Transmission Life - How Long

[oldsouth]

I have a thread going in Tech Support about my transmission that is going south; but wanted to post here asking about how much life should one get from an automatic transmission. I have 223,000 on mine before it started slipping in reverse.

[engatwork]

I would guess between your mileage and about 300k should pretty much use up a transmission.

[adamb]

My 85 300D cali model has 175k on it and the tranny is strong, with the standard hard 1-2 shift even though I've done everything on this board, except for one thing - I bought a shift improver kit and will install it next week when I get done moving.

I installed a trailer hitch on my benz and am pulling about 2600 pounds at 65 mph. So far I've made two trips between Sneads Ferry, NC and Meridian, MS and there are no hills along the way. I also installed a tranny cooler which I've monitored closely, including the smell of the fluid and all is good. I read stuff at this board about towing with the Benz and people seemed impressed overall with the cars ability to tow; now I am equally impressed.
I figured I wopuld wait to install the shift improver kit until after the move inase it makes the shifts too soft. anyone have any guidance on this?
Thanks again for all the great advice.
Adam

[ericnguyen]

Auto transmissions may go south without any early warning symptoms. They may be completely strong and perfectly healthy today but go bad tomorrow.

Eric