Might actually do a stealership service...What do you think?
 

So when it comes to the transmission on my 91 w124, I'm very hesitant to mess with it, but I really want to do a service to keep the trans as fresh as possible.

I called Mercedes Benz of Austin to see how much a transmission service would be and I was quoted $380.00, a bit put off by this I called Mercedes-Benz of Georgetown and asked about the same service, people seemed much nicer and really cool, they quoted me $320.00 and I'd get a loaner car, which I thought was pretty cool because I could run down to the nearest 711 and get a slurpee :D

I was hesitant to even change the fluid in fear that changing it would cause overall failure as what happened with my last w124 back in 2008, the transmission was running perfectly fine, changed the fluid and it failed a few days later... BUT what makes me feel a tad more comfortable is the PO had the paperwork for a transmission service a month before we got it, and she's been doing great ever since. Now he paid I think 275.00 for his service at some place back in Palm Springs and I've put almost 20,000 miles on the car since that last service, I want to keep this transmission going for as long as possible. There was a member on here, I think it was Hattie :P who said don't chance it and take it to the dealership because they have the proper measurement tools for this or something along those lines. I'm willing to pay, but I'm wondering if it's THAT bad of an idea....

What do y'all think?

After 2 failures by dealership personnel I've stopped taking my car there.

1. Diagnose noise coming from front of engine-Dealer answer "Change the oil"
Real answer-replace harmonic balancer

2. Diagnose ABS light-Dealer answer "Replace sensors"
Real answer- replace OVP relay

At least they managed to balance my tires correctly and fix my trunk lock. Most dealership personnel don't really know how to work on the older cars and more often then not they could care less about doing a quality job.

That's the scary thing, but this dealership has gotten a few good reviews including service, it's MB of Austin that gets all the bad ones, they were less expensive too and friendly over the phone which is odd coming from dealership personnel! I just can't do this service myself in an apartment complex parking lot... And as I read it might be better to take it because they have the proper tools.

Rip off. That's a little under 4 hours of labor around here which is nuts. Changing the transmission fluid in a Mercedes is no different than any other car really. They suck it out and pump it in, and change the filter. They probably won't even drain the torque converter. Take it to a local MB mechanic and supply your own fluid if you are paranoid... or not if you don't mind spending a lot of money on routine maintenance on an old car. Better yet do it yourself on the street.

A tranny fluid change every 20K miles seems excessive to me.. what does your manual say.

Probably a myth. I have had my car serviced every 60K for trans fluid with no issues. Still, you wait, it will eventually have issues. There has been NO science that shows that the trans will throw a hissy fit and commit hari-kiri. Quite often, it is a "Hail Mary" job by the owner who has long neglected the trans and it breaks soon after. I had that happen to me. Only thing was that the trans was already showing problems. Off for a clean set of fluids and it broke. It was on the way out already.

How did you calculate 4 hrs? What is the hourly rate there? What is the fluid worth there?

Not sure they suck it out. Last time I saw, they dropped the pan.

Do It Yourself.
 

I've serviced the trannys on my last three cars, including the one in my sig.

It's really not that difficult to do.

Yes, I think it may of been bad timing that caused the failure, I think I remember hearing my mechanic say the fluid was dirty, it probably failed from neglected services. I want to treat this trans right though and service at proper intervals, I heard if well maintained you could get around 250,000 miles out of it, I'm at 147,000 so that would be beyond awesome! I just want to get this service out of the way and I just want it done right with the proper fluid, so I thought the stealership!

The old wives' tale about not doing a transmission fluid service because it will cause a failure is just that, an old wives' tale. If you perform a transmission fluid service and somehow a problem happens, that transmission was headed for the rebuild bench already. At least at the dealer you are going to get the correct fluid used, and not some no-name stuff out of the bulk drum or worse, some kind of jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none "universal" transmission fluid.

I see once again the unwarranted bashing of professional technicians on this board. I say to you: Do you do your job correctly 100% of the time? I'm not going to make excuses for improper diagnosis here, but it seems to me that there are more than just a few people here that take every opportunity to single out auto techs, especially those that work at dealers as some sort of uncaring person interested in mediocrity. Yes, some of those people are found with a wrench in their hand, but they really are the minority.

As far as older cars at the dealer are concerned, there are good reasons for the techs to shy away from them. First, older cars tend to have things break easily, and then the shop gets blamed for it and ends up eating the cost more often than not. Second, as is often said, there is a shortage of knowledge regarding these vehicles. Parts are often not stocked and have to be ordered, service manuals may not be available, special tools and diagnostic equipment unavailable or not working, etc. Third, the shop gets blamed for each and every subsequent problem the customer has with the car. "You just fixed the oil leak, now the radio doesn't work" is not all that much of an exaggeration. Then they either have to flat out tell the customer they're wrong, or they try to make them feel good with more free repair work.

