How much oil do I have to put in??

[Agron80]

I just recently got a transmission fluid change. How many quarts of fluid does the tranny take on my car. My mechanic changed the filter, rubber gasket, and put in 4 quarts of Castrol Mercon III. I told him about the torque converter, but he couldnt seem to find the plug to drain it. I recall him first removing one little allen shaped screw on the tranny pan, and then removing the 6 screws around the pan, then he just changed the filter, cleaned the pan, and bolted everything back on--added 4 quarts and voila. Did my mechanic miss something? Do I need to add more fluid? Hes a really reputable mechanic, and hes been doing work on my car since day one--i just think transmissions arent his specialty. Transmission seems to be shifting smooth...



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Agron
1989 300E
Monotoned Smoke Silver
97 Style Replica E420 Rims 205/55/16
Euro Headlights
Clear Corners
20% Tint
12" Sub-enclosure

[Ken C]

To be honest, it doesn't sound like 4 qts is really enough. My '90 300E owners manual (do you have yours?), on pg 114, lists 7.7 qts as an initial fill and 6.6 qts. as a fluid change.
More to the point, why don't you check your dipstick? Note, howevere, that the level showing on the dipstick is very temperature dependent. If the transmission is fully warmed up, make sure the fluid is between the minimum and maximum marks -- never, never overfill. But if the transmission is completely cooled off, the level, when actually being the MAXIMUM amount, will appear on the dipstick to be 10mm (0.4") below the MINIMUM mark on the stick [this information is from pg 79 of my owner's manual].
Hope this helped.

[be459]

When the torque convertor is not involved as you stated, 3 to 4 qt of fluid is all I can change for my 300D/SD. Since it is only 4 qt, I change the fluid (not filter/gasket) every 10K miles to make up for not changing the torque convertor fluid. I have a spare drain plug and many O-rings at home to prepare for the task each time.

David

[HorizonA]

Not draining the torque converter and refilling with fluid is like draining only half of the crankcase during an oil change. The MB transmission is an expensive proposition to rebuild. Drain all of the fluid when you change it. Only my opinion.

J. Ko,

I'm curious about this as well. It's only a little more trouble to drain the converter. If I were to pay the dealer and they didn't drain it, I would be a less than satisfied customer.

Larry