2001 c240 tranny problem

[kudasai]

hi, been using search but i havnt come across this exact problem, so i am hoping that someone could steer me towards the right thread...

just got home from afghanistan and a buddy is trying to sell me his merc. 2001 c240. it has been sitting for a year, and right before we deployed he accidently drained most of the A/T fluid while attempting an oil change(you dont have to say it, i know :O ).

he drives down the street to get it flushed and filled, and says afterwords, it started shifting hard. he calls the dealer, which sells him a small electronic part that he installs in the pan, starts the car up, and it no longer goes into any gear but park.

so, does anyone have any idea what would cause the hard shifts?(i am used to the vacuum module on my diesel, but i am guessing the gassers dont have those)

and can anyone wager a guess as to what the part was, and how he screwed up the install? it has been a year since he installed it, and cant remember what it was.

i am a competant wrench monkey, but usually stay away from anything more in depth than a torque converter on A/T's. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks

[phat_merc]

Your friend would have changed the electric plate that's on top of the valve body.
Which he probably didn't have to replace. Should have topped it up with oil and should have been fine if he didn't take it on a long drive.

There is a lever on the valve body that catches on the gear shifter most deffinetly that has not been placed right that's why the car is stuck in park.

Drain your oil remove the valve body find the little lever and the shifter catch, then line them up together and reinstall the valve body, if this is confusing you pm me and I can send you some
Documents on how to correctly install this.

[Can't Know]

If he bought the fluid at the dealer, he also would have bought the newer-spec 236.14 fluid. MB says it is backwards-compatible, but there are many stories exactly like this one: transmission worked great, put in the new fluid, started shifting hard.

If it is working properly otherwise, I would buy 12L of 236.10 fluid from NAPA (a reliable source), drop the pan, fit a new filter, put the pan back, add 4L of fluid, and then disconnect the cooler return line at the transmission and flush it 1-2L at a time. (There is a procedure detailed in the W210 forum stickies at Benzworld by a guy named yumling.) Of course you also have to buy a dispstick tool, or make one, so that you can get the level set properly.

If while you are in there you want to pull the valve body as suggested above, have at it, but use extreme caution. They are heavy and there are a couple of plastic parts that break if you drop it...and it's really expensive.

Good luck.

[Gilly]

The only part I can think of that would actually go in to the pan is a small magnet MB started instaling at/around this time, maybe the dealer recommended he install it???
Now you are saying the only "gear" it goes in to is park, which excuse me i don't know if I really consider to be a "gear". So is the car moving or not?
As far as the hard shifting, I would blame probably on either the wrong fluid (not the right MB stuff), or the fluid level is all fubar.

Thanks for your service

[kudasai]

i just want to say thank you all for the responses. after i sat him down and fully interrogated him, he desribed the part as a thin metal plate with a cannon plug on it.

as far as the timeline, he drained the pan, just a few liters, and drove it to a local place for a refill. shortly after, it started the hard shift. took it to the dealership for a full flush and fill and the hard shift continued. finally replaced the part, and when he got it and started it up, nothing engaged. just drifted like all gears were nuetral. they pushed it back into its parking spot, and bought a new car.

he is offering it to me for what the junkyard will give him for scrap, 1200. the causes the three of you listed sound really plausible, so i think i am going to get this car. thank you so much again!

[Steve M]

I can't help with your problem, except to say that the dealer would have records under your friend's name for what parts they sold him, and what services they performed on the vehicle. I would verify all of this. The parts guys sometimes make mistakes that DIYers don't catch.

[Gilly]

Maybe the electrical connector was leaking, but that has no plate but is a big "cannon plug".

If the car is in otherwise good shape, hell even a new tranny would be justified, if you can get it for $1200. Probably cab get a used one.

Can you find out the part number that was purchased?

Possibly the electrical connector was left unplugged? that would explain a lot.

Still thinking the level is wrong and the fluid itself is wrong.

[kudasai]

ok, asked the guy at napa about the 236.1, and he seemed clueless. the guys at oreilly seemed to know what i was talking about and said that the only brand they carried that wouldnt cause the hard shifts was pentosin. can i use this to flush and fill the tranny? and if so, do i need to stay on the 39k flush and fill cycle?

one other question, i have the radio/tape deck where the face opens up. they got an ipod aux cable stuck in the face and it wont open. does anyone know a way to manually pop it?

thanks in advance, jess

[kudasai]

well, pulled the pan and i have found the damaged part. i dont know what it is called, but i can see what he did. the metal rod wasnt in its cradle when he put it back together, and when he forced the shifter into part, it smashed the plastic piece.

so, can anyone tell me what the name of this plastic piece is, and what all i will have to dismantle to replace it?

thanks, jess

[kudasai]

Well, I found the thread at mbworld about the part I was trying to identify. Tomorrow, I will pull the valve body and separate the broken part from its rod. One option I didn't see discussed was having a shop with Cnc capabilities mill a new one out of billet stock. If I can get one made for 100 that I can be sure will not break, I will consider it a good deal.

Still waiting to see if anyone chimes in on Brand names for the 236.10 equivilant fluid, or if this pentosin that I was told about would work to correct the hard shift problem.

I did however, after tearing the radio into about 60 pieces, figure out how to fix the jam. Tomorrow, I learn how to rebuild a rear window shade...oh yah.

[MAVA]

Jess,

A bargain at $1200. I'd kill to find a small Mercedes with a 722.6xx transmission. Great buy.

The flushing technique works well, or I call it the oil replacement technique. I do three quarts at a time. Use a new clear graduated one-gallon paint pail from your neighborhood home center, and get six feet some 1/2 ID clear tubing. I use this technique on all makes models of cars.

About the oil, get the true spec oil. Get the oil from Ryder fleet services, but you have to buy it by the case. Freight is about 10 bucks a case

Auto Transmission Fluid Shell 134 for Sprinter, 5080660, Pennzoil

236.10 ATF Marketing Mumbo-Jumbo??? - Benzworld.org - Mercedes-Benz Discussion Forum

Ryder Fleet Shell ATF134 (236.14) IS the "Real Deal" - Benzworld.org - Mercedes-Benz Discussion Forum

About your broken part, kuddos for you cranking-one out of metal but if your endeavor fails. You can get one from these guys:

Automatic Transmission Parts Catalog - DACCO, Inc.

In your spare time, want to know all abot the 722.6xx Check this out:

Transmission

I love transmissions. Its the best kept secret. All they are few gears, orings, and few clutches.. Non of that machining BS, and super special torque values to deal with. They are giant puzzle of parts-just don't lose any of the pieces...

Holler if you need a service manual, I might find it somewhere.

Best of luck,

Martin