How did you get the fill level right? You'd have to buy a test stick or whatever they call it. Also, how did you set the level right without using SDS to get the temps just where they want it to be? Without both of those, what do you have besides a SWAG when doing the levels? I could do all of that but I don't see a way to get ensure the level is right.

My 722.6 is doing about 297K right now. Serviced every 60K with a fresh filter, cleaned pan and fresh MB fluid.

You sure it is trans fluid they use not some red colored fluid? :D

Dealerships are big, independents are small. Americans have always had a tendency to side with the little guy. I had somebody do a fan clutch WITHOUT the proper tools and it dented a lot of radiator fins. I had someone misdiagnose too. Also sloppy work. All of those were independents. What about dealerships? I had my share of problems there too. Fortunately, many, if not most problems are solved by me watching them whether they are dealership or not. I've also had independents try to rape me financially without the KY so what is the difference?

Dealerships tend to shy away from them more because they are not so hard up for the business. Independents tend to take on whatever job comes in so they will do it. Whether they have the proper training and tools to do the job is a different story. Quite often, not and they will still muddle thru the job AT YOUR EXPENSE.

Enjoy ;)

http://owners.mercedes-benz-usa.com/forum/topics/key-to-ml320transmissionfluid

I prefer to use a good indy (mine isn't any less expensive then the dealer), but I would probably use a dealer if there wasn't a good benz specialist in my area. I let the shop do my tranny service because I have no interest in crawling under the car without a lift.

This would be the only service I would have carried out by the dealer, this car is going to be driven...a lot.

I think I may just take the chance and take it to the dealer, I see it worth it if all works out and she gets an OEM filter and fluid with fluid levels being measured by the proper tools. I'll probably call them a couple more times or heck might just stop by tomorrow on my free time off in the morning and get a feel for the place.. I also just can't change it in my apartment parking lot, there is just no space and too much traffic during the day and I don't have the proper tools.

Exactly!! I can just see myself trying to do it at night and freaking out weather dust got in it or something or I did something wrong..

Aklim, can you ask them if you can watch? I'd love to watch and would feel much more at ease, have you ever been able to at a dealership? I can just see them saying no because of insurance reasons in case I slip or fall. Although on the techs side, I'd hate to have someone just watching me work, I hated that when I detailed cars with my dad at the customers house...

As I said, mistakes and problems can happen at a dealership. They can also happen at independent shops. They have happened to me. I had a shop that wanted several hundred bucks to take off 2 AC valves I could do with a wrench.

I make friends with the techs there and get to do that. Coffee, donuts, an occasional tip for a good job done helps them get more motivated. So yes, I do watch. That is, until I can feel good about them. I discuss the repair with the tech that I know first then tell the Service Writer what I want done.

A very important question is why you want to watch them. If you watch them to watch them, it is pretty useless. When I go to the doctor, they explain things to me and I just nod my head and look thoughtfully at them like I understand. Usually it is down her blouse that I am looking. I don't understand what they are saying for the most part nor do I care to understand. The wife takes care of that. Do you understand what is being done? If not, what is the point of watching. I read up on the procedure before the thing is done. That makes my watching more meaningful. Are you willing to read up on what is being done?

How do you make friends with them? I mean, I'd be totally down buying donuts for them making them more motivated, but I just feel they'd think it'd weird, to be like.. "Here are some donuts for the tech/s working on my car." (Maybe it's because I'm from California and we're not used to such gestures lol) That would be okay right? To do something like that? They wouldn't look at you like O_o?

You made an excellent point, I actually wasn't going to read up on it and though to myself "A fluid change is probably very easy and I'll understand as I watch" but I'll read up on it now and see what goes down, step by step.

I give it to the tech myself. When I brought my Jetski in for work, I went to the tech area and gave the guy coffee. Or you can leave a box of donuts with a label on it "For my tech working on my car". Also make friends with the SA

The easy part is to dump the pan, change the filter and then pour most of the oil needed in. You'd need the dipstick that they have to see it is close. Drive it or run it or whatever to burp it. Now they need to hook up SDS to see what the sensor is seeing. When the temp is right is hard to say. On a cold day, it might take more running. Fill it to the special dipstick level and check. When it is right, put the cap on and the seal on.

I don't understand what your acronyms mean?

If you're asking about new fluid levels, they checked out after warm, being driven a few blocks and re-checking. It's been about 15K miles since I did the change outs, and my car's perfect in regards to the tran's performance.

Other than re-torquing the pan bolt/screws properly, it really was a piece of cake on my E300TD.

The '83 300SD was easy enough to do blindfolded. Really, this stuff ain't rocket-science.....

That'll work, I'll go ahead and either ask to give it to him, or write it on the box, that's awesome, didn't even think about doing that! Making friends with the SA I think might be kind of easy, they sounded very nice and were joking with me and everything..

