My 1972 350SL, 71,000 miles has never leaked a drop of oil until taken to DEALER for a $140.00 fluid change. It now has a severe leak from the bellhousing. I thought the torque converer drain plug was leaking. When checking I noticed several gouge & scratch marks on the converter where it was pried with a screwdriver to rotate. Could this have caucsed damage to rear seal or converter?

Sounds Like the Tech was to Lazy to use a Socket and turn the motor over by hand
I Would Call the dealer and Speak to the service manager and tell Him about the leak and Scratches...They Should Take care of This ASAP!...You Paid for the Service..NOT Grief!
If You Want to Inspect the leak..It sounds like the tech forgot to clean out the Bellhousing when he drained the torque converter.
Some Brake Clean will take care of this if its excess fluid
or It could be he forgot to install a new Crush washer on the Drain Plug for the Torque converter..Or Its Loose?

Good Luck

If the torque converter drain plug is tight and not leaking the only other places it could leak are the front seal and the front pump seal. To fix either of the seals requires transmission removal. The front seal is an easy job, the front pump seal requires disassembly of the front part of the transmission (pump, stator, etc). The torque converter is very sturdy, I would not think it'd be punctured. I'd take pictures if you can and call the service manager. Do NOT accept this leak as "it might happen with fluid changes" or age related. If one or both of those seals are leaking they were disturbed outside the scope of a fluid change!

Good luck,

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Brian Toscano

Dealer did not correctly install converter drain plug & fixed for free. I will become a hands on owner as even at $80.00 per hour it's hard to get good service.