Hello Tenor Man;

For what it is worth, here is my experience on a 1989 190e 2.6. Reverse slowly failed, until it would no longer back up even a gentle slope. The fluid was grey, but there were no chunks in it.

The pistons were all fine, B1 and B2. The bands still had the printing on them: zero wear. The steel clutches were fine. The governor was fine.

The problem was a cage that holds a couple of dozen small coil springs, which keep the reverse clutches apart. The cage had blown up, releasing the spring pressure. The reverse clutches had, therefore, been at least partly engaged while going forward. This obviously resulted in wear of the reverse clutches. Fortunately, I took ours apart just as the friction surfaces were about to disappear, so there was no damage to the steel plates.

There was also a large circlip that had broken, but it was not generating any symptoms.

I got a kit with all the o-rings, gaskets and fibre plates, off the internet, for cheap. Most of the parts had Mercedes logos on them. Replacements for the rest of the broken parts. and a set of the little coil springs, came from the dealer, at reasonable prices.

Now it shifts perfectly, and no longer leaks.

I would advise holding off on buying parts (except the seal, gasket and fibre plate kit, which is essential) until you see inside.

By the way, the kit does not include the two large o-rings (size dash-153: 3 1/2 inches inside diameter by 3/32 inches thick) which are inside two of the asemblies. I used inch dimension rather than searching for metric. They were close enough that they might have been designed fro inch o-rings. The procedure for replacing them is set out in a pamphlet on the Transtec/Corteco website, if you are interested in doing the complete job ("K1 and K2 Support O-Ring Replacement", in a pamplet on Mercedes 722.3 and 722.4).

Good luck!

Andrew
1989 190e2.6 and a couple of old Jaguars.