Tranny dipstick
 

Just bought my first Benz (87 300TD). How in the heck do you read the transmission fluid dip stick? Must have something to do with the bends in the stick. Please help.

R

With a magic 8 ball...

j/k

Warm up the transmission, leave it in Park for a minute or two (engine running), pull out the dipstick, wipe it clean with a lint-free cloth, put it back in, pull it out, and look for the lowest point where the fluid runs the full width of the dipstick. Should be between the min and max notches on the stick (or, if the engine is cold and running, which may be preferable from a skin-burn-due-to-dipstick-or-exhaust-manifold perpective, max should be 10mm below the "hot" min line).

I think the stick sits in the drain pan at an angle, which makes finding the level hard. I've never been very good at it. I just make sure the transmission isn't leaking a bunch, and that the level isn't too much one way or another.

Anthonyb summed it up very nicely. It's really, really difficult to accurately read ATF dipsticks, at least on MBs. Even my very experienced tech has to do it 5-10 times before he's convinced he's got it right.

Couple things to add. Anthonyb alludes to the dipstick being hot. If you DO check it hot, make sure that the ATF is hot (which is not the same as having the engine coolant at its usual temp). Takes about 15 miles of driving to get ATF up to normal running temp, and yes indeed, the dipstick will be pretty darn hot so be careful.

Make sure the car is on very level ground when you check ATF level.

Lastly, although there's some dispute on this, most techs do recommend against using paper towels to wipe off the dipstick so as to avoid adding any foreign fibers to the ATF. Some techs will wipe off the dipstick with their fingers and then wipe their fingers with a cloth. I'm told that the factory-recommended method is to use a piece of leather to wipe off the dipstick.