car has 245K miles on it and I want to go to RedLine synthetic trans fluid (or something better, any suggestions??). The trans also leaks a bit of fluid. Main reason for change is age of trans and it slips a little, and hesitates sometimes. SO, a couple of questions- who has done this, is it recommended/beneficial? And if so, any tips/tricks to actually changing it myself? Tools? New filter? Any suggestions are welcomed. TIA
Mark

If you have a slightly leaky transmission, then I wouldn't use synthetic in it. The reason is that synthetic is a 'thinner' oil, and will more than likely make your leaks worse. I would simply use a good dino trans fluid.
Also, if you don't know when the fluid was last changed, I have heard that you should change it and drive it for 1 or 2 thousand miles, and then change it again, because this will dislodge all of the sludge and so on. Good luck.

I could be incorrect here, but I believe the stories on synthetics making leaks worse is from the days of Mobil 1 0w-30. Now that they have more "conventional" multiweights, the problems don't occur as often...

For changing the transmission fluid... Not a big deal at all. Get a kit from Partshop. Wait for it to arrive... Then do a search here to get info, it's been done before. You MUST drain the torque converter, so I start there (if you can't get that to work, you are out of luck...). Really it's the only pain. The biggest thing to remember is to be absolutely meticulous - keep ALL foreign matter out of the pan.

BE SUPER CAREFUL WHEN PUTTING THE TRANS PAN BACK!!!

Torque specs are in INCH-POUNDS, NOT foot-pounds. VERY little torque is used on these bolts. I went through this with my wife's 190E about 6 months ago but didn't have the correct torque spec / wrench. I over-torqued the bolts and it ended up puking all of the Mobil-1 ATF on the ground in the parking lot at my wife's office (53 miles from home, one way!).
Thank God for AAA-Plus (100 mile towing - on a flatbed in this case!). My regular shop just dropped the pan, put in a new filter and filled 'er up (using conventional ATF). I was grateful that it didn't cost me $2500-3000 for a rebuilt trans and labor.