Blew the hot side tranny cooler line this Sat on the 280 while picking elderberries. Got in, it started slipping, so hightailed it for home. Made it (jerkily) withough incident the five miles or so I had to go.

Changed both cooler hoses last night, and did a tranny service -- pan only had a cup or so of fluid in it, and I didn't drain the torque converter because the pan was clean -- just enough powder on the bottom to see there was some there, and the fluid was bright red, looked new.

Easy job except for dropping one of the filter screws into the oil drain pan, had to pour the oil out and then catch the screw as it came out the spout (I hate doing fluid changes on automatics, they drip forever!). Sealed up nicely, took 5 qts of Mobil 1 synthetic to fill it back up, meaning there was only a couple quarts in the torque converter. Probably should have run it for a bit with the line off to get the rest out.

Anyway, quite to my surprise, it pulls MUCH better with the synthetic in it. I've not checked the tranny fluid for a while, it wasn't using any, so I don't know how long it was low. Certainly didn't feel like it was slipping or anything, so I ignored it. Big change witht he synthetic, and I think my milage is up, too -- 145 miles and I'm still at a quarter tank!

The synthetic fluid is weird, though -- pours like water, not tranny juice!

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Have graduated to semi-synth ATF on the Suburban, really improved he shift. Plan on going full synth on both MBs next scheduled tranny service. Great news about possible mileage increase, although I have not experience similar on the semi-synth.

__________________
Mike Tangas
'73 280SEL 4.5 (9/72)- RIP
Only 8,173 units built from 5/71 thru 11/72

'02 CLK320 Cabriolet - wifey's mid-life crisis

2012 VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI...at least its a diesel

Non illegitemae carborundum.

Mike:

Any milage increase will be the result of less slippage, I think.

I'm getting 15.5 with the AC on, mixed country/ city with about 10% open highway at 60 or so.

Only strange thing is that I now have an intake "moan" at 62 mph that wasn't there before -- oil in the air filter perhaps?

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Hmmm....60 or so???? For some reason I can't seem to keep the 4.5 below 80 when on the open highway, but I get 15.9 at that speed.

As for the "moan", have you tried to match the RPM while stationary to see if the moan is coming from the intake horn? How recent is the filter?

__________________
Mike Tangas
'73 280SEL 4.5 (9/72)- RIP
Only 8,173 units built from 5/71 thru 11/72

'02 CLK320 Cabriolet - wifey's mid-life crisis

2012 VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI...at least its a diesel

Non illegitemae carborundum.

Mike:

I'll try driving in second and see if I get the noise at a different speed. Sounds almost like a differential moan, except from the front of the engine and is sensitive to throttle, not speed or "float" condition.

I do have some diff whine at higher speeds in float, but I think that will be greatly reduced when I change the diff lube in a couple of weeks.

I've still not managed to get the front subframe mounts in, was going to do that the day I did the tranny, but decided to quit at 10 pm rather than leave the car undrivable for a couple days. Doesn't look too bad, I'm going to try to leave the brake lines on just for fun to simplify. They are definitely flat -- no rubber showing at all with the engine unsupported, and probably why the front rides so hard.

The cracked exhaust helps me to limit speed -- get noise above 65 or so. I also need to rebuild the distributor, the mechanical advance doesn't work right -- I anticipate better milage when I get that done as I don't have full advance right now.

I also noticed that it's running cooler since I changed the tranny fluid. Hmmm..... Wonder what was in there, it LOOKED like normal tranny juice!

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Hmmm. Now are you guys telling me that synthetic is making your 4.5 shift easier. What about the rubber in the trannie? Can it take synthetic? If it works better I want to know.

Fully compatable with Mercon III/Dextron III transmission fluid.

Don't ask me, maybe that 5 quarts of tranny fluid running down the bottom of the car freed something up. Believe me, it's EVERYWHERE -- the rad finally stopped dripping yesterday, I think!

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Did MB use tree rubber in the 72 cars, or did they use man made rubber? Certain oils will not mix well with tree rubber, makes them fall apart faster, just don't know about the new synthetic. What do you think?

I'd say it'd be BETTER than natural oil! Synthetic is made on a molecular basis to be better and more compatible than natural oil that is column-evaporated, boiled, and separated from crude oil.

Hmm... MECHANICAL ADVANCE? Where is this in the distributor? I BET That's why my timing seems so late at 5* when I'm on the highway and my header pipes glow red... maybe it's frozen/rusted or just plain busted.... WISH I had an engine manual Anyone got any info to help me out here? I bet that it would DRASTICALLY improve my performance and keep my car from popping and shooting out sparks!

__________________
Current:
2021 Charger Scat Pack Widebody "Sinabee"
2018 Durango R/T

Previous:
1972 280SE 4.5
2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited "Hefe", 1992 Jeep Cherokee Laredo "Jeepy", 2006 Charger R/T "Hemi"
1999 Chrysler 300M - RIP @ 221k

Tobst:

Fully compatible with Mercon/Dextron III, it's going to work exactly the same. May have some seal swelling additive to counteract the swelling/wear effect of dino oils on rubber seals -- they swell in dino oil and wear some, then shrink and leak when the dino oil leaches back out in synthetic oil -- new seals don't do this.

Tomguy:

The mechanical advance is under the point plate, accessed by removing the distributor and driving the retainer pin out of the drive gear. The entire guts of the dizzy then comes out of the top. Remove trigger points FIRST or you will ruin them. Mechanical advance is a set of weights and springs that move the rotor clockwise in relation to the distrirbutor shaft. Usual problem is dirty pivots for the weights, or wear on the bushings there so they wn't fall back. The two parts of the shaft acan get drity, too, or have old oil varnish in there, so that the rotor end won't rotate freely.

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!