Transmission Fluid Damage
 

Took 1989 Mercedes 300 E to Shop this morning...........they said transmission fluid is burned.................$485.00 to diagnose what is wrong......................a NEW transmission would run between 3 -4 thousand dollars......and to rebuild this one would cost me roughly $2,000.00. Does this make sense?? or am I just being un-trusting??

tOOK CAR TO SHOP & THEY OVER FILLED THE TRANSMISSION WITH TOO MUCH FLUID...................CAR STARTED TO SMOKE & WILL HAVE TO TOW IT BACK TO THE SHOP. DO YOU KNOW IF THIS MAY HAVE MESSED UP THE PUMP OR WHAT THE AFFECT MAY BE ON MY CAR??

THEY WERE JUST SUPPOSED TO REPLACE THE BURNED FLUID...AND I CAN'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT WAS 4 OR MOR INCHED OVER THE FILL LINE!!

HELP!!

$485 to diagnose????????????.....Huh???

Look elsewhere.

Go to a different shop, and never go back. That shop doesn't know what it is talking about. Use a place which specializes in Mercedes to change the transmission fluid & filter, then see how it works.

FYI, you can get a replacement transmission installed at the dealer for ~$2500, including labor and such. It will carry a 4 year/50000 mile warranty. The guys you went to are a bunch of jokers & ripoff artists.

I would not trust this shop. If they cannot properly execute a fluid change they are not competant to trust with your money.

Hi!

I got similar experience as you. I had transmission problem before for my 85 380SE and 2 shops quoted me $3000 to re-build the transmission.
The transmission was having the problem of shifting.
I didn't believe them so I bought a new filter, a gasket and replaced the fluid and the filter myself. After that, the transmission problem is fixed and my car has been running for 1 year without any transmission problems.
The whole cost was $31.

You need to find a reputable shop. Take care.


Lin
Austin, TX

I live in Northern Va. and would like to know the shop you went to...so I never go to them my self. American service Center in Alexandria has had good words written about them.

Sometimes this happens, .3's and .4's run a bit warm so fluid expansion is noticable, when cold the fill level should be below the bottem line on the stick about 1/4", fully warmed up after 10 or so miles, dead on the top line, just tell them to suck it down to 1/4" below the bottem line on the stick in PARK!.


Clean the underside and it should be fine, providing the vent is not plugged, it shouldn't happen again. After they get the level right (check it before you leave) don't go there again, mistakes happen but, I still dont feel like they were being honest about the trannys internal condition. Most Benz tranny develop shifting issues when they have internal problems and you said prior to going in, you had none.

I remember this tranny shop in Charlotte that would bring in a car for sevice and lo and behold, the fluid is burnt, looks like it broken. Lets do a RCI for $250.00 yadda, yadda, yadda. Tranny fluid is used for hydralic pressure, cooling and lubing, of course it'll be "burnt" after 30k or so, unless it's flat cooked and the pan is full of debris, dont sweat it as long as there are no shifting issues. Some debris, carbon and brass is normal in the pans, ignore that too.

I pulled the pan on my Dodge truck after 30k for service and it had neat little pliles of metal, lots of carbon and funky smelling fluid, still going strong 90k later. My 92 TE got a overhaul after 170k because the front clutchs wore to the point that the apply piston was hitting K2 drum, still was shifting fine. Too many tranny shops want to use "burnt" fluid for a excuse to overhaul a prefectly ok unit, I guess fixing one that is not broke is easier than fixing a broke unit huh?

If you want a second opinion and can fine a excuse to come to Raleigh for a day, come see me, we'll test drive it, drop the pan and check it out. We get $1200 to rebuild .3's and .4's if they need it, hard parts extra. Most dont need it.


Joe
Behind The Star Inc
919-878-7672