FINALLY got the time (new child) to get under the car.

My car is a Starmarked '99 E300DT. Bought it with 49000 on the clock. ALL maintenance records with no record of ATF servicing.

Having dealt with "Lifetime" fluids in the past (Chrysler Type 7176 ATF circa 1987) and being disappointed in the deposits in the pan/color/smell of said fluid, I decided to change out what I could get out in my "new" Benz. Excellent posts dealing with this very subject on this Board also fueled my initiative and curiosity.

After jacking up the front of the car I noticed one of the belly pan screws were missing. No biggie, got one from The Stealer for $3.50. Pan drainplug popped off and maybe a little over a liter of fluid came out. I removed the six fasteners holding the pan on and after emptying the fluid into my drainpan, came out with exactly three liters removed. I didn't drain the converter. I suspect I have a drainplug as my build date is 5/99 but didn't have someone handy (she was nursing) to rotate the crankshaft for me while I could watch for it.

The color of the fluid was a light brown. The smell was not a "burned" one. Here's the kicker: NO, and I mean NOT A TRACE of sludge in the pan. I ran one of my super-duper magnets all through the old fluid and couldn't come up with anything meaningful.

I installed a new filter, new pan gasket, new drainplug gasket, new RED anti-tamper fillplug lock, and 3.3 liters of MB $11.50 a liter ATF. Prior to changing it I had checked the ATF level with the special tool after a 20 mile hard drive with the engine running and found it to be RIGHT AT the lower line of the 80 degree line. I originally had put in just the 3 liters I had removed and had noticed the level was BELOW the 80 degree line after the first post-change warmup drive. I added a TENTH of a liter at a time to finally bring the level up to a shade over the lower 80 degree line.
The Stealer didn't have the retrofitable pan magnet in stock and after my sweep with my own magnet, I wasn't too concerned.

I have several questions:

1) Do you think the ATF's ever been changed before? The original anti-tamper fillplug lock was BLACK.

2) Why do you suppose I got only 3 liters out when the other folks I've read who've done this procedure have gotten at least TWICE that (granted they've changed the fluid in the converter...how much does that hold?)?

3) Thoughts on doing this again, say at the next engine oil change, just to get more of that old (now significantly diluted) brown fluid out?

__________________
2005 Pathfinder LE
2001 E55
1998 M3
1982 320i

You can suck out the ATF through the dip stick tube. But with this fancy $11.50/Liter ATF, it may not be economical to renew the fuild this way. The new fuild will be diluted by the old fluid. You can do the math say how many 3.3 liter changes you have to do to get 90% "new" fuild concentration.

One time flush may be better deal.

__________________
Shane83SD

I had my stealer change the fluid with about 54 k on the trans since the first change under warranty ( due to a bad convertor at 30 k) I asked for the old trans filter. I took it apart at home and found very little metalic material. The particles in the filter were much less than any other car I ever owned

there was a thin coating grayish in color over the outside of the filter and the fluid retained in the filter was as you discribed. I would describe it as honey colored.

With frequent changes as I normally perform on all my cars, I expect the trans to last 200k miles before overhaul, unless some unforseen german engineering glitch comes up in the electronics or some plastic part fails.

I am sensitive to this nonsense. I now have a bad turn signal ( literally, the guts popped out of the steering column, and my right rear taillight socket failed again ( heat).

Delta,

You can turn the torque converter with a screwdriver thru the holes where the drain plug is.

One question I have: would you only change 1/2 the oil in your engine?

MB transmission fluid at $11.50 a liter? I use Mobil 1 synthetic transmission fluid at 1/2 the price.

P E H

If I were to turn the torque converter, I wouldn't use a screwdriver to do it. Had my Helper (wife) been available I would've had her rotate the crankshaft at its pulley.

No, I wouldn't change 1/2 the oil in my engine. I feel though that comparing engine oil and ATF in this case is sort of an "Apples versus Oranges" situation. Just my $0.02 worth...or in this case, $11.50!

I would LOVE to use synthetic Mobil 1 ATF but unfortunately it is
not approved for the 722.6 transmission in my car. Very, very specific warnings throughout the vehicle literature (and this Board as well) that the MB "Special Sauce" MUST be used.

Thanks for the reply!

__________________
2005 Pathfinder LE
2001 E55
1998 M3
1982 320i

Delta,

ONly using special MB ATF: That's so MB can sell you the special MB transmission ATF at twice the price of Mobil 1 and 5 times the price of DetronIII.

That's another reason I'll stick with my older 300SD and SDL.

So you won't turn thr torque converter with a screwdriver. OK then why not turn it a few degrees at a time by the crankshaft nut and watch for the torque converter drain plug.

Maybe you just didn't want to put in $70 of ATF and I can't blame you for that. I wouldn't either.

I may show my ignorance about these newer contraptions, but why is a special tool needed to check the ATF level? Is there no dipstick?

