560 SEL Transmission leaking! How bad?
 

Hi,

I just got a call from my shop. Tranny is leaking, he told me. Either it's the torque converter or the front seal. Tranny needs to go he said, and that I need a new car! :behead:

117 k miles. It's always been wet below, drives fine, shifts fine. How seriously should I take this? Do tourque converters leak on these? What if I just kept topping it up?

Of course I think it's all fixable - the car looks great and drives great, and I have done a lot of work to it. The question is how immitiate and serious this is, or if he is just trying to scare me.

Any advice would be appreciated....

Update
 

Mechanic now thinks it's a leaking torque converter, not tranny...

Anything is repairable (well....almost anything)

tranny
 

Put a new plug and seal on the converter

maybe try some berrymans transmission/power steering sealer....that stuff worked good on some leaks on my Jag...of course your own results may vary....

las769 - thanks, quick question...
 

I.e. pull the tranny? If I do undertake this, might as well do the rear bearing seal.

If I get you correctly - pull the tranny, don't replace the converter, just do seals. Lots of labor (pulling the tranny), not much in parts. Shop says pulling/replacing same tranny about $750 (10 hours labor at 75), but new converter. I could do it in a weekend - I have done trannys before, but not on a Benz. Question is - how long does a tranny/converter last? I had the B2 piston done on the tranny - would it be worth for me to pull the thing, do what you say, and keep the old tranny without a rebuild? 117k miles, 1989. Love the car - don't want to give it up. I thought those trannys were good up to 180k or so.

Thanks for your input, by the way!

420 SE - Exactly my attitude. I'm at the stage now of thinking "preserve" - love the car, it looks great, drives great, want to keep it reliable.

Not my only car - but I am having more of a preservation/collector's attitude about it... While trying to make it still practical...

Thanks for your comment!

the most likely culprit for the leak is the front pump seal.this is a difficult job for a diy.trans does'nt need to come completely apart and while you are there you can replace the reverse clutches which are the biggest wear item in that trans.

How immidiate is this problem? If I watch my fluid levels, can I put it off? This is a 1989, 117k miles. Still seems a bit early for tearing up the drive train...

Thanks for your input...

as long as you keep fluid in it to correct level it will be ok BUT it will get worse and you will soon measure your mileage by qts of trans fluid.

Thanks, David. I dirve it about 2k miles a year. I will monitor it until I get tired of it, and then I will fix it...

tranny
 

I am pretty sure that trans has a drain plug in the converter you don't have to pull the trans to get to this plug there is a hole in the bell housing
at the bottom it is there so you can get to this plug if that is the leak
if the seal is leaking then you have to pull the trans to replace the front pump seal. Spray every thing down with brake cleaner if the plug is leaking
you will see a drip from that area

Will do Thanks!

I don't know how hard it is to pull the tranny on a 560SEL because you might have to mess with the exhuast, but I yanked one out of my SDL in just under three hours. With a lift and having done it before its maybe a 4 hour job.

The front seal is very commen, drop the TC and its right their. Yank it out and put a new one in, they cost about $5.

The TC does have a drian plug, and unless its loss it shouldn't be leaking. Rotate the engine around you will find it.

If the trans has other issues, you can get a rebuild for about $1k-$1,200, and just swap it in.

There are many places that a transmission can leak. You need to start by finding the source of the leak or leaks. Any shop that can tell you need a new transmission, and a new car, because of leak is suspect. I wonder if they happen to have a car they could sell you.