What ATF do you use?
 

What's up everyone I'm gunna be changing my atf fluid soon on my 1990 300e transmission and was wondering what does everyone use?? I kno a lot of people will prefer the standard Mbn fluid and others have alternatives. What are you using and your opinion ?

Only ATF i use is Mercedes own make. If i filled up with wallmart cheapy, and the box went down .I would think i had saved a little, but i will now need to spend a lot more to put it right again.

With your year model Mercon/Dexron III is the one to use.

Because of the heat in most transmissions I only use Mobil One syntheic ATF.Been using it now 9 years.It allows me to extend drain and refill times.

Here's an outlier. I also use Mobil 1. But I almost never change the fluid. Instead, I suction out and replace two quarts every oil change. The filter gets changed every two or three years. The original transmission on my 190D finally failed at 320K miles, which seems to be better than average.

M1 synthetic.

I was able to get a 722.1 transmission rebuilt by the guy who does them for the Mercedes dealers and for the big indies.

We struck up a long conversation because he liked my car whose AT he rebuilt.

According to him,

The minimum standard is Dexron-Mercon III, good for no more than 35,000 miles.

Mobil 1 synthetic, with its extra additives is also a good choice.

In Europe a they use a particular brand of AT fluid made by Pentosin, but I have not seen it here.

He also said that he likes people who believe they never have to change their trans fluid, it gives them more business.

The MB transmissions have high ratings in his book, if they are taken care of, which also means avoiding burnt fluid by keeping the level correct and doing regular changes.

MX Frank's method of changing fluid in stages is actually recommended in the Volvo transmissions whose guts come from Toyota Aisin trannies.

I'm moving to owning only MT Benzes, with the possible exception of the 380SL unless I put a MT in that one too.

Every other vehicle I own, especially trucks, has a separate trans cooler not linked to the radiator. The Nissan cars' radiators are so weak that the cooling system pressure apparently ruptures the rad at the tranny cooler and mixes the fluid. Class action lawsuit going on about this.

Sounds good guys thanks for all the feed back. Does anyone know how many quarts of atf I will need for my 300e?

on these older ones, anything with the old dex/merc spec. You can even use dexron VI in them as its more stable for a longer time. Wont make much of a difference in driving as the torque converter does not have a clutch in these old transmissions.

as I have more than 1 car that takes such fluid I get a 5 gallon bucket of NAPA ATF (repacked valvoline) and replace it every 25,000 miles, its almost too easy to change ATF on these old benz as the torque converter has a drain bolt too.

A separate transmission cooler is a very very good idea on these old units - infact in any car for that matter when living in a really hot area.

a drain out on your car will require about 8 to 9 quarts. Please do read up on how to fill it back up and where the ATF level should be on the dipstick when checking on cold ATF level - Its a bit lower from the 30 mark. The fillup is a 2 step procedure when you drain the torque converter as you need to fill 4 quarts then start the engine and then fill up the rest.

If you fill up all 8 or so quarts into the system in one go, it will drain out from the breather and make a mess of your workplace. Its also a good idea to inspect/repair/replace the ATF cooler hoses on the radiator.


I also do something which is considered criminal by some folks - that is to add a bottle of ATF conditioner. The one I use is made by lubegard - I found that by adding it I get smooth and even transmission shifting behaviour regardless of operating temperature.

In the E300 I use Chevron MD-3 pretty much exclusively, it's a great DexIII and available at Costco cheap. IMO as long as it's a good DexIII that gets changed somewhat regularly it's good to go, I feel it's also very important to use the proper Mann filter, no Meyle or other cheap junk. Do that every 25k and she'll make it a long time.



In the CLK I use Fuchs Titan 236.14 ATF only, but these newer A/Ts are a bit more selective due to electrical components inside the transmission, same deal with the Mann filter and mileage. Even though it was originally rated "sealed" then revised to every 40k or so, the fact my year has no torque converter drain has me changing it every 25k or so; still runs great.

I use Shell 134 in my '97 Cl600 with the .6 transmission. And I change fluid (including the torque converter) every 30K.
Anziani
'97 CL600
56K

Mobil ATF 220 oil on my manual transmission for 20 years and its like brand new when shifting gears. I do change every 4 years, most of the time its been running 15-20k km.

With the transmission "cooler" in the radiator, it does provide both heating and cooling. It is a coolant to fluid heat exchanger. Keeps transmission fluid temperature at somewhere near the engine coolant temperature without need for additional controls.

I use BG 312 synthetic in my built 722.3 and my built 722.6.

If you guys want the real mccoy ATF for these old autoboxes, get a couple of gallons of Allison Trans synd ATF. Nothing can beat that fluid.

Its price does beat me up though.

I have also seen it being used in 722.6 transmissions (in sprinters) - I know its not recommended, but I have even seen ATF+4 being filled into these even when equipped in a benz sedan.