Looking for advice. Just found out from MB service technician that my transmission is destroyed and a new one plus catalytic converter will run $6750. I had an A service last week, and the car seemed to run beautifully after. Two days later, while stopped at a light I felt a thump somewhere in the rear end. Thinking the guy behind had bumped me I got out and looked but didn't see any scratches. Drove another 1/4 mile, felt it again, then the car sharply decelerated and stopped. Discovered that everything from Park to 1st was gone. Eventually got Drive to work a little by applying excess throttle, and drove 3 miles to the MB dealer. The technician said he was familiar with this type of problem...mentioned oil getting into a harness and control module, wrong signals being sent to the tranny and total destruction of the tranny. Yesterday, he confirmed that my tranny's completely gone.

I'm now trying to assess my position. Bought the car 8 months ago with 75K miles (now 85K) for 10 grand below blue book. Didn't get mechanical breakdown insurance because of the cost and I've been lucky with cars until now. Considering my large down payment, I feel I'm in too deep to let the car go. Except for the tranny problem, the car looks and runs beautifully (ha ha). Thinking about asking MB to help with the repair bill. The car's been well maintained and for the tranny to go out with no pre-warning or anything is unbelievable to me and reflects poorly on MB. Drove an Accord to 290K and never had a power or drive train problem.

Guess I'm worried that after getting this fixed, I'll possibly be looking at other expensive repairs as the car approaches 100K. Thanks for any ideas or comments anyone might have? Sorry for the long message.

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99 SL 500
96 E320

I assume you mean "torque converter" not "catalytic converter"? I agree with trying to get MB to help, is the car at a dealer now or independent repair shop? Did the tech mention lots of metallic garbage in the pan, or how did he figure the trans is junk?
Gilly

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The car is at the dealer. The regular service tech is out sick, and the tech I spoke with is an assistant to the assistant. All he said was the codes are all over the place...you need a new tranny and converter (I thought he said catalytic, but maybe torque)...$6750 incl. tax...you can think about it. I'm waiting to talk to the regular tech when he returns, also checking with a good independent shop nearby.

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99 SL 500
96 E320

The only thing I'd really trust for committing to a new tranny is the oil pan. If it's full of metal shavings or pieces over 1mm, or lot's of graphite sludge (thick layer), then sure. Codes all over the place don't mean anything. Get the regular guy to look at it. Probably important enough that if the pan hasn't been removed, find out when he's going to do it and try to be there. HOPEFULLY the 2nd string guy hasn't done this yet, or if he has he hasn't washed out the pan so the lead guy can look it over. That'd be just really bad if the lead guy didn't get to see it. That's the main determining factor for these 722.6 trannies.
Gilly

__________________
Click here to see the items I have up for auction at EBay

Click here to see a photo album of my '62 Sprite Project Moneypit (Now Sold)