I posted some 10 days ago about my 1991 300d with 191k on it. I drove to lunch, ate, came out 1/2 hour later, and the car wouldn't shift out of first gear! I was stuck driving at 5 mph!!

I had the car towed to a good MB shop who I trust (and still do). They said the transmission was toast, it'd be $3,400 to put in a rebuilt one. I called a few transmission specialty places who repair (not replace) transmissions, and they said it'd be about $2,800.

I posted on THIS FORUM (thank you), and had a few responses right away who said it was probably the plastic gear on the governor, a $3 part. (it's not a 'gear' per se, more like a spindle). There's no way I can work on a transmission, so I hired my mobile mechanic. The part was a dealer-only-item so that $3 part was now $12. Turns out it was a fairly simple repair. Maybe I could have done it myself after all! My mobile mechanic got to that area in very short order, within 1/2 hour, and got the governor out and saw that the plastic gear was gone, preventing the car from shifting. He put the new plastic gear on, and the car runs great.

My mobile mechanic was about $100. Had I been able to do such a repair myself, it would have cost me $12 to fix this.

I don't really blame the MB specialist who wanted to replace it for $3,400 (well, maybe a little). A lot of repair places don't fix bad parts, they replace them. Plus they don't want someone coming back a week later with a related transmission problem and blaming them for a bad job, especially on older cars.

So the car's back, shifting and running just fine. Thanks for the HUGE savings, guys!

boy you saved a bunch.I always find my tranny,and engine if I need one.Then find a benz mechanic to remove and replace.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

That's a pretty impressive savings.
I'd still be pretty PO'ed with the so called professionals, then again it was an estimate.
Seems and probably is true, everyone is either afraid of getting sued or plain unprofessional.
In my opinion, the part, was also a replacement job, not a repair.

Glad you could pocket the difference.

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Mostly, I don't know notin, I just know where to look.
I am looking back, to over 30 years in Electronics Design.
Electrons don't care if they move in a car, computer or relay!

95 W124 E320 M104.992 - Because, I love to repair, naaaah!
Over 221,000 Miles
Cheers,
Norbert