "

" Now it's all about documenting everything and file a claim with shop.
I've never done small-claims, but imagine that will be plan-B. "

" State your case to some helpful lawyer websites out their,theyll give you some indication on how it might play out if you decide to move forward with the case .Flip side ,you can go pull another 617 junker and use your energy and money putting the LANDCRUIZER back on the road,if it were me I might be inclined to drop the block of the old motor at the service station after I was done,right in frt of the door that welcomes another victim. "

"My mechanical advice isn't based on changing a tail light bulb once every few years." Most of the advice given on these forums are not from people who change a tail light bulb once every few years. These people would have nothing to say so end up leaving the forums.

For example, the first thread. The user has been around since 2007 and has posted less than 100 times, he maybe the kind you don't like for good reason.

The second thread's OP is the same, less than a hundred posts. This is from the OP " Now it's all about documenting everything and file a claim with shop.
I've never done small-claims, but imagine that will be plan-B. "

You are also misquoting. The first quote of the second thread is misquoted and the last quote you made is misquoted.

You may 40 years of valuable experience, but you do not know how to treat other forum members.

In post 8 the car owner says:
"It was only towed about 3 miles I guess."

In post 8 the car owner says:
"It wasn't towed at more than 40 miles per hour. Town driving."

In post 10 the car owner says:
"Checking the manual it says a short tow under 30mph is okay with driveline connected."

I ask, just what did the tow company do wrong based on the above information? ( Yes I know that 40 is greater than 30, but distance traveled was low. Towing is a function of speed and distance where, to some extent, you can trade one for the other. )
Post 3
"The car cannot be towed with the rear wheels on the ground. If the front pump is not turning - it's powered by the engine - lack of lubrication will destroy the trans. "

Post 15
"I think he has a case, the transmission was working and they can't prove it was'nt with the tow truck driver himself as a witness against himself."

Yea, I get it however bad advice based on no information is far worse than no information at all.