Thanks for writing the process, I wonder of they adjust the shifting ect... Also the SA said they recommend changing it every 30K, you said you do 60K is it cool to let it go a bit over? Is 30K a bit soon?

SDS: Star Diagnostic System. Look in your fuse box and see the round plug there. It is near the firewall. Not sure but I think it is on the driver side.

http://www.google.com/images?q=mercedes+sds&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=XOq0TNuIJMH98AbB-I3ICg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=3&ved=0CD0QsAQwAg&biw=1440&bih=719

SWAG: Silly Wild Ass Guess

How did you check the fluid levels? They don't have a dipstick in my 99. You have to buy a MB one. How did you know that you were at the right temp to check that level without feedback from SDS?

Use an indy, should be around $200, unless you use synthetic than it might be a bit more. I paid $180 to have my trucks transmission done last year at a good shop.

The older MB's are simple and they just use regular old Dex 3, nothing special ATF wise. I had really good results with Mobil 1 ATF in my older cars, made the old gearbox's shift really nice. Since its not something you do very often I would recommend spending the extra money on Mobil 1, Amsoil, or Royal Purple ATF.

The 722.6's used a special fluid, but you also don't have to change it as much, and they don't have a dipstick. I think yours is a 722.3 or 4 off the top of my head, they don't require anything special.

That's a start.

Not sure. I change it every 60K in spite of MB saying originally it was "filled for life" and later they recanted. I just saw that you have a 91 so I am not totally sure but 30K sounds ok

I borrowed the dipstick at the Mercedes-Benz dealership. They are wonderful at loaning key tools at key times.

I have no idea about the SDS, I'm a DIYer. The car's transmission works and performs perfectly - no, flawlessly.

Is there a problem here?

Indys are sometimes as high, or higher than MB/dealerships.

I would check several, before committing to one indy.

That is fair enough. Car is dumb and doesn't know whether it is your own tool or a borrowed tool so life is good there.

Without SDS, all you can do is hope it is at the right temp. I prefer to KNOW that I am at the right temp and not guess. That is why I don't DIY that part.

It's worth the price premium to benefit from the competency and experience of a dealership: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvNKBe6DZhk&NR=1

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/280307-high-mileage-transmission-report.html?highlight=transmission

If you can change your oil from underneath, you can also change your trans fluid.

Rgds,
Chris W.

Check with your local MBUSA club. The one up here in DFW has 6 tech sessions a year. I changed my Trans oil (both cars) at the tech session The 124 was a piece of cake.

Pulled the hex out of the torque converter, pulled the plug on the pan and then dropped the pan. Replaced the filter, put it back together, dumped 4 qts in. Started it up, pt in in gear, ran through all the gears several times. Put 2 more quarts in. Drove home and checked it the level, added 1/2 quart more and all is good.

As for the dealership. I am on very god terms with the shop manager and the senior tech. Never had to bribe them with doughnuts or coffee. I am just nice to them.

The E300 had a valve leak in the trans a while back. The both looked at it (free of charge on the rack with me back there with them). The junior tech said the trans had to be dropped. Jimmy, the senior tech said he was pretty sure he could do it with out dropping it. Sure enough, he fixed it with the trans in the car. IIRC the bill was under $600 (would have been $1,400 if they had to drop it). He replaced the wiring harness on the E300 as well. Took them a week the diagnose the a/c problem was a short in the harness. They did the a/c conversion on my car from R12 to 134. No issues. Blows cold and it's been 4 or 5 years.

I replaced the glow plugs on the E300 and putting stuff back together I thought I had a extra plug left over. I emailed a picture to the Shop manager and he had Jimmy look at it and told me it was an extra plug that was not used on my car.

The list goes on an on with the good things the dealer has done.

Did I mention I have had a loaner car for every service? Even the two week one with the AC diagnostic on the E300.

My dealership charges $169.99 for a transmission service. It includes a new filter, pan gasket, and six liters of ATF( the old stuff). The labor time is 1.2 hours.

This is a deal.

On my sig. car - I paid $115.00 (give or take) at the MBCA pricing level for genuine MB parts/fluids/sales tax, when I DIYed it. However, that included the cost of a new sending unit that was causing a minor trans. fluid leak.

My mechanic recommended a shop locally that does purely transmission work, they fixed the problem in my mother's 300TE (w124 also like yours). It was draining the ATF into some place but there were no leaks to be found. Never found out what the culprit was but I'm glad they got it done. Didn't cost much either because it's an independent shop. Plus my mechanic recommended them.

So recently I went to my mechanic and did transmission service on my w123. Runs great, fluid is just at the right level when I checked yesterday. Drained torque converter first then transmission pan.

There are some things to go to the dealership for, transmission service is not one of them, especially for an older car like the W124.

I'd suggest you find a good local recommended indy shop who can service your car for you. Just grab the slurpee before going there :D

Whats so special about a 124?

Nothing that's the point.