The Blue Thing Lives-Sort Of - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Skippy · #1 05-25-2011, 06:38 PM

Executive summary: 1971 250 has had its transmission repaired, but now has a fuel leak.

Background: I bought the blue thing in 2008. At the time the transmission flared the 2-3 shift, but I got several months driving out of it before it dookied the divan. Then I swapped in a junkyard transmission, but that one was no good either.

Then I lost use of the garage I'd been working in and had it towed to a local shop. I had them pull the transmission that I had just installed, and I took both bad ones up to American and Foreign Transmission in Reno. Seven months later and after introducing the shop owner the the Mercedes Classic Center, I finally got my car back. This was just in time to daily drive it while the auto to manual conversion happened on my 300D. Just after that, I had to leave the area for a year to attend to some business in the Kandahar province.

While I was gone, I left the blue thing with a friend of mine. Everything was going fine until a few months after I got to the sandbox. I got an to the effect that the transmission wasn't shifting and might need fluid. As needing fluid is a minor thing, and I knew it leaked before I left, I wasn't particularly worried about it. I returned this March and found the car nearly out of transmission fluid. After some admonishments to my friend, I filled it back up to the proper level and found that while the transmission engaged first gear and reverse firmly, it wouldn't shift to any other gears.

I rented a U-Haul (mistake-tow truck would have been cheaper) and towed the blue thing back to A&F Transmission, wondering if my non-fluid-adding friend owed me a rebuild. After quite some time, the real reason for the failure came out. The shop installed an incorrect part (goes to a slightly later serial number) during the rebuild two years ago. It worked for a while, but then started doing funny things. They repaired it for no charge. It was finished Monday, and my next issue was how to get to Reno to retrieve it.

Today:

The non-fluid-checking friend hasn't been answering his phone lately, and most other people I know well are either asleep or busy during the shop's normal business hours, so I decided to take the bus for the first time ever. The bus makes two morning runs (way too early and just too early) and two evening runs. I caught the too early run about eight this morning and paid my four bucks. The bus was clean and in good shape, and the riders were friendly, but there was one very annoying guy loudly expressing his ill-informed opinion on our Middle East foreign policy. As an OIF/OEF veteran I have some experience in this area, but it was too early and I didn't feel up to an argument, so I just let the moron blather on.

From the bus station, it was a short walk to the shop, during which I saw a lesbian couple, one half of which was a quite nice looking redhead. I picked the car up, noticed it wasn't running that well and attributed this to two month old gas. I got to the on ramp for 395 and noticed that the transmission didn't kick down. I continued on the highway for a few miles, and then noticed the car was smoking. I pulled off at the next exit and found ATF all over my exhaust. I checked the level and found it way over. I returned to the shop, explained the issues and proceeded to make my biggest mistake of the day: Denny's.

I returned from my gut-bombing breakfast to the news that my transmission had been overfilled (duh) and that the kickdown switch was iffy but not definitely bad. This was good enough for the moment, and I took it home. As I pulled into Carson City, I filled up with nearly 15 gallons of premium. I got my change from the cashier and noticed a puddle of fuel under the car. Since I had filled the neck up, I thought maybe it was just coming out the overflow. I drove home and parked it. Then I noticed another puddle of fuel. Incidentally, this is where I pulled my second, less serious mistake of the day. I didn't wear safety glasses when I first went under the car and was rewarded with a drop of 93 octane in the right eye. This wasn't as painful as the aftermath of the bacon meatloaf, but it wasn't fun either. I used a water bottle for an improvised eyewash and all was soon well. The leak is coming from one of the two lines that connect near the top of the tank. The other one of these lines fell off when I touched it, but isn't dripping. I put a pan under it and I'll fix it after it's done draining off the top half gallon or so from the tank, and the rain stops.

mercmad6.3 · #2 05-25-2011, 10:29 PM

And you want to sell this unlucky thing?

meet any Oz's in the sandbox?

Skippy · #3 05-25-2011, 11:50 PM

No Australians, but lots of Canadians. At first I mistook them for U.S. Marines because their uniforms are similar. Their MRE's put the American kind to shame.

mercmad6.3 · #4 05-26-2011, 01:03 AM

Lots of salmon and beaver stew ...eh?

Skippy · #5 05-26-2011, 08:42 PM

Normal food, just better than USGI. The interesting part was some of the items were made by the same manufacturers.

Fixed the fuel leak and took it for a check ride. I'm pretty sure there's something amiss in the kickdown circuit, as the transmission works just fine as long as you don't floor it.