P E H

There is no dipstick on the newer models: a cap with provisions for an anti-tamper, one-use-only locking plug secures the end of the filler tube. The special tool is just an extra long "dipstick" with measuring marks at 25 and 80 degree Centigrade temperature levels.

The literature (the MB Factory service Manual) describes in detail the criticality of fluid level and type of fluid used in the 722.6, in this case, the special $11.50/liter stuff. While I personally have not seen any MB transmissions damaged by using another fluid, I have seen/experienced malfunctions in Honda AT's when their "Z1" ATF wasn't used as directed. I don't think that MB is that "hard up" that they're trying to gouge us on ATF.

As far as using "$70" of ATF, I don't mind spending money on parts as long as I get the correct ones with OEM quality. I get most of them through the Internet and only resort to The Stealer when proprietery items such as the 722.6 ATF can't be found at a bargain. I'll probably end up running another 3.3 liters through the system at the next engine oil change to get closer to a nice RED color.

__________________
2005 Pathfinder LE
2001 E55
1998 M3
1982 320i

Gotta agree with P E H on this one. A special dipstick tool and an one-time-use "anti-tamper" locking do-hickey. In 40 years of owning and driving I have yet to have someone tamper with my tranny dipstick. Or maybe they have and that why the auto-tranny on my first car burned out.

__________________
1984 300SD 326,997 miles and counting . . . No wait, my odometer is still dead

Rockin,

Maybe MB is afraid someone is going to steal the ATF because its so expensive so they put a lock on it.

P E H

No. Probably the original fluid.
The torque converter holds a lot more than the trans itself. This is where the bulk of the fluid will drain from.
Either do it right and drain the torque converter or leave it alone.

What color is the fluid out of the bottle? I've never seen it before, but read somewhere that it isn't supposed to be red. I had mine changed by the dealer at around 70K miles for something like $200.

__________________
Rick Miley
2014 Tesla Model S
2018 Tesla Model 3
2017 Nissan LEAF
Former MB: 99 E300, 86 190E 2.3, 87 300E, 80 240D, 82 204D Euro
Chain Elongation References

Someone once told me that if you mixed 1 liter of clean oil with 1 liter of dirty oil you now have 2 liters of dirty oil.

My god, $200 for an oil change. That stealer must have payments on a big yacht. Nice of you to pay them for him.

P E H

That was my suspicion.

Ahhhh...sooo!

Agreed. I'll treat my initial "Dilution" as a Training Excercise and do all the fluid this weekend. It's supposed to rain anyway...

The fluid is a deep pink/red bordering on purple . I've confirmed it is the right fluid through both its part number and the spec sheet it says it meets on the bottle label.

Thanks for the swift reply!

__________________
2005 Pathfinder LE
2001 E55
1998 M3
1982 320i

PEH

Have you ever driven an E300 Turbodiesel?

I don't think you can fairly issue an "I'd never have one of those because I have to pay $200 every 100,000 miles to change the transmissions fluid" rants until you actually driven one and made the decision that the extra $200 over a 5 or 6 year period was not worth the 6-7MPG bonus, gasoline car performance, HVAC systems that actually work and the vast array of other improvements that 20+ years of engineering work will get you.

By the way it might warm your heart that the official position of MB is that the new 722.6 tranny NEVER needs to have the fluid changed - their position is the transmission fluid should be good for the life of the car. Deltafixer is just doing a little extra preventative maintenance here. This is why the 'no-tamper' plug is installed - MB does not think you ever have to change the fluid.

So maybe you should upgrade to a newer turbodiesel - think of the money you would save by never having to change the transmission fluid

BTW I'm getting ready for my 30K filter fuel filter change - do you want the old filters?

Tim

This is a past thread but was wondering something. I have wanted to check the fluid level in my tranny for some time now and wondering how to do it. i have a 99 e300td. i looked in the engine area and found the capped dipstick on the turbo side of the engine. is that dipstick for the tranny? Can i check the level somehow through that or do i need to go under. thanks for any info. I only seem to ask questions here and never give any help. i feel bad and just want to thank all the people that help. jason

I just called my MB dealer and spoke with the service rep, mind you he is not a mechanic, but the guy who is SUPPOPSED to know what he's talking about. I asked about doing a fluid/filter change in my supposedly "lifetime fluid" transmission and he told me flat out "it can not be done". Basically he told me the only way to get the fluid out is to take apart the transmission which is "very expensive" (his words, not mine).

Now I know it can be done just like all of the other transmissions by removing the pan because others on this board have written about it, but I thought it was interesting to hear them say it could not be done and treat me like some idiot for even asking about it.

I did read somewhere here that some of the "lifetime fluid" transmissions do not have a drain on the torque converter and maybe mine (98 E300) is one of them, so I will not pass complete judgement on him until I find out for sure whether my TC is drainable or not...it's just interesting to hear the dealer say "even if you insist upon it we will not do it".