This is all starting to go to far. I'll hold off until the car owner in this thread posts the exact details of the failure. If the dealer simply says the trans isn't working, that is not enough evidence to blame the tow company.

My quotes were a copy paste and not altered in any way. At best someone might consider them out of context but that isn't the case.

I will await the car owners reply.

The fact is we do not know to what extent. Like I said, the only thing the tow company did was tow a rear wheel drive vehicle on its rear tires. We do not know what kind of damage it could have done and it is purely speculative until the dealership tears into it. It is nice to have someone talk you through things like this when they are happening to you.

Post 3 is correct. Post 15 is plausible if the transmission is in fact damaged. I just did a quick google search. All the major trailer rental places say to disconnect the drive shaft if you are going to tow a rear wheel drive vehicle on its rear wheels.

Bad information is worse than no information, we can agree on that. So far, I have not seen any bad information.

That absolutely is the case.

rather felt sorry for the guy that had to sleep at the dealership cause his car was broken. I am not sure how the tow truck company should be able to operate against rules that other tow truck companies set with regards to towing like this for the very scenario that appears to have played out with this guys transmission. How is the tow truck company able to state that towing them against what it says in the manual is o.k. Is the tow truck company more of an authority than Mercedes regarding their car?

I thought it was good advise to protect the little guys interest in this case. Just helping him to get prepared and have his ducks in a row, in case the results do come back as a result of the towing....You might be right 97 SL320 more info is better. How would they be able to tell what caused the failure, who would be responsible for that bill in light of the fact the transmission worked until the car was under tow trucks care and control.

Most important, I think he has done the right things so far, and getting it checked and awaiting the results is best. He stayed calm and gathered information, by the sounds of it.

He did give us information....though. The transmission worked right up until the car was placed on the hook. Who knows, maybe it got hot from the brakes and puked out all its fluid, somewhere? Maybe the o.p should get them to check the fluid level,he seems to be questioning it in one post.
Hopefully, they can fix it for cheap.

Here...post number 6, makes it seem possible.Any special considerations for towing a W123?

It Does kinda suck that you drove that thing till the brakes started on fire, though. You have the tunes cranked up, or what? Pretty sure the owners manual does'nt say to do that, either.

Thread went south, I was waiting for the verdict from the dealer......no more news from the op.....did yeh scare him off? Or did he have a stroke after the dealer quoted a price?

__________________

WOW

So life goes on outside of car breakdowns and I have been on the road and not on Here for a few days. Thanks to everyone who has helped and provided moral support. I'm just going to ignore the other conversation happening here for now.

After a thorough inspection by the dealer the rear trans pump is shot. Is part is $8k from the dealer. The trans was declared to be in working order otherwise by them.

I will be speaking to the tow company. I'm not using the word "sue".i really do not want to go down that road unless I feel I absolutely have to.

I might have a lead on a junkyard transmission, but I'm pretty sure this is just the end of the line for me with this car. If anyone is interested in a parts car on r around Long Island, ny email me : arzueck at gmail dot com. If I hear from anyone by Monday I can probably even tow it to your driveway.

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Aaron
85' 300 TD

Take a deep breath here.

The $8k figure is neither here nor there. It's some stupid fantasy on a piece of paper. Irrelevant to the current situation. How the dealer droids have the truly massive kahunas to say stuff like that to people is beyond me.

I don't know what you have into$$ the car, whether you like it, whether it's nice or rusty or whatever.

If you take some time, you will be able to find a good used rear pump, more than likely from a reputable member of this forum. An independent transmission shop can install it. You already have the work at least 1/3 done with the trans out of the car and it torn down.

If you don't want to deal with the current trans anymore, you can get a good used complete transmission for $250-500. You can get a rebuilt one from a reputable guy in FLA who specializes in Mercedes for $1100-1500 (last time I looked).

Right now if you sell the car, it sells as a parts car. $500 if it's relatively clean. That is what you can expect. Cars with dead motors or transmissions sell for that, not for their real value net the repair cost.

I know what it's like to be freaked out by a situation, but snap decisions never improve matters. Trust me, I learned that the hardest way in many aspects of life.

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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

Funny I have never heard the "diesel side" make sweeping and inflamitory generalization against the "gas side". If you have something to say relevant to the problem say it in a helpful way. Otherwise your 40 years of working around cars is useless and you just look like an ass.

A rear trans pump does not cost $ 8,000 unless perhaps it is coming from the classic center and is the only new one left in the world. Used it is a $ 50 part at best.

It is also accessable from the outside of the transmission. A failed rear pump should not cause the problem you have. Did they take the trans completely apart? If not I say faulty diagnosis and parts quote.

Do you know for sure what model trans you have?

If 722.3, the rear pump is mechanically engaged with engine off, when the front pump builds pressure with the car stopped, the shaft disengages.

This is from the service manual

" If required, the secondary pump is driven by the shaft of the centrifugal governor. If the engine has fired while towing the vehicle, the secondaary pump will be disconnected again only after either the vehicle has come to a stop or the transmision has shifted to 4 th gear. "

So, this proves that the rear pump can tolerate operation at least 3rd gear speeds. ( Higher than 40 MPH I'd think. )



The issue I has with others was they wanted you to take a run at the tow company before you even knew what was wrong with the car. At this point you still don't know what is wrong with the car.

Your owners manual says that short tows are OK, just because the tow company has care and control of the car does not mean they are responsible for any failure that might occur.

Are you going to show the tow company where the manual says short tows are OK and still ask for compensation?

I am posting relevant to the problem, the car owner wanted to take a run at the tow company with others egging him on.

So you are saying the threads I linked to in post 28 are not the sign of some on this list wanting to take legal action before it was proven that the shop did anything wrong? In both threads is is very clear the the shops did nothing wrong yet many said to take a run at them for compensation.


Seeking advice for legal action on bad repairs.

how could my om617 be compromised so quickly?

Meh. . .I've been called worse. . . by better people. . .

IIRC the secondary pump is 'optional' on the 722.3. Later issues, from the early '90s?, didn't come with a secondary pump and some reputable rebuilders leave it out. MB sells a blanking plate and seal. There's a school of thought that suggests removing a functional secondary pump. If the front pump fails at speed, the secondary pump engaging at speed will cause more severe damage than coasting to a stop.

Sixto
87 300D

Here is some information on how the front and rear pumps interact. As others have stated, later 722.3 trans does not have a rear pump and rebuilders eliminate it on earlier units.

The first pic is engine running operation ( front pump ) , the second engine off car being towed.

Did the dealer do a engine running line pressure test? ( this measures pressure from the front pump. ) If not they should. If they did a line pressure test and it was zero, that points to sheared front pump lugs. In that case there is no possibility that a tow caused the failure as the engine was not running.

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Same here but I wouldn't brag about it. There are thousands of posts on the diesel side which do not even mention Suing you search the board and find three of god knows how many to make some sweeping generalization work for you.
My point is why do that? Why make it personal? Why not be an adult and keep your comments to what you claim to be an expert in.

You could be a Mercedes trained transmission tech and I'd avoid your suggestion simply based on you prejudice of